Getting back on the horse…

A couple of weeks back Geoff and Nana witness a ground fall by Lou, who had taken them out to show them the ropes of trad leading. It was a nerve wracking experience for all three of them, with Lou being helicoptered out and luckily only having hairline fracture damage in some of her upper vertebrae. So I offered to take Geoff and Nana back out, as they were keen not to be put off and the sooner they got back on the horse the better. Unfortunately Nana was on call so couldn’t make it but Geoff, as well as Gav and Monica were all keen:

Now where better a place to take a budding trad leader but the Book Shelf, probably the shortest crag in the South West but full of easier grade climbs that provide plenty of protection. Monica was keen to lead first and had her eye on a climb called Cheeky Monkey, but the start looked a tad awkward. So based on my recent discoveries of possible under grading, by yours truly, I went up the line first while she decided to start on The Bulge:

We didn’t tell Monica what we thought of Cheeky Monkey other than it was good and had gear. So while she and Gav eyed it up it was time for Geoff to rack up. Now we must all remember what it was like when you first start lead climbing, not knowing what might be needed so taking the lot. That was however is not a bad thing, as despite the short nature of the climbs here I wanted him to place lots of gear:

While Monica started up that awkward start we discovered a second Cheeky Monkey at the crag, well it was all in the name of helping out. The start did indeed prove a little too tricky and nervous for Monica, but as Joe Cocker sung “with a little help from my friends” she managed it:

Geoff however did not need my help and was soon stitching his way up another Sterling classic called Glory Boy. I mean that with all sincerity (honestly) as Gav remarked how he really enjoyed the lines that Steve had established. But back to Geoff: we started with the all-important directional piece and then he put in way too much gear, which I was very happy about as it gave him the practise that was needed:

Meanwhile Monica was going great guns and may be mistaken for a third monkey at the crag, as she aped her way through the final horizontals. Did she enjoy the route, well I think the answer is yes and we had a bit of a discussion about this. Why would we be here if we didn’t enjoy getting out and climbing, and when you are feeling happy… well then every climb is a good one:

Geoff topped out and set about getting the belay sorted. He has set up top rope anchors and his gear in the climb was looking good so I left him to it and went to watch the waves for a bit. Once again think back to when you first started, it often took longer to set up the belay station than lead the climb. Well just like when I come up behind a learner driver, I simply kicked back and took my time and what better place to do it than here:

Gav followed Monica up and was at the top just as, yet another, chopper flew past. I didn’t keep count but we maybe had four go over. Definitely not all out picking up Lou imitators, but probably checking for sharks not that the surf conditions look great:

Geoff was all set up and ready so I followed up and inspected each piece both on the climb and in his belay, all of which were well placed and solid. Yes Lou he used cams as well as hexes, wires and tri-cams. This place is definitely much safer with cams as a number of the cracks and breaks are flared or parallel:

With two leads under Monica’s belt it was time for Gav to show some muscle, and he decided on A Cracking Line. Short yes but it is also consistent with a slight off vertical lean that makes this small climb pack a punch and keep you honest. With the slightly less well protected lower wall below him he contemplated the upper wall on which his arms started to show signs of pumping out:

Geoff however was all fired up and eager, or was it me pushing him. So I sent him off to see what he could see and what he liked the look of I Don’t Know. A bit steeper than his last lead and he needed to hang on all the way up. This didn’t help as I made him stop and put in intermediate gear in spots where I could see he wasn’t comfortable. The fool complied, but I was impressed to find he put in great gear under pressure. Then at the finale he raced up, maybe to avoid me saying “hold on a minute just put one more piece in”:

On this line he also had to make use of more smears, something many people really seem to have an aversion to. Shame really as it is a great technique, but then I hear so is jamming which is something I tend to try and avoid(!). Lead number two sorted and well led, now for another belay station:

Despite waning a bit on his last lead Gav jumped straight back on Not So Thin. Without me there to tell him to put more gear in, not that he would have listened to me anyway, he made short work on this one. As did Monica on second:

So as Geoff setup the belay station I had a look about in the rock pools spying fish, anemone, limpets, crabs and other delights. This pool however caught my attention and I saw several faces in it, including the evil Darth Vada which is kinda topical. Not only is the a new film out which I’d love to see on the big screen but we also have our very own Stormtrooper friend! Back to Geoff and I have to say his belay was with placements within 90 degrees, all directional and all tensioned:

After I made him work extra hard on his lead, Geoff was more than happy to follow me up a line (he, he, he). So I picked Tick and Flick. Now this is not a hard climb but what he didn’t know was that I was going to, and indeed did, lace it. Not because I was scared but more to give him the chance to check out some more placements and also to make him have to hang about and fiddle fart about getting them all out:

Now just before I had started on my lead Gav was eyeing up another one of the easier cracks, but I felt he should go a little harder. So I made the suggestion that he had a go at One Too Many (you may remember this one Craig). It also happens to be the climb that Gav and Monica seemed to be eyeing up when we first got here, as you’ll see if you scroll up and check out the first picture. The tables had turned it was Gav who needed “a little help from my friends” at least with the hand being more decently placed this time:

It seemed that I had maybe been a bit too hard on Geoff and the magnificent seven (bits of gear) was simply too much. The funny thing was that he couldn’t get the very first one out, which was put in from the deck. Then after we got back down I and then Gav had a go but the bugger refused to come out, despite jiggling about in the crack. Um was this karma coming back to bite me, well probably… but after lots of efforts Geoff went back to it and gave it one last (in his words) half-hearted attempt and out it popped:

One last climbing image, Gav gave his climb a real good shot and even took his first trad lead fall but his arms were really tiring now and so he had to bail. He kindly offered me the lead and I promptly found a lovely hold that he had completely missed, doh! It was certainly a good climb, and he followed up after with satisfaction as he managed a clean second:

So it was time to pack up and for me to wave goodbye to SW WA rock for a short while. It was a good place to come today, both to help Geoff get back on the horse and also ensure I didn’t do anything too silly with my housemaid’s knee. But that is another story that I might tell another time:

With that you’ll have to wait a while before I get back on the computer with more SW WA rock antics. So for now thanks for reading and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.