The new kid on the block

This morning we managed a quick trip out to a place that, rather surprisingly, Wiggins had not been to before.  There are a number of crags in-between the mighty Wilyabrup and Northern Crags that rarely get visited, and it would seem that some local climbers are also guilty of having ignored them.  So with another day of clear sunny skies and clean barrelling waves we graced the Organ Pipes with our presence:

Seeing Wiggins had not been here before I was more than happy for him to lead on.  With a rap rope to get down and no mucking about of changing gear over we managed to get a fair few lines in quick succession.  These “in-between” crags offer true old style traditional climbing, you have to watch the rock at times and the gear can be spaced, but with no bolts the lines need to be and are well defined:

We did consider whether the face immediately to the right of Crab Arête would go as an independent line.  Unfortunately two thirds of the way up the face got smeary and felt that bit slippery, just as the gear started to dry up.  So we stuck to the arête, and left the idea of bagging a potential variant FA for another day:

The crag classic also runs dry of gear, with nothing to be found up the fine rounded and flared flake.  So as you climb the last four meters you might fiddle something in, but it will never be that good.  The route also makes you work hard to find the best piece to protect the flake.  It took Wiggins a while before he was able to sus out where to place a solid cam, before effectively soloing out:

For such a small crag it has a great array of cracks, faces, arêtes, corners and other features; each line requiring a different set of climbing styles and skills.  That may be why I have never got bored of the place, despite having done the routes a bucket full of times.  My last visit being with Mikey when he was on his 10km challenge, when he bagged all the easy chimneys that had failed to be previously written up:

As Wiggins belayed me up curving capped roof of Spraying I was contemplating a possible new line that we had spied.   The damp feel of the smeary holds on the first few lines were putting me off a bit, and I was feeling a bit weary from a boulder at home the day before but the line was calling out to be done.  This may seem a random image for what I am talking about, but I thought I would include it to see if anyone could spot Wiggins:

I decided to go for it, as due to having seen the holds on the upper headwall as we rapped down so I was comforted that there was something there.  Some looked a bit blocky and flaky so they required a bit of inspection as I climbed it ground-up, as I hadn’t tested any or tried any of the moves.  Like the crag classic the last piece of gear is some four meters below the top, so it was a nervous finale but also very good.  So became Knocking on Heaven’s Door:

This got Wiggins all fired up and so he decided that, after checking the moves while rapping down, he would give The Reaper Man a go.  I didn’t have the nerve to finish the lead off when I tried it a way back in 2014 but it still made it into the guide as a top-rope problem.  He ambled left and right as he made his way up the first two thirds and then the top headwall that he previously thought would be OK gave him a bit of grief:

He won’t mind me saying that while he never rested it wasn’t a true ascent due to making use of the flake on the crag classic to get a bit of height.  That said he did top out online which was very impressive.  He had gone for it as he had in his mind that it was grade 17, where as in the guide we gave it 19.  After playing on it again today I reckon it is a solid 20.  Of course made all the more impressive by needing to finish the last four meters with no more gear (which is also the crux sequence):

The sun was swinging round and it was getting close to the time we were due to head out.  But we had time to sneak one last lead in, and Lou you’ll be very happy to hear Wiggins plumped for your route New Kids on the Block.  I didn’t tell him the grade and when I followed him up he said that he reckoned it was a solid 14, which was what we gave it.  Still reckon it was an awesome on-sight FA when Lou bagged this one:

Next time I head out with Wiggins we might drift a bit closer to the Northern Crags and visit Driftwood Bay for some more traditional fun…