A Packed Crag

Today was the first trip out that felt like a big group, there seems to be a growing keenness to get onto rock by the local south west group.  It was supposed to be a cold start after a clear sky night, followed by blue skies and light winds.  So Rongy and I were a tad surprised when as we approached Busselton and could see rainbows.  And as we travelled on the rain came down.  We decided to trust that things would be OK and kept going.  We also didn’t let on to Wiggins, Steve, Glen, Alan or Mark, who were planning to join us a little later, of what it was like:

It reduced to a drizzle as we walked in to the cliffs of Wilyabrup.  This is the best place to go when there is a bit of a pose, as it has a great variety of route styles and grades so there is something for everyone.  Not surprisingly we arrived to an empty carpark and had the place to ourselves.  By the time we were climbing the drizzle had gone and the sky out to sea was clearing up.  With no wind it was feeling warm and so we started in T-shirts, on a couple of relaxed warmup routes.  Evidence of the downpour was lying about on the ledges and top of the crag:

Hope and then Glory were the obvious climbs to start on.  Rongy was a late joiner to the days group and also provided me with an opportunity to get out a bit earlier, something he is not afraid of.  When we made plans for the earlier start I mentioned that my bag was already packed, with a rope and only passive gear.  This was due to me expecting a cruisy day, based on the others due to arrive, and so adding a bit of spice by not using any active gear.  Rongy took this as a sign that regardless of grade passive gear was the go, so that is how we started:

The wind was picking up making us wrap backup, and while it was cold this was a good thing.  The compact gneiss of Wilyabrup, a hybrid of granite and sedimentary rock, isn’t very porous and as such regardless of how much it rains once it has stopped and the wind blows it is quick to dry.  So as the rest of the crew turned up they found me at the top of one of the projects that Steve had in mind.  I was happy to report to Steve that the rock was in great condition, should he want to have a bash at the line of Inner Space today:

The capping roof under Hope Buttress became base camp, and it has been a long time since I have seen it so packed with gear, sacs and ropes.  So much so that it seemed like there was enough gear to tackle something much, much bigger than the cliffs at Wilyabrup.  While the boys jumped onto the two routes that we had started on Rongy was up again.  He had already decided on a route that he does not get on very often.  This meant that we moved away from the pack, which felt a little antisocial of us but we soon got over it:

Rockfish Dreaming is a feisty number, the top headwall is full of small holds and being as steep as it is it can quickly pump your forearms and make you feel very exposed.  Rongy paced himself well and climbed upwards towards the now blue sky in search of the sun.  He managed to bag himself a top belay spot in the sun, and watched a pod of dolphins cruise past as I came up second.  I had to dig a bit deeper than normal bearing down on the small holds a bit too much, as my forearms started popping out like Popeye’s:

We then re-joined the group, Wiggins had run up Hope with Mark and then Glen in tow.  Steve meanwhile had enjoyed the delights of Glory, with Alan and his noodle arms quivering up on second (self-confessed).  With them still busy on those two lines I plumped, after a suggestion by Rongy, for what I reckon is the best mid-grade trade line at Wilyabrup.  Golden Buttress provides a varied range of rock features, great exposure and just about enough gear.  I then made Rongy hang about on the last good hold waiting for the sun to cast a good enough shadow:

Wiggins was keen to follow up on second, so I sat in the sun for a bit longer looking out.  Unlike Rongy I wasn’t lucky enough to see any dolphins, but with the view of the rugged coastline and a blue sky I wasn’t complaining.  Wiggins was taking his time and purposely so.  He is nursing an injured shoulder, it’s an old injury that seems to plague him.  He was also cleaning the rack as he was climbing, something I like to do (unless I’m getting really gassed).  It makes you hang about a bit longer, forcing you to use good technique and find rests in unlikely positions:

When we got down Glen and Mark had disappeared.  We were told they had gone to the far northern area of the main crags to tackle Stormcock, a route that I have never been on so I’m keen to hear what they think of it.  Meanwhile to even things up Rongy was up for one more line.  He again picked a line that he had not done very often.  This one has a very gnarly move to get established on the hanging arête above the main wall, but that didn’t stop him and soon it was my turn.  The top move had me working harder than it should have, I was tiring:

As we climbed Steve took on and beat Thunder Thighs, it took him a while to figure out his gear in the lower crack but after that he motored on and used nearly all of his large tri-cams on just one route, which may be a first.  Alan was feeling better on his second route, getting used to trusting those stick boots once again.  Meanwhile Wiggins, as all this sending was going on, was taking the opportunity to gather a bit of footage from above with the promise of another video being made.  Back down on the deck Rongy and I were pretty content and called it a day:

We left the others to play, and play they did racking up another couple of great routes of Road Trip and Hitching.  As Rongy and I walked out a few more climbers and mob of eight boulders, the later looking like hermit crabs, were heading in.  It certainly felt like Wilyabrup was getting busy, by SW WA standards!