Chatting to Rongy as we drove back from Moses Rocks just two days back he mentioned that he had yet to get to Cosy Corner, and seeing that both of us were on holiday we teed up a session for New Year’s Eve. Neither of us are afraid of early starts and so despite it being the furthest crag from us, we aimed to get there for 6am. Now I know what you are thinking, just a week back I put up a post from a trip here so this will just be like a rerun. However, don’t despair and read on:
As you’ll see in the image above it was not the same calm conditions that Mikey and Howsie had been lucky to have. We still belayed from the black dolerite band, but had to be a bit more careful, not only was it wet but the occasional wave would creep up on you. You’ll however notice that I was being sensible and wore my safety shoes, as I usually do. Rongy started with Cut Crystal. Prior to the morning he had been checking out the guide and rather than start on the usual lower grade lines he wanted to get stuck in:
We then moved across to two routes that Howsie and I had put up after the guide was published. Above is Three Little Birds, a great sustained grade 15, which Rongy rated better than Cut Crystal. So for those budding trad leaders take note should you come here! He then jumped on Away from the Nest which is Howsie’s spicy grade 18, Rongy also highly rated this line. This was, as far as I am aware, the second ascent of these lines. Despite having put them on Western Australia’s climbing forum, no one has ever replied that post:
Next Rongy was keen to tackle the epic traverse that Craig and I established on my very first visit to this place. I’ve been back here numerous times, including four times in the last year. There are not masses of routes but they are (mostly) all quality lines and the positions can’t be beat. But this one tops them all for atmosphere and exposure. As he gingerly stepped off the ledge to start the traverse he asked if he would regret his decisions, I said nothing and left him to get on with it:
He took his time working it out, and at the midway point stood up on the break wondering if he could finish it off by walking along the break. A bulging wall soon put stop to that idea and he had to come back down and continue to use the break for his hands. He had an issue with rope drag and I wonder if you can spot why that was occurring, unfortunately there was nothing I could do about that and he just had to suck it up, which he did:
Cosy Corner, excluding the crazily hard sport climbing area of Wave Wall, only has 16 routes but I never get bored of coming back here. It is such a calm experience whether you are climbing or watching the waves lapping at your feet as you belay, admiring the limestone features that are very unusually for this area, or just being mesmerised by the colourful weed swaying in the water and that covers the bommies which are almost exposed during low tide:
Now you may have noticed that so far Rongy has been on every lead, but from the end of the traverse (Sink or Swim) he did suggest that lead out up the Escape Hatch. A fun grade 16 that can be made more exciting by coming up the steep wall as opposed to the corner. As for Sink or Swim we had graded it 18, but the moves are probably no more than 16. That said Rongy felt, like we had, that the exposure and risks that come with a traverse in that positon warranted the grade:
I handed the lead back to Rongy and sent him up another of my creations, Indecision at grade 17 according to the guide. It may only be a 16 but what’s in a single increment eh. He climbed it avoiding the limestone coated wall that I had climbed on the first ascent, making it a little less scary, before relishing the large flake and fun finale. Next he jumped on Loose Lips (16, but probably worthy of 17) and finally Chick Point (17). However, seeing you recently saw images of Howsie and Mikey on those routes there are no photos included here:
Eight routes bagged and we were happy to call that a day. So we packed our recently washed gear and ropes, I’m pleased to say that Rongy too had washed his gear after our trip to Rumpoles Rocks, as the shark spotting helicopter flew overhead. I’m still wondering what sharks they think they might spot flying over land and not the coastline, but I’m sure they had their own reasons! Hope you enjoyed this rerun of Cosy Corner, a place that really does deserve more attention.
Sandbagged 