Kym – the driven

If you are keen click on this link to find out what Kym said about me.  While not essential reading to find out about Kym, there may be some cross referencing in my words about him.

When Lisa and I went for a walk one day we stumbled across the zawns at Smiths Beach, actually I might have driven there directed the walk in that direction on purpose because of rumours I’d heard.  I was gobsmacked, how could this location have gone unnoticed.  Well it hadn’t Kym had already put up a line of two and my first introduction to Kym was via emails about this location.  We never climbed here together and it took close to two years before we finally got out on rock, this was at Moses Rocks and we put up Rude Awakening.  Since then I feel like I have become a part of Kym and his family, when picking him up for a trip out his daughter Tess wouldn’t let us go until I had done some art or read a book or two with her:

On our return Tess and her mum Meg would have done some baking so it would be time for a cup of tea an cake.  His second daughter Claire is equally lovely, as is Beau who by no fault of his own put them through some stressful times during his first year.  In fact Kym and Meg are troupers who seem to cut through challenges together and have always come out the other side ready to carry on with a positive attitude.  Kym is as passionate about rock as I am, I would dare say even more so.  Always keen to explore and find new locations.  Occasionally our rock finding missions wouldn’t have a lot of climbing, but we did get to some great locations.  Kym is very caring and considerate, I would even say he is selfless even when it comes to climbing offering up those elusive first ascents to others when he has bolted a new line:

While I have done a bit of bouldering, it’s not really what I enjoy.  But Kym has an energy about him that is hard not to get caught up in.  Any and every line is great, worth the time and effort, no progression goes unnoticed and he encourages people like no other.  It’s almost like he is living the experience that whoever is climbing is actually having.  He loves the classics and we’ve climbed some epic routes together, but his real desire is continually searching for something new to try.  Definitely not afraid of pushing himself and he will work a route like no one else I’ve seen no matter how steep, exposed or sustained:

He moved down to Albany a few years back, it was a great move for him and his family and they are doing really well there.  To be honest they are the sort of family that would make the best of any location and situation.  But what Albany does have is endless rock and endless untouched rock.  And where he is located it is practically on his doorstep.  Every week Kym manages to find a new boulder or a new possible crag, he’s always putting up first ascents whether boulder problems, sport routes or gnarly trad.  Even when he says to me that he isn’t really feeling it, the next day I’ll get a message about some impressive new route or problem he’s completed.  I’ve not been down to Albany half as many times as I should have, not just to climb but also to say hello to the family:

But when I have we have gone hard, whether classic routes at the Mount Gibraltar or new ascents on amazing crags.  Not only Kym but the local Albany crew are very welcoming and I’ve been taken to many a new location and offered up the sharp end on new projects.  The days can’t start early with a young family, but once we are out we keep going until our arms are busting, legs are jelly and our finger tips are tingling.  While he has all this energy and passion for climbing he still manages lots of quality time with his family for whom he would do anything, and is also studying full time and impressively smashing that out.  Kym is without doubt the most driven person I climb with, but is also capable of changing the pace to match whoever he is climbing with: