Feeling groggy

After being back at work, and staying off my wall at home, all week I was itching for some time on rock. While I had taken my top-rope set up along to Castle Rock over the last few months I really wanted some longer routes. So for this weekend I decided on the Dolphin Smiles wall at Wilyabrup, with a little assistance from Kym after I asked his opinion. It has five classy lines ranging from grade 14 to 21, all of which are nice sustained routes. I advised Lisa of my intention to disappear on Saturday morning to relieve that itch, and she asked if I was going alone. Well that had been my intention until that moment… so I dug a bit deeper. We had a chat and she suggested that seeing the restriction were easing up, the number of live COIVD 19 cases in Western Australia were dropping, and there had been extremely low new cases being identified (including numerous days of none) that it would probably be OK to head out and climb with someone:

Seeing Rongy had asked me about heading out, no doubt to test the water, just the other day I was quick to see how keen he was.  A silly question really this is Rongy we are talking about, he is as bad as me when it comes to climbing!  During the journey down we briefly discussed which area to climb and what routes to bag.  But mostly we chatted about nothing in particular, just catching up on news in each other’s camp.  So that is how we both came to be standing at Wilyabrup at just after 7am watching the waves roll in with a glorious morning light backdrop:

We are lucky where we live and it really hasn’t been that long since we have all been in lock down but it feels so much longer.  In fact the last time I was out climbing with others was with Rongy and Wiggins only six weeks back at Mount Frankland.  Now last night, after we had arranged to get out today, Rongy had managed to slice his thumb chopping the onions for dinner.  But with the style of climbing here he felt that would not be a big issue.  He also indicated that not having expected to be heading out he’d had a few beers in the afternoon, and was feeling a bit lethargic and woolly:

It felt like he was making excuses… so I found myself taking the first lead.  We had plumped for Dolphin Smiles wall, as it was easy to just go with my original plan and not to have to think too hard.  We both enjoy the routes there and there is a mixed enough bag to keep us both happy.  The intention was for me to jump on Sinuosity, but I instead ran up the more direct line of Thunder Thighs.  A bold route at the grade due to having some runouts longer than some would like.  It felt good to be placing gear again, and to have the rope below me.  The top roping has been fun but when you lead it is a whole different ball and mind game:

The other great part of climbing with someone else is that you are not continuously on the rock climbing or setting up ropes.  Allowing a bit of time to chill in-between when you need to be on rock, giving you a chance to watch the world wake up.  The sun was creeping over the hills and hitting the white horses that were riding in on the clean crisp waves.  Despite looking perfect for surfing in, and while we both looked long and hard, neither of us spotted any dolphins today.  As I was kicking back watching the waves and enjoying the rush of hearing them crashing into the rocks, Rongy walked up One for the Road:

It seemed his previous self-confessed ailments were not holding him back. He wasted no time in romping up this line, surmounting the tricky roof and setting things up for me to follow. My head however, after relaxing for a period and watching the waves had not properly focused on the task that lay ahead. The rounded and awkward cracks at the start of this route had me confused and I wasn’t sure which way to tackle them. So I just went for it and climbed it in a clumsy and far from graceful manner. Still I got up in one push and wasn’t feeling pumped. It’s a good job, as Rongy had suggested before his lead what might be a good next line:

And that plan was for me to tackle the mighty Dolphin Smiles.  An absolute cracker of a route that cuts a path up the middle of the wall, only achievable due to three bolts having been placed.  Even with the bolts the mid-section is massively runout, with possibly six meters between the bolts and no trad gear placements of any worth to be found.  After that comes the steep crux sequence, so this climb earns it’s classic status and then some.  As the image might indicate I was very chuffed with this lead, managing a clean ascent.  I must have been a little on autopilot, as the thought of a possible big fall or two hadn’t crossed my mind at any point as I climbed:

Then it was another walk back down to the base, we had not set up a rap line and instead decided to walk down between climbs. This slowed us down from some of our previous trips frantic pace, which we would keep up in order to pack in the lines. Today we were both however of like mind and content to take our time. We also took our time to sort the gear out after each climb, which I think helped Rongy’s arms. He hasn’t been as fortunate as I have with getting out, both during the lock down and before that, and while the ailments he had talked up previously had not hindered him his arms were starting to feel the mornings choice of climbs:

As he set off on the next route he was not convinced that he’d manage to get a clean lead. The first half of Fishing with Dynamite is on a steep wall and has one big move after another, not really giving you any rests and forcing you to keep working. Once he tackled that, it may seem the pace of the route eases but it in fact changes and becomes more technical. So while not as steep, instead with tiring arms he was forced to work out the more delicate moves on smaller holds. Personally I didn’t think he looked like he was in trouble at any stage on the climb, and he certainly didn’t break a sweat:

The routes we had bagged so far were no pushovers and that along with leading them made us hang on those holds that bit longer. While our forearms may have been getting a good work out we were still keen for another couple of routes.  And sticking to my original game plan for the day we knew which two they would be.  Rongy wasn’t so keen for lots of exposure today, so I got to lead Golden Buttress.  This line is a an absolute stunner and the best trad route here, with traverses, roofs, corners, arêtes, runouts, and exposure it has it all!  While I wasn’t able to see Rongy follow up, the sun was moving round as the morning wore on so I could watch his shadow as it inched its way up the very fine line:

To wrap up the morning up Rongy got the last route, The Unbolted and the Beautiful. He again managed to float up this line, placing the gear only slowed him down slightly and he seemed to make effortless moves in-between each piece of gear. His ailments that could have held him back today had certainly been vanquished. As he topped out and set the belay up, a lady walked past, heading to Steel Wall. She said that her husband was replacing a few bolts on his climb, and so I became introduced to Sally and Pascal. The latter being the creator of the very fine “Pascal’s route”, which gets a mention in Life’s Good when Denis had a crack at it. We got chatting and exchanged details so could one day we could hopefully climb together, then I followed Rongy up yet another great route. It certainly felt like we cleaned up the routes on Dolphins Smile wall in style: