The drummer

Howsie has, with the help of Nadia, ticked off a few more grade 20s in pursuit of his 2020 challenge.  In truth I’m pretty impressed that Nadia would have belayed him on some of the climbs he has jumped on.  Especially the short powerful bouldery climbs at Moses where you really need to be on your game when you are holding the rope for the leader.  Today however Nadia was not joining us as we head out to hopefully bag four grade 20s at Bobs Hollow.  No one had put their hand up to drive the rocky 4WD track in, so we decided to walk in from Contos.  Personally I prefer the walk as it is a very picturesque half hour stroll along the Cape to Cape track:

Not that we got to see much of those great views.  As planned we left the cars at 6:30’ish and despite it being a crisp, clear and cloudless morning it was still dark.  Andrew and I hadn’t been as forward thinking as Alan and Howsie and hadn’t brought head torches.  So they didn’t use theirs and we set off in darkness allowing our night vision to build up.  As we walked the track it slowly got a lighter and we watched the far off glow of morning creep in.  It wasn’t until the final stretch, as we approached the cliff top, that we could really see.  We really were the early birds, as there was hardly a bird song to he heard:

As we approached the base of the crag, I mentioned that seeing it was a corker of a forecast for the weekend we would likely be besieged by Perth climbers.  During my last trip here with Rongy, Steve and his sister there were more climbers than I had ever seen here.  Today however there were no tell-tale signs of others, such as draws on the climbs.  There was however a pair of climbing shore hanging in a tree and a single tent.  We got ourselves ready to climb, as a single lady very efficiently got up, packed up and walked out.  We apologised for being there so early, but she said it was fine as she had wanted to get an early start today.  The shoes were still hanging in the tree and were not hers:

Today was all about Howsie.  Bob’s offers steep limestone jugging, there are not many easy routes here and those that exists are at the southern end.  Howsie already had a game plan mapped out in his mind, which meant knocking off the three 20s at the northern end first.  You’ll recall that Alan and Andrew, if you have been keeping track of my posts, are just getting back into things and building up their fitness.  While I was confident they could give a few climbs here a good crack, leading was another matter.  So the three of us mulled about as Howsie began to stretch and get ready for this first battle:

The first line was also the shortest of the day, Puk Puk Sen, and as the guide says it provides “a gentle introduction to this wall”.  Meaning of course everything else is harder, so there was no point in my putting a rope up for Alan and Andrew yet.  Howsie managed to get up the route, but not as cleanly and efficiently as he would have hoped.  Being the first climb I guess that was to be a little expected, but it was a good start and one more grade 20 was in the bag.  Andrew was up next and managed to get half way up before declaring that his arms were giving up and slipping off.  Once you are in the air it can be tricky to get back on the wall, so after trying several times and wearing himself out he eventually came down:

I had decided that I would also lead every 20, so pulled the rope and went up.  There really isn’t anywhere in the south west like Bob’s, so unless you climb here you can never prepare for it.  It had been seven months since my last trip here, and it was a bit of a shock to the system when I jumped on that first line.  The rock as expected felt cold, but I had forgotten just how sharp the holds were.  Added to that you could feel your back and shoulder muscles working hard all the time, in fact your whole body has to work to climb these steep lines efficiently.  I too found that first route harder than it should have been:

The next line on the radar was one Howsie had never been on, Right Fin.  He set off (above) while Andrew got ready to belay Alan on the first line.  Offering me time to take a quick few “where’s the belayer” snaps before he reached the first bolt.  While it is almost twice the height of the first line, it does offer a more gentle vertical start up the right side of the fin.  Bridging in a fine position, until the wall above steepness up and looms ominously above you.  After that it is steep and juggy and you are always hanging on your arms, and this is where body position becomes critical to make the most of your feet:

As Howsie was enjoying the relaxing start of Right Fin I was observing Alan.  He had started well but as the mid-wall steepened up and the holds became smaller and a bit more spaced he was struggling.  I did wonder how much the boys would get done today, but they had both been here before so should have had an idea of what to expect.  While I was watching Alan, it was more Andrew’s belaying style that caught my attention.  He had been sitting down away from the wall, no problem with me I do that often, but when Alan unexpected fell it resulted in what looked like a less than comfortable belay position:

Once Howsie had launched up the steep terrain I stopped watching the antics on the first route and focused my attention to where it should be.  I could hear him breathing deeply.  I felt like I could almost hear him thinking his way through the route, reach for a jug work out your feet positions and push up with them.  All the while looking about to find the next jug and then repeat it again.  At times you underling stalactites, side pull flakes or yard up as high as you can to reach a more conventional jug that you can just pull up on.  He was very chuffed as he clipped the lower offs, in a very steep position holding onto what seemed like small holds.  That was however an illusion, as after the steep terrain to get there everything would feel small:

Two out of two, and he had a celebratory double fist pump as he came back down.  Alan was meanwhile was still working hard on the first route.  So I pulled the rope on Right Fin and lead it myself.  As I hoped, the clumsiness on first climb was seeping away and I could feel my body starting to fall into place.  Being able to see and work through the required movements with confidence.  Making them more efficient and clean, but more importantly controlling my mind to have the faith required to go for and pull off the moves.  This was so important on the steeper terrain where you need to coordinate and tension your whole body.  It felt really good, and as I came down so did Alan after he had conquered Puk Puk Sen:

To give Howsie a bit of a rest before the next route, Andrew set off up Right Fin and did really well.  He managed to get to the top with only a couple of rests and afterwards said he didn’t realise that it was the same grade as Puk Puk Sen.  Not surprisingly he very happy, as he came back down.  So with a bit of a rest Howsie did a bit of a warm up routine to prepare for Thyeses Feast, which starts up the left side of the fin.  It was pretty comical and I secretly videoed it, but you’ll have to be on the local WhatsApp group to get to see that!  Once warmed up Alan and Howsie set off on either side of the fin:

Alan was getting gassed as the climb steepened up and had to rest.  The problem with this was that Andrew had replaced a short extender with a longer one, as it looked like the rope was dragging over the rock above it.  This meant that when Alan rested he ended up quite a distance from the wall.  Andrew had been belaying some way back from the wall and once there was tension on the rope he wasn’t able to walk towards the base, as the ground closer to the wall was lower.  So as I belayed Howsie, I had to push Andrew, while he was hanging in space, so he could get to the wall.  Once there he hung on to then allow Alan to push off the rope to try and get back on the wall.  It was all very comical:

Alan did finally get back on, but was so tried from the effort of it all that he couldn’t finish the route and came down.  It was a reversal of Andrew and Alan on the first route, the only trouble being the gear and rope was still up there.  Also Howsie had failed to get to the final lower offs.  Thyeses Feast is renowned to have a thought provoking and hard finish.  Howise had done the route before and knew this, and I would usually avoid the climb because of it.  So as he rested up, I first climbed back up Right Fin to clean the route and then tackled Thyeses Feast.  I also failed where Howsie had, but after a rest on the rope I found an alternative sequence and managed to clip the anchors:

The top moves, the way Howsie had climbed it and tried to follow, required you to get a great pocket but then have to heal hook your left foot deep into it next to your hands before going up.  His approach was to work your way rightwards to holds that were not inspiring and it felt that if you fell you would seriously damage your left foot.  The sequence I found avoided all this and went left of the pocket, so feeling rested and having chatted about how to tackle the final head wall Howsie set off with a new game plan.  It was all looking good until the final move, where he stuttered for way too long and just didn’t use his feet effectively, finally gassing out and falling.  He gave it another go and again fell, by now he was really tiring and it was not to be:

I lowered him down, and he looked shattered.  So with the rope almost at the top I tied on to try the new found sequence ground up.  Resting in a good stance below the final steep section I pulled my thoughts together.  Then as I pulled into each hold and worked my feet, it all felt too good to be true and before I knew it I was clipping the anchors.  It all happened to fast so Howsie asked me to point out the sequence as he videoed it.  No doubt he will be watching that video and committing the moves to memory for his next attempt.  That was not going to be straight away.  And seeing Alan and Andrew were also not keen to try the route I cleaned it as I came down:

We wandered down to the southern end of the crag to climb in the sun.  The crag classic, or at least one of them, Shaved Cats was the fourth grade 20.  The boys were pretty smashed and after something less intense, so we pointed them to the most protected climb here, Lovers Nuts.  With eight bolts on a 15m climb, the clips are almost to close as they break up the flow of the climb.  But when you are tiring that isn’t a bad thing and I was very pleased to see Alan jump on lead, and doing really well.  After having worked his arms so hard on the first two routes the crux bulge was however too much for him, and a rest was in order:

Now you may notice that I have jumped from Howsie on Shaved Cats to Alan and Andrew.  So back to Howsie… the last grade 20 is very different and while it is still a steep climb it is not as overhung.  This means it is more technical climbing and the holds, at least lower down are more fingery.  He managed to get to the third bolt, but was looking increasingly uncomfortable.  The next crux moves were simply too much and he came off.  Looking exhausted I offered to climb the route so the draws were in, which he accepted.  But before he attempted the route again we went round to watch the others climb so he could try to rest up:

I was pleased once more when I saw Andrew pull the rope down, so he too could lead Lovers Nuts.  He climbed it in almost in identical fashion to Alan making good work of it all, expect the bulge.  So while Andrew was resting before tackling the crux, Howsie and I walked back round to Shaved Cats.  He stood there for ages contemplating how he was feeling and decided to top rope it, as he was simply too tired.  It was a good move, as got as far as he did before and fell, he tried again and once again fell.  It was time to throw the towel in, so he came down and settled down to belay me as I went back up and cleaned the line:

We all wondered where the last four hours had gone.  That is how long we had been at the crag and it had gone past in a flash.  Their muscles were however telling them that they had been working hard, and they surely had given it everything.  It is also worth noting that no one else, other than a few hikers who had peered over the edge from the top of the cliff had come along.  So we packed up and took the boots that were still hanging in the tree, and started the walk out.  As we got to the top of the crag we met Shane and Charlie, who Alan had camped out with the night before.  Their walk in to meet us was no mean feat for Shane, who had just run 70kms the day before almost making our efforts of the morning seem insignificant:

It was a lovely walk out, a perfect day with perfect views.  The six of us marched along the track, often stopping to take in the breathtaking sight.  Eventually we got back to the cars and went our separate ways, Alan, Shane and Charlie were going to set up camp at Contos for another night under the stars.  While Andrew, Howsie and I drove off.  On the way back we stopped in at Burnside near Margaret River, as we had done on the way down.  This is where we had picked Howsie up from, and is where he had stayed over after an evening of band practise.  This had involved two hours plus of drumming, which I personally think hadn’t helped his cause on rock today.  Still it does mean we have to come back so he can bag the other two grade 20s, and no one was complaining about that: