This morning started in a house full of stairs, it was a house on stilts high above the ocean and the water below was angry and menacing with crashing waves. I found a strange shaped bottle of what looked to be a boutique beer, and downed it. Unbeknown to me it was made from magic mushrooms so I was in a bit of a stupor and Lisa had to follow me round. Looking after me and making sure I didn’t fall down any of the stairs or worse into the ocean. Then Lisa woke up and while I was up and about I hadn’t touched any alcohol, or other substances for that matter, other than a cuppa of earl grey tea:
I do wonder what it would be like to have dreams like Lisa, she certainly has some amazing adventures and it is not surprising she at times wakes up tired. I’m the opposite, out and about soon after waking up, ready for action. Today however I wasn’t being picked up till 7:30. It was still raining on an off, like it had been for the last 36 or so hours. Because of that we were still not sure if we would head out or just go into the shed. Discussions were had between Howsie and Rongy as they drove out to my place, and I got a message that we would head outdoors so threw my gear in the back of my car and waited for them:
Castle Rock was our destination. The crags on the western coast would be subject to full force of the strong winds and potential of bands of rain that the forecast promised. Here at least we were in a more protected bay, plus there was the lure of a grade 20 for Howsie. Just one at this crag and one he was yet to bag in 2020. It wasn’t too cold but the wind was blustery and the west face was in shade so we were rugged up. We sent Howsie up Smear to Glory, a fun and very trad style route that is never too hard but has added spice due to the gear and positions:
I was also a little surprised that neither of the boys had climbed the cracks to the left. A while back Rongy and I climbed a route to the far left with Katie, which is when I got him to climb the route Howsie just led. But the cracks that sit between these two lines had remained untouched. They are not hard maybe grade 8 or so but they are fun lines. I seem to repeat them many times with the likes of the Peppy Crew and Lou, in fact a few people have popped their leading cherry on the line below. Seeing it was a windy and uncertain day we hit the cracks next, with Rongy picking the obvious and most striking corner:
By being selective in the choice of holds this allowed for a bit of practice jamming. As mentioned in my post last week, some jamming practices is a good thing for an up and coming trip which is starting to get closer. Back to Castle Rock and I too picked off an easy line, one that has a top out that seems to stump a few people due to the lack of gear. But it really isn’t bad, and today I almost wondered if had needed to rope up for it. It felt nice to cruise on some easy lines, but we knew there was some business on the other side of the crag that we could not avoid:
So it was that Howsie stood at the bottom of Well Rounded, contemplating whether he was warmed up enough. He pondered this for a while, and then a while longer before thinking just a little more about it. All the time any warming up the previous climbs had provided would be a distant memory, so we made the decision for him. One of the worries on this route is the first clip as it is awkward, quite high and has a nasty landing awaiting anyone who fails before clipping it. Steve has been known to stick clip this bolt (with his fishing rod) to avoid this:
Howsie was looking good, slow but steady. He made the first clip, teetered about for a bit then made his way to the second clip. All the while hanging onto all the namesake rounded holds, which is all this route offers for the two thirds. He seemed not to have any memory of the line, and we later worked out the last time he had climbed this route was with me in March 2015 while Rhys had been taking images of us. Three of the images made it into the South West climbing guide, including Howsie on this route:
Back then he managed a strong, confident and clean ascent. But this time he was spending way too long on those rounded holds, so it was he slipped and decided to go back down to have a second bash. You may have noticed the jacket was off. This side of the crag was in full sun, when it wasn’t playing hide and seek with the clouds, and it creates a bit of heat trap. Fine on a winter, coming into spring day, like today and we were relishing it, but on a summer day it is a killer. On his second attempt at least the draws were in, taking the edge off slightly:
As we went up he was looking less coordinated than the first time, a bit like I must have looked in Lisa’s dreams after having the magic mushroom beer (supposedly). He got to the same height as before and then slipped off those smooth holds, again. To give him a proper rest Rongy provided a master class of how to use smooth, slopey holds and glided up the route. This style of climbing suits Rongy down to the ground. The holds are less positive and you need to put your limbs in unlikely positions and use body tension and to maximise every point of contact. It’s hard to explain but when you see it in action it is very graceful:
I followed Rongy up and have to say I’m glad I didn’t lead the route, it felt just that little bit too testy for me today. Howsie watched on and when we came back down he went for attempt number three. With the draws in, a bit more intel and a decent rest he looked smooth and never showed any signs or made any noises to indicate he might fail. It was third time lucky and there was a big sigh of relief, as that meant we do not need to use one of his opportunities to get out to bag this line. Rongy and then I took the opportunity for a second lap seeing the rope was there, and I stayed atop as they went back down:
A route at the crag called Spanking the Monkey has always drawn my attention. I’ve attempted it several times and it always ends the same, I get a spanking and there is no sign of a monkey. More of those strange smooth holds that Castle Rock gives, but this time it is steeper and they are less obvious. The start is tenuous, pumpy and a little scary. Even Rongy had to dig deep to work out the sequence, using every ounce of that special technique he has. Despite giving it everything he slipped off several times until he finally managed to unlock the path and get established in the crack above:
On my previous attempts I seem to recall I was out with Craig, we were both climbing strong and were not afraid to jump on a 23 at any crag. This feisty 22 however had us foxed and we never got it clean. The big issue with this line, is that the start simply drains you of almost all of your energy, and after that while there are reasonable hand holds it stays steep and you need to keep hanging on, and on, and on all the way up. Add to that your feet and mostly on smears, so it is exhausting to climb and just as exhausting to watch:
After slipping off the start, Rongy managed to get the rest of the route clean. There was a fair bit of uncharacteristic huffing and puffing going on, and several times he asked Howsie to watch him indicating he was close to falling off. Then for the top moves he seemed to hang about for ages, shaking out and taking his time. I thought it was because he knew I was running about like a mad person taking images from every conceivable angle. Eventually he topped out and both Howsie and I could let our hearts subside from our throats back down to where they should be:
Both Howsie and I were a tad nervous to follow up this line. I followed first and kept slipping off the start flakes, my use of body positions wasn’t up to scratch and I felt like I was being spanked again. However, once I sorted out the sequence the rest flowed… until those final moves. Rongy hadn’t been posing but resting, as best the position would allow, and working out the next moves. It was overhung, had small holds, required big moves and all that on tried arms. It was an epic finish, one I only just managed to do:
Howsie went up next looking weary. They offered me the opportunity to bag one more lead, but after that line we all felt that we had been worked enough today. Despite the inclement weather that had resulted in an occasional sprinkle from the clouds, which had continually rolled past overhead, we had managed to bag some fun lines on this small crag that packs a punch. Now in case you are perplexed about the title of the post it has nothing to do with my antics in Lisa’s dreams… as we sorted through the gear we supped on a hot cuppa from the thermos that Howsie had kindly brought along, so I just didn’t have it in me to comment on his 70s attire:
Sandbagged 