With only a few months left this year Howsie was in need of a boost to keep his 2020 challenge on track, so we headed down to Wilyabrup to allow him to tick off a couple more 20s from his list. And as predicted last week the starts are getting earlier, as he suggested meeting in Capel at 5am. We arrived, not surprisingly, to an empty car park and found a bunch of track markers and signs. A running event was to start at 7am, at Hamelin Bay and finish at the Cheeky Monkey Brewery not too far from Wilyabrup. A whopping 80km! I wonder if Alan or any of his mates were aware of it and entering:
Today the focus was on supporting Howsie and we had already set out a plan of attack, mapping out what routes we would tackle and in which order. Most of the climbing was to be at the Inner Space wall, and we decided that a couple of warm up climbs would be sensible to make sure he was both mentally and physically ready for his first grade 20. This wall, while not as tall as the other areas at Wilyabrup has a bunch of very fine routes. We started with Inner Space. The rock felt good and we were both moving well, so I was feeling optimistic:
Today the swell was down considerably from last weekend and the ocean looked like it was starting to clear up, a good sign for snorkelling. We also kept an eye on the water just in case there were any dolphins or whales, which resulted in us hanging about at the top of each climb a little longer. After Inner Space, that helped get Howsie’s head into leading and also prepare him to keep a calm mind when there was a need to run it out between protection, I jumped on Totally Awesome. Bumping the grade up a couple of notches, this one is a bit more sustained, fingery and technical. For those with local knowledge we also threw in the direct start to add a bit more spice:
Now as a bit of aside note, about a month and a half back Howsie was playing dinosaurs with his sons. As all good dad and son games go it sounds like it got a little fast and furious, resulting in Howsie smashing his little toe on the kitchen table leg. His toe is still a bit swollen and sore but climbers are generally a hardy and determined sort, so that wasn’t stopping him today. To ensure Howsie had the best chance of bagging the grade 20s we took our time between climbs to allow some recovery, but not so much as to cool down. This allowed time for the climbing shoes to come off between routes to give all of our toes a bit of a rest:
Midwall Crisis was the next route, the first grade 20. It’s a route he had attempted two months back, before the toe bashing incident, when we came out with Rongy and it spat him off on each attempt. This was due to his dilly-dallying on the airy traverse, pondering and stressing over the protection with his feet on smears and flat top handholds that somehow never feel that positive. As such there was some trepidation in the air as he set off. But once he set off there was none of that indecisiveness, and that added to the notes he had made on his last attempts about what gear goes where (yes he is taking the 2020 challenge pretty seriously) resulted in him cruising up it:
The itinerary had been set such that the next climb would be just enough to keep the body moving but not so hard as to drain it of any remaining strength. So it was that I led up Waterfall Second Folly Direct Start. With the nervy and pumpy start below me, a group of 15 to 20 climbers wandered past. It transpired that the Climbing Association of Western Australia (CAWA) was running a bit of a trad leading course. We came back down and it seemed like we still had the place to ourselves, due to the course thankfully being run at the far end of the crag. This allowed Howsie to psych himself up for Real Woman Accept it for What It Is:
Howsie hadn’t led this route before, but had been up it on second. After much mental preparation he set off and was looking good until half height. His elbows started to come away from the wall and he was looking stiff and awkward, a sure sign that his arms were getting pumped. He fell off and in the process tested a rust old piton that is likely to be 35 years old. We stopped for a snack and drink break to allow his arms to settle down before trying again. On the second and then third attempt he got higher but each time fell off. Maybe to retest that old piton or was it just that his arms were toast. He conceded the latter so I led up the route, allowing him to follow me, work the moves and assist in his note taking to ensure he is ready to send it when we come back:
The last route of the day was going to be Fishing With Dynamite, with packs so we didn’t have to hike out with them. But it seemed that this might have been asking a bit much of what remained of Howsie’s arms, so we plumped for The Unbolted and the Beautiful for some more trad action. And needless to say without the packs. As we wandered across to the Dolphin Smiles wall we came across Mark with a few climber and had a bit of a catch-up. We then immersed ourselves amongst the throngs of CAWA climbers on the course, who were wandering round the base of the crag learning about the tricks of placing gear:
It seemed apt that from the top of the Dolphin Smiles wall I spied a large pod of dolphins cruising about, Howsie stopped for a while on the route to check them out. As he carried on upwards I continued to enjoy watching them bob about. Howsie confessed that the route was just enough and anything harder would have been too much. A sure sign that it was time to call it a day, so we watched the dolphins a while before heading down. When we did we came across a huge group of 40 plus teenagers on an adventure camp. They were teaming all over the upper tier and dropping down abseil lines over the Inner Space wall like an invading army. It seems we were wrapping up our session just in the nick of time:
Walking out a group of 10 or so boulders looking a bit like hermit crabs, as they were hauling their pads, were making their way in. As yet there was no sign of any runners on the track out, and what with the bite of the sun now high in the sky we wondered how they would fare on the gruelling 80km course. It seemed that the carpark had been extended up the gravel road, and as we drove out another three cars came in. It was going to be a very busy afternoon at Wilyabrup. While Howsie had not managed to bag the two 20s it was a great morning out and the early start proved worthwhile once more in allowing us to avoid the busy period at the crag. So if you are aiming to get out with me over summer be prepared to need to set your alarm clock nice an early:
Sandbagged 