After a day hanging about at home, going for a snorkel and chilling out watching a bit of TV with Lisa it was hard to motivate myself to pack up the car and head south. Kym and I had been scheming a trip out for quite a while now, and on this occasion I had decided on a bit of a later drive down, for various reasons. As such the clock just passed 4:30 before I hit the road. It was a little later than sensible, with a four hour drive ahead it meant I would be heading down through dusk and into darkness, which is when the roos are more likely to be out and about. An hour or so into the journey as I headed inland the skies ahead greyed over, not from dusk but smoke:
The smoke thickened as I drove and I kept a watchful eye out east in case I could see any flames. It got really thick reminding me of a few trips in the UK driving though a never ending soupy fog, this one however did end and after about an hour I was out the other side. It was a strange experience as the sky cleared up and once again brightened up. I spotted a couple of roos, hopping across the road, far enough ahead of me to easily slow down. There was also an emu closely followed by its young, which sprinted across the road as I got closer. Other than that the trip down went as planned, hitting Mount Barker as it got dark with only 45min of the journey to go:
Only Kym was up when I arrived, the others had all hit the sack. Like Lisa and I they were all shattered having just finished up the year and school just ending. Knowing Kym and Meg it would have been a packed and busy year, so the summer holiday would be very welcome. Kym however was awake, the night shifts playing havoc with his sleep routine. So as I drank tea and munched on a delicious homemade quiche we stayed up far later than my usual bed time chatting away. Eventually hitting the sack, and while I slept solidly Kym had a restless night. It is possible that the task that lay ahead was on his mind. I was up and about early, 5am and it is bright and the sun is up. It was going to be a quick trip this time so the morning and breakfast time would be my only chance to catch up with Meg, Tess, Claire and Beau:
My last trip down was in early June and Beau was still crawling but now he is walking about and is a very decisive and determined kid. After a bite to eat and all too brief catch-up it was time to head round to Ron’s, where the troops were to rally with Ang and then Jon arriving. With five of us and loads of gear we headed to our destination. Kym was strangely quiet and seemed pretty focused, again the task that lay ahead weighed heavy on his mind. We arrived with only a slight delay, as we had to assist an earlier party who had managed to get bogged on the sandy track. On the last trip here we encountered someone in need of help on the way out, but at least this time we didn’t have to manually push them out:
Climbing with Ron is a bit of an epic, in that he is well known for packing everything but the kitchen sink. His car was full of ropes, drills, gear and more. So there was a bit of haggling at the start, finally an agreement was settled on as to how many ropes we really needed. Landing on a slightly more sensible amount of gear than what we started with, but still managing to take in three racks, two lead ropes and three statics. Fortunately it is a short walk into this place, as we lugged the gear and set up two base camps. If you were new to this area I doubt you would ever find these locations and the rap stations:
But that is not why others don’t come here. Our destination was Convicts Corner, a place that the online guide (The Crag) boasts only two routes. However, over the last couple of years the boys have been busy here and there are now close to twenty quality lines, with quite a few that have yet to be led clean. Both Kym and Ron had a line each that they wanted to have a go at bagging today. Ang helped Ron with setting up so he could check the line and gear before he went for it. Kym and I had decided to head down and just go for it. There was no warming up today, and he would jump on the line we had spied on my first trip here just over a year ago:
This wall was by far the centrepiece of the area, in fact it is a little surprising that no one has previously been here to attempt it. It is steep and imposing but looks stunning, and while we ponded over the idea of having a go ground up in 2019, there were other good routes to bag then. That and in truth it looked a little daunting. Over this year Kym has been back a few times establishing new lines, some bolted, some mixed and some trad. He had also spent one day scoping this wall and decided to add four bolts, so in a way it was good that we hadn’t tried for the ground up ascent last time:
The first three bolts are on the start traverse and they were very much needed, I was belying off to the side in a corner and a lead fall would have been very nasty without the bolts. Kym was anxious as he made the first moves. From the very start it is on, slightly overhung, long reachy moves, sloper holds along a nervous traverse. Then a steep crack and layback up to the first roof. The moves over this were not as formidable as they first appeared, but once you step up another traverse awaits with spaced unseen underclings in an outrageous position. Images from the belay were never going to be that good, but Jon had set himself up on the rap line to get some good images from above, with a wall like this one it just had to be done:
Tricky moves keep hitting you, after the underclings it goes into a super delicate layback up rounded shallow cracks. More rounded cracks, occasionally just deep enough to take gear, then lead to another traverse on a thankfully deeper crack. The footwork stays delicate and you are on your arms leading you up the final roof. Here Kym stayed for quite a while allowing his arms to deflate from the sustained and pumpy moves, the climb hits you with one unrelenting sequence after another. It was delivering everything you could want and more. As Kym sat there he cleaned some loose rock off, good sized blacks hurtled down the wall. Due to its steepness and also the position of my belay ledge off to the side, the blocks sailed safely past me and crashed onto the rock shelf below:
It reminded me of being in the Zawn at Moses just a few days back, as I unintentionally knocked a few loose blocks down. This time it was my turn to be in the firing line, but that is all good it is part of climbing when you are in spots that don’t get a lot of attention. Eventually Kym went for the roof and I heard him shout out with joy as he topped out after being on the route for a long 45min. It was an epic lead for sure and one of the best climbs I’ve done. I have to admit to starting on this route cold was a scary proposition, the very first moves were hard and very reachy, and several times it felt like I was off but somehow I hung on. Each sequence fell into place and finally I only had the roof left. I’m not sure if it was my lack of reach, arms pumping out or just not reading the sequence right but I was finally spat off. It took me three attempts to work out the finally bouldery style sequence to make it up and congratulate Kym:
If that was the only route we did that day I would have been chuffed, Kym was ear to ear smiling. His lack of sleep and nervousness of the epic lead that lay ahead was all behind him and he was in a deservedly elated mood. He called the route Critical Mass and we reckon grade 22 is fair, but it was also pretty damned sustained and very tricky to read. While we may have been content we were not going to waste the time here, so we headed back down and I jumped on Showpony to grab the second ascent of this far more relaxed grade 17 route. The first half is quality slab and finger crack climbing, just my style and I lapped it up. Occasionally I heard Kym below me, reminding me to maybe put some gear in:
As I topped out I noticed Ang was over on the wall we had played on during the last trip. While we had five of us Jon was more here to take images, enjoy the setting and maybe do a self-belay top rope route. He had even brought a pillow in case he fancied a snooze! So while Jon was enjoying himself with these mixed pursuits, Ron had been taking his time to sus out his line and as yet had not led it. This had left Ang twiddling her thumbs a bit so she had headed off to get on rock by herself. As I set myself up to belay Kym I found Ron and Jon at the top having a munch and chilling out. Ron mentioned he was finally ready for action, so asked if Kym or I could belay him up his line after we were done:
The answer was pretty obvious, but before that it was time to allow Kym to enjoy this great 45m route. There is something so rewarding about long lines, with a rope stretcher like this one you can really get into the climbing and situation. Sometimes shorter routes tend to be over way too quickly. It is the joy I get from these long routes that make the long drive all this way, just for a day out, so very worthwhile. That and of course the good company of the south coast crew. Kym floated up the route, which he did the first ascent for a week or two back, not because it was easy but because he was still very much on a high after his epic lead:
As Kym joined us at the top, he and Ron started to discuss the gear on the line Ron was to lead. Kym had spotted and scoped the route, adding a couple of bolts to get it ready for Ron as 50th birthday present. Today was Ron’s first play on the line and as had been attempting the moves and checking the gear he had been nervous about the RPs placements. Not convinced they would hold and worried about the falls. Regardless of all that, he was still keen to head down to lead it. I was pleased about that and as I prepared to rap down to the belay ledge, I looked over at Watson’s Buttress and there was a party of climbers enjoying the amazing weather and rock conditions the day was offering. We wondered if they were the guys that we helped on the way in:
As Kym headed off to check out if Ang wanted to lead something, Ron came down to join me and I could sense his nervousness when he was finally ready to start climbing. I was in another fine position half way up the wall hanging in my harness as Ron, in a jittery state, started and almost slipped a couple of times. The route is a slab that follows a very thin crack that only just takes RPs and makes use of the arête. It has some very delicate moves that require a fair bit of trust in small holds. With nothing but exposure out to your right to encourage you not to fall. I’m pleased to say Ron held it together and following up this route I could see why he was nervous, but it was all there. And yet another great first ascent was established, Foot Fault at grade 20:
Back at the packs it was time to check out what Kym and Ang had got up to, and it seems that Ang had lost her leading mojo so Kym had donned the gear. I found them at the base of a short wall which had four lines, all as yet awaiting a first ascent. Kym had scoped them out and equipped them. Some had a few bolts and they all had lower-offs making for fun 15m lines. Seeing the rope was already up I jumped on the route Kym had just bagged, Thick as Thieves, a pumpy and steep grade 18 hand crack with a surprising number of hidden holds making for a great variety of moves. This was a complete trad lead and while I pulled all the moves, I was certainly starting to feel tired:
Back down and as Ron went up the same line Kym suggested, or should I say was motivating me to don the gear and have a crack at the line to the right. I was pretty weary and also a little wary, crack climbing is not my forte and I knew that the climbs got harder as you went right. Added to that I was getting tired, but Kym convinced me it would be a good thing. Beside the start had three bolts before it got into the crack and trad, it’d be great! I racked up placing gear on my hardness not paying any attention to what I had until he told me I had plenty and didn’t need any more. It started OK, and I got established in the cracks but I struggled to get any good jams, making it hard to get in good positions to place gear:
While I got up the route, I won’t say it was in good style. It was deceptive and didn’t climb at all how I expected it to. Awkward stances and with a draining steepness to it, I was spanked needing to rest several times before getting to the top. After all those long routes, this 15m route certainly didn’t feel short and it kept me going the whole way. It will however have to wait for a first ascent, but I think it is fair to say it is a solid grade 20. Ron and Ang were happy, they had been beaten by this one just a few weeks back, so were pleased to see that I too found it equally challenging. I took solace in both of them, with their far greater jamming experience, saying they to struggled to find any decent jams:
The three racks had been mixed and matched and as we sorted it out and packed our bags, we realised Jon was nowhere to be seen. He had snuck off to do a bit top rope soloing, so we waited until he returned before we started to make the thankfully short walk back to the car. On the drive out there were no rescues required and after repeating the morning sequence in reverse we found ourselves back at Kym’s. My intention was to get home that day so after a brief chat and with a cuppa ready to take I hit the road. I got home just before nine and again was lucky not to have any close encounters with roos or emus. A huge thank you to Kym and the boys for allowing me to tag along on their adventures. I’m very much looking forward to the next trip down, which hopefully won’t be too far off:
Sandbagged 