After a few weeks of hitting the bolted walls at Welly Dam it was time to get back onto the coastal crags for a bit of trad. There was a bit of committing and bailing to heading out by a certain party, and in the end Craig did join Jamie and I on a trip to Moses Rocks. I’d checked the conditions and knew it may be a wee bit damp due to the swell and wind direction. And as we arrived the forecast proved correct, the rock was wet but that has never dampened our mood at Moses where due to the friction you can climb in all conditions:
I’d already decided to head towards Rumpole’s Rocks, but as we wandered down that way Craig and I agreed it was finally time for us to repeat our two routes called Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee. I doubt anyone else has ever been on them, and on the first ascent Craig was having an off day, backing off Tweedle Dumb until he had reset his focus and then finishing it off. They are both short, not too hard and hidden in a mass of rock, which is why I doubt anyone has ever done them:
While not hard they are both steep towards the top, some would say they have an overlap or bulge. But to Jamie they were overhangs, something she is not particularly keen on and quick to believe in her mind that she can’t get up. Craig is however a patient and encouraging person and while she looked a little concerned, Jamie managed to get up the first route after Craig who also managed to get it first hit. Then after I led Tweedle Dee she got up that one too, looking a little less concerned but still not 100% believing that she could do it:
After the warm up routes it was time to get to the higher walls at Rumpole’s Rocks. With no agenda for today Craig wandered along and looked up to see what tickled his fancy, and deciding on Chillies and Garlic. This route is more vertical in nature and never feels like an overhang, and it was interesting to watch Jamie cruise up it with relative ease despite being four grades harder than either of the first two routes. It really goes to show how much climbing is a mind game:
For difficulty of climbs we normally attempt I’ve always considered that, as long as you are reasonably fit and have a bit of climbing experience, a good mental attitude will result in someone giving most climbs a good crack. While physical strength does come into it, but good technique can get you a long way without needing to be able to do a pullup. Everyone who has climbed with me will have heard me to tell them to use their feet, but the second most important part is using your core. Body position is so important to keep the weight on your legs, they are after all the biggest and strongest muscles we have:
Jaime did well following me up Yogurt, other than her and Craig ganging up on me about pronunciation and how yogurt “should” be said. This route did however have a bit more of a sustained overlapping section and it was good to see this it didn’t faze Jaimie. The next route that Craig chose was however a different story. Olive Oil starts steep but then requires you to us your arms to get established over the small rooflet. Great handholds are on offer but you have to get your left foot high and then rock over onto it. Her head started to get rattled from the start, it does after all look ominous even though Craig made it look easy:
While Jamie managed to get the bomber handholds, and also established her left foot up high, she really struggled with the rockover. Instead each time she got her foot up she slunk down on her arms losing any height advantage. Despite her repeated attempts obviously sapping her strength, Craig nor I were going to give up no her. I felt we may have been close to crossing the line the last time we encouraged her to give it one more crack. But with a bit of advice on keeping the momentum going and not relaxing when her left foot was up, she pulled it off:
She then continued in a determined nature up the headwall above and after that it was time for a well-deserved break, and to help with the recuperation a welcome cuppa. While there was a bit of a swell and the salt spray was intense, the tide was reasonably low and the base of the crag at least was not being lapped by the ocean. The wind was however now starting to turn, blowing the salt spray like a mist from the south across the face of the crag. It also resulted in the wind hitting the base of the crag dropping to nothing allowing the mossies to attack in full force:
I headed up Jugs Galore. The steep start was putting Jamie off from giving it a bash, but we somehow got her tied in. She was soon reaching up and looked to relax that bit and just go for it, managing all the moves between the route’s namesake jugs. Craig picked the most southerly route called Finger Licking. I belayed him pointing out the moves he was making to Jamie, and there were no signs of her flinching and saying she would pass this one by. After she had got past the bottom hard moves, I then turned my attention to a rock pool in which some fish had been trapped:
I’d spotted these fish earlier, but the pool was in the shade cast by the crag. With the sun well and truly high in the sky now I couldn’t resist sitting there for a while to watch them again. When I turned my attention back to the crag, Jamie was making her way up the headwall. I’d like to think that our little chats about having a relaxed and chilled attitude to climbs that might feel hard and focusing on some basics such as footwork, engaging core muscle groups, conserving your arms till you really need them, and going for it when you decide to start a difficult looking section was paying off:
For my last climb I had a bash at a way through the rooflet that Craig had spied. A thin rounded crack with no obvious horizontal breaks. I couldn’t recall having climbed it before, but looking up felt I could see a way to get up it. Jamie took the camera and took heaps of images, while I attempted varying approaches to use the shallow finger locks to pull towards the wall above. I had no idea of how I would get my feet established if I did make it. Up and down I went, too many times to count, and my fingers were getting sore from the jams. So I offered the rope to Craig and he too came across the same difficulties:
I almost managed to work a sequence when Craig handed the rope back to me but it was not to be and we decided that it was just a bit too hard. I‘ve checked the guide and there are no recorded routes up this crack, and so we will have to return to bag it another day. Preferable a dry day. Needless to say Jamie declined our offer to have a go on lead, I mean it was the gentlemanly thing to do before we pulled the rope on it. She was quite happy to be behind the lens, and as we pondered what I would lead instead she wandered off to watch the waves:
Burning Both Ends was my pick and that is a bit how I felt as I worked my way up this route. A fitting end to the day, climbing yet another fine traditional line up the tallest part of the crag. Craig will be interested to hear this route was graded 17, and was set before we started to visit this area. While it felt nervous today, we both agreed 15 was more appropriate relative to the other routes here. But at the end of the day it is more about where your mind is at as opposed to a grade or two difference, and after our morning’s outing we were all definitely feeling good:
Sandbagged 