The mural on Wellington Dam was officially unveiled a week back, and today being the start of a long weekend there would no doubt be an onslaught of tourist driving by to take a look. Being still early as I rolled past, I had the place to myself so I took a couple of quick snaps. I have to say it looks pretty good, and I like the way the images have been made to look like they are on canvases. This may be a detail that you struggle to see in the low resolution copy of my image below, in which case you will just have to make a trip here yourself. If you are reading this from interstate or overseas and keen let me know and can send some full resolution images:
My reason for heading back to Welly Dam was that I had tried to organise a bit of a social catch-up. This was on the basis that there has been an influx of new people joining the local South West WhatsApp chat group and I thought it would be good way to get to know them all. The call out hadn’t resulted in the response that I thought it may have, and as such only a few familiar people ended up coming along, being Mikey, Howsie and Andrew. Despite Welly Dam having proven to be pretty tough for Andrew, just a few weeks back, he was keen to come along and had arranged for a mate to also join in. So until his mate, who had climbing experience, arrived he pottered about taking images:
Howsie was on a timeline, the aim was to be on the road by 10:30. It didn’t give us lots of time, and does to some extent result in a changed head space needing to check the clock to ensure our enthusiasm didn’t take over and make him late. We started sensibly on Welcome to Edges to warm up, but even this would have been too tough for Andrew with its bouldery start. As I hung at the anchors getting ready to clean the route Mikey was looking up at the climb to the right, Attack of the March Flies. He had been looking at it during our last trip here and liked the aesthetics of the line. Howsie and I encouraged him to give it a go, and I’m sure from our overly exuberant support that Mikey had an inkling of what to expect:
He was attempting this route ground-up, and with no prior knowledge was going to be great to watch. In the lower potion he moved well but the crux at mid height blocked his path. It took a bit of figuring out but he eventually working his way through that, before having a rest at a stance below the steep flake feature where it gets pretty pumpy. As you’ll see from the image above and below he got a bit warm on this route and so discarded his jumper. Each time the same spot was reached, as shown above. Sometimes he down-climbed from here but most times he fell. It was a solid effort with some decent falls as the video will show, but eventually he became complete gassed and conceded defeat:
The last clip before the anchors is the scariest part of the route, and he hadn’t managed to get the draw on it. So Howsie and I looked at each other, not quite staring each other down but there was definitely a mind game going on. We had both been so keen to lead it, with the draws in but now it was a whole new ball game. I gave in and went up next next, stuffing up the mid-section but cruising the pumpy upper part. Howsie then pulled the rope, and with the security of all the draws in may a methodical and steady clean ascent. All thought of the clock had seeped away during all the excitement but our second route had eaten away a hour of our time:
It was my choice next and I already knew what it would be, and I knew full well it may end up being another route that would gobble up time. Flight Simulator had only just beaten me the last time I took it on, but today I managed to get it clean. This time I was more clinical and not anywhere near as vocal as previously, there was however some heavy breathing to get me through. Howsie went next, and like his ascent of Attack of the March Flies he was looking methodical and steady… until he got to where I am in the above image. Each time he attempted to reach the next clipping stance something in his head held him back. Resulting in him going up and down like a yo-yo but still in control as he down climbed:
Each time it sapped a bit more strength and energy, and each time his head did the same thing and he seemed to freeze in time and stay there motionless unable to attempt to make the next clip. We eventually encouraged him to really go for it, with the not surprising result. The ropes were certainly getting a big workout today. Like on Attack of the March Flies this sequence will give you plenty of air time if you slip off before getting the next clip. This process was repeated several times before it was Howsie’s turn to concede defeat, that said he had been battling this route for half an hour. Andrew seemed quite happy to be taking images and kicking back, his mate was so far a no show and there was little point in trying out routes:
Andrew also didn’t seem too interested in having a boulder along the base, which is a great way to get used to the rock and climbing style here. So he chilled out on the well placed boulder and watched Mikey have a bash. With having had plenty of time to recovered from his previous route, he set up looking confident. He will however be the first to admit that he is lacking stamina. Due to having not climbed outdoors for a long time, and only having done a bit of bouldering. While stamina may be his weak point the bouldering has given him strength, technique and a go for it attitude, which was certainly on display today:
He made short work of the first half getting to the same place as Howsie. From this point the main difference being that he only reversed the moves once before launching into it. In the image below he is at the clipping stance, holding onto a flat sloper with just enough texture to gain a friction hold. After working all the moves below your arms are pretty tried at this point, making what seems like a big hold feel insecure. This is where Mikey popped off once, twice and then I lost count. He did eventually crack it and managed to get to the anchors, avoiding the need for me to repeat the line. And another hour had been eaten away:
We were certainly not moving at the usual pace of our before work climb sessions, and we now had less than an hour left before it was time to pack up. This helped us decide on a couple of more gentle climbs, both to avoid a late departure but also to allow the boys to get a clean lead in. I pointed Howsie to BBQ, a route that has perplexed him in the past but one he should be capable of climbing. He managed a clean ascent and never looked to be struggling with his head, so it was a great way to sort himself out after the last route. Mikey was however all over the place, moving erratically and slapping for holds so not even getting to the first bolt before deciding to give it a miss:
He did however give the final route a crack, Savage Sausage Sniffer. Another one that we know well enough and is at a grade that it really shouldn’t chew up too much time. I led it so the draws were in to make it a little easier for the boys, as they were both keen to pull the rope and led it. Mikey managed to get all the way to below the final anchors, and only had to unlock the locally famous Mikey Pinch hold. A hold that he had discovered when he on-sighted this route and since then has made it so much more sane for the rest of us. Today’s workout was taking its toll and the result was his mind becoming addled and his body exhausted. Although so close to the end he just couldn’t finish it off:
That just left Howsie to wrap the morning off, and looking at the clock we knew he would have to make an efficient accent. So I suggested that I would only keep him on belay for 3min and 45 seconds, which was a randomly selected length of time that just happened to pop into my head. It is strange how I occasionally suggest dumb ideas like this and yet people just seem to roll with them. I was instructed to put him on belay only once he had clipped the first bolt, settled his mind and then started to move. Andrew was the timekeeper and we all watched the clock for one last time, counting down the seconds and being mightily impressed when Howsie made it up and secured himself to the anchors with 13 seconds to spare:
Sandbagged 