The new car park

On Thursday we had a delivery of firewood.  Many people have used their fires a for a bit now but we seem to either have a bit more resilience or a better insulated house.  But even for Lisa and I Friday felt bitterly cold, and that evening we finally lit the fire.  It didn’t take long for the house to become toasty warm, and in the early hours of Saturday morning it was still smouldering away keeping the house a lovely temperature.  But I had committed to heading out and stepped outside into the darkness, away from the comfort within:

I arrived at the car park of Wilyabrup ten minutes early, in what seemed total darkness.  The good news being that the bitter cold of Friday seemed to have been vanquished and I wondered if I was overdressed in my Buffalo and a beanie.  Ash was chauffeured in bang on our agree time to meet, and first light seemed to be hot on his and Darcy’s heals.  Darcy, who doesn’t climb, was down from Perth for the weekend visiting Ash and I felt a little guilty that we were heading out for a climb.  But he was happy to chill out and take in the beauty of the area, while Ash and I bagged a couple of routes:

Ash was keen to get a few more trad lines under his belt.  He said the thought of trad climbing scares him but he also gets a huge sense of satisfaction after the event.  The first time I went climbing with him and hoped he would have a bash at leading on trad, we went up Sirius.  I led the first pitch, which when he followed had him on a knife edge with nerves almost in tatters by the time he got to the first belay.  So much so that I led a bolted line up the face, hoping to leave the second trad pitch of Sirius for him to lead one day.  Today I had in mind for that day to arrive:

There seemed to be some humidity in the air resulting in the level of friction that we would normally expect not being there.  This meant we felt a little insecure on the holds and held on a little harder than we should.  Ash was very focused as he followed up and looked a little nervous, but compared to last time was much calmer and looked to be kind of enjoying himself.  So much so that I didn’t really give him a choice of leading or not.  We sorted the gear and talked about the process for him to follow in setting up the belay when he got to the top.  Then he was off, reaching for the sky:

In his words, he scared himself up the route but really enjoyed it at the same time.  Talk about conflicting emotions!  Most of his gear was solid.  One or two pieces could have been improved but that is all part of learning the trade, and he was keen to hear what I had to say.  Darcy watched on the whole time in wonder at what we were doing, and maybe also wondering just a little bit why we do it.  We were taking our time today, but it felt a good pace for an overcast  grey day. It was my lead next and I had already decided what I would climb, but what grade it would be was unknown:

I can’t recall how long ago, maybe a year and a half or more, Glen told me of a potential new line he had spied.  And as of today it was still unclimbed or at least to our knowledge unclaimed.  Way back then, Glen couldn’t resist from telling me about it but also made me swear I wouldn’t climb it until he had the opportunity to lead it.  I was fine with this but did suggest a timeframe and we agreed that if he hadn’t climbed it by the 1^st April 21, I would be allowed to.  So today I did just that.  It was almost a no go, as first moves were very bouldery and bold with the promise of a pretty average landing:

It took me a while to figure out the start moves and once I nailed them I thought it would turn into a ramble, but I was wrong.  The difficulty eased slightly, after the do or die start moves, however the wall remained slightly off vertical.  The wrong way off vertical and it kept me honest.  My arms were pretty pumped by the time I got to the ledge.  Then to ensure the line was independent of the existing climbs, of Gutted to the left and Slapping the Fat to the right, I fired straight over the overlaps.  A long reach and high step got me to great underclings resulting in a great climb of two half’s.  Well worth the time it took to work out the start:

Much credit has to go to Glen for spying the line, and if I was honest I have to say that with the way the start went I’m not sure he would ever have led it.  Ash and I discussed grades and we struggled with what to give it.  Now that I’ve consider how the routes to the left (16) and right (17) climb, I’m going with a tough 17 and will wait and see if anyone else tries it to confirm this.  Glen while you didn’t bag the first ascent, I’ve decided to call it The Sullivan’s.  Credit also has to go to Ash, not because he followed the gnarly route clean but in being able to remain calm, especially when he realised where I was intending to belay from.  The images above should give you a hint as to what I mean:

Ash and Darcy had to be on the road by 11am, and while I had dallied a bit on my route there was still time to get one more line in.  So Ash took the pointy end for a second time and headed up Hope.  He sailed his way up, the crux didn’t seem to slow him down and I am safe in saying he really enjoyed himself while climbing it and this time only scared himself up it a little bit.  His gear was again mostly bomber and all of it would have easily held a fall, but being mister picky did have a few tips for next time.  I was however not able to find any fault with this piece, which I feel the South West crew will really appreciate:

Darcy kindly carried Ash’s pack up and also offered to take mine up.  I was however happy to climb with a pack, and for some strange reason actually quite enjoy it.  Today and very unusually since the pandemic hit, we had the place all to ourselves.  We didn’t really pick up on this until voices could be heard, as I followed up the last route of the day.  It wasn’t climbers but a few families walking along the base of the cliffs.  What a great thing to do, going for a walk with the family I thought… until we realised the cheeky buggers hadn’t really gone for a walk and had parked their cars at the toilet block just above the cliffs(!):