Defying gravity

Steve was back in town.  Making use of the relaxing pace of the south west to escape the rat race of Perth, collect his thoughts and recharge for the onslaught of the next stage of his hectic lifestyle.  He’ll confess that the multiple and carried demands on his time are mostly self-initiated, so he has no complaints it is just a case of balancing things.  While it was great to catch up and hear where he is at and where he is heading in the coming months, it was equally fun to get out with him on a day that most would have written off before it started.  But in matters such as braving the elements, both Steve and I are of equal mind:

While there was a hint of hesitancy from both us, as the promise of a wet weekend was consistently forecast as the week progressed we decided we would not be put off.  Arriving at Wilyabrup the same time as Ash and I had last weekend the clouds made it feel a bit darker.  To counter the lower light Steve set off up the first line, beaming light in every direction he turned his head.  Was the head torch truly needed, well maybe not but the novelty factor is something that makes Steve thrives on.  When he and I climb we are rarely serious, and some might even frown upon some of the antics we have got up to:

Today I had suggested I would bring my rack and rope, after all if we got drenched I didn’t have the long haul back to Perth with all that wet gear to steam up the inside of the car.  I was impressed and Steve’s rucksack was indeed, as he put it, the lightest it has ever been for a morning climb.  He had however snuck in the above hex and this became the focus of our climbing.  He claimed his mate back in the homelands, Ross, would be chuffed to bits of an image of this hex being used.  So we took it to the next level and decided we had to use it on every climb that may be lucky enough to squeeze out of what was predicted to be a wet day:

I won’t bore you with an image of every hex placement, but will say that we did indeed manage to find a worthy placement on each line.  Not just some token placement that was so sketchy that we felt we had to back up.  Taking the time to find not just a bomber placement, but ones that varied in nature.  Then of course to marvel in its glory before taking the obligatory image, as proof of its use for Ross.  All the while keeping an eye on the clouds, as we had no idea how long we had to climb and every route was a bonus.  The wind was coming in from the west and the morning certainly started well, with no real storm clouds brewing out over the ocean:

You may notice that Steve is on the floppy end.  He has been given the all clear to lead climb, which means he has healed enough inside to take lead falls.  Not that there was any desire to test that theory just yet, and we took a very chilled approach to the climbing today.  Picking off lower grade routes that we knew to be fun.  Some may recall he led Murky Corner at Welly Dam recently, which was technically his first lead but we count today as special being his first trad lead in over two years.  I just had to include this hex placement of Steve’s, he doesn’t think it was the best of the day.  I however really liked the contrasting textures of the granite and quartz band, with the perfect sized hole to thread the hex through:

For those new to these posts, you’ll need to scroll back a few years to understand the enormity of where Steve is at health wise. The linked post is close to the start of the journey in mid-2019: https://sandbagged.blog/2019/06/08/perfect-timing/. Today he was his usual cheeky self, and had smuggled in his tricams. Some are pretty sizable but they don’t weigh much, which may be why I hadn’t suspected what trickery was at play when I’d tested the weight of his rucksack. I have to say I didn’t mind. Any good gear placement provides a good feeling, but there is something more satisfying in placing a good tricam. And when the big ones slot in it is hugely satisfying:

Needless to say between the hex and tricam placements, Steve and I were like kids in a candy store.  Giggling with extreme pleasure over most of them.  It may seem that we dawdled a bit with all the fuss we were making over the gear but we were actually moving quite quickly today.  In part we knew that we could get washed out at any point, although the sky out west wasn’t indicating that to be the case.  Regardless of the what the sky was showing we were not taking our chances, setting up rap lines rather than walking down and being quick an efficient with swaps of lead:

While the clouds didn’t have the threatening look we were expecting, just more of a dull grey undertone the wind was ever present.  Up on the top of the crag it whipped round us, and we on occasion stumbled under the pressure it delivered.  The air was alive and we were buzzing with it, while keeping our focus when needed on the sharp end.  For those that know the area you may realise that we had knocked off three of the four routes on this particular wall, and it felt only right to polish them all off.  So I climbed the last line, ensuring the hex was placed and digitally captured: 

Steve then hoped I would be up for him jumping on another climb, his words I might add.  Of course he was rewarded for his positive thinking and outlook, leading up a real classic on the hunt to find more fabulous hex and tricam placements.  I’ve not included an image of that route, and I wonder who will have picked the line from Steve’s words.  As I followed up I heard something unexpected… voices.  We looked across and a small group had thrown a static line off Steel Wall, but it didn’t hit the ground and was instead blown almost horizontally sideways and landed in the gully:

Another rope came down Steel Wall, again blown horizontally.  Then after I’d rapped down to get ready for our next route, I could hear screams of excitement and enjoyment as someone abseiled down at rapid speed.  No it wasn’t Steve, but the abseiler hooning down Steel Wall.  To be honest we didn’t expect to see anyone else out today, so much as I don’t understand abseiling for abseiling sake I thought good on them for getting out despite the forecast.  As Steve came down at a more gentle rate, we were discussing whether we were right in thinking the wind was picking up speed:

The clouds out west started to take on a more menacing look.  No matter it looked like we had a good hour before the distant belt of rain would hit us.  As I climbed I could hear another abseiler whoop and holler their way down the mighty Steel Wall.  I waited till close to the top of my line to get that trusty hex into another sweet placement, and as I was looking down to get the all-important image I could see Steve taking images of what was out west.  I didn’t need to look out to sea to check what had caught his attention, once the image of the hex was taken I felt the first drop.  Then the next and next and with each one they became bigger, and soon the dry rock we had been enjoying was running with water:

I’m still not sure how the rain belt that looked to be so far out to sea got to us so quickly, my guess is it took five minutes.  Not only had it reached us quickly but it seemed to have grown massively in width and intensity.  One factor for sure was the wind, blowing so hard now that the water trying to run down the slabs at the top of the wall was actually going upwards.  Droplets occasional breaking away from the tension holding it to the wall making it look like it was raining upside down.  A magical sight but one that just can’t be captured in an image, especially when the camera lens was getting just a tad wet:

Steve climbed up with the full brunt of the rain descending on him, what fun!  In moments like this there is nothing to do but enjoy the moment for what it is. We looked across the abseil ropes on Steel Wall had already been pulled and there was no sign of anyone.  As we prepared to walk back down the rain eased and I watched the last of the water seemingly defy gravity as it flowed up the rock face.  We were both sitting on the fence about bagging a few more routes, deciding eventually that we had scored such a great morning but it was time to head out.  The timing couldn’t have been better and we made it to the car before the next band of rain hit, and this one continued to come down all the way home and then some: