Character building

For the second week on the trot when the weather goddess had decreed that the better weather for climbing would occur during the week.  With a 100% chance of rain on both Saturday and Sunday only Alan showed any interest in getting out, and was only available for Sunday.  As is so often the case things were not too bad when the weekend arrived.  I’d go so far as to say Saturday was lovely and Lisa and I had a long walk along our beach.  That afternoon Alan messaged me hinting that it wasn’t looking great for the morning to come so we could head to the climbing gym in Mandurah to pull on plastic:

While this might have been entertaining, I always prefer to be outdoors and with charts hinting we could snag a dry window mid-morning the decision was made.  For me the morning started about 3am when the rain came down hard and woke me up.  I don’t recall it easing up, nor me getting any more sleep, right up to when the alarm went off at 6am.  This is when the messages started, and it was a tough call one that could go either way.  Until Alan said “Ah it’s character building”:

As I drove up the escarpment the rain eased.  However, as I continued towards Welly Dam it got heavier again.  We arrived at the same time and Jaime, Alan and I stood under the shelters watching the rain come down.  The walls were proper wet, water was running down and the black streaks felt slimy to touch, which wasn’t a huge surprise.  Walking along the base there was an option of two climbs, both of which had less black streaks on them.  Alan was however wavering, in part as there are no easy climbs here and certainly none when they are running with water:

After much chatting, admiring the autumn colours the deciduous trees were displaying, and  checking of the radar that hinted at a break heading our way we racked up.  Alan had a game plan for today, but all that changed now it’s not surprising he wasn’t keen to lead anything.  So it was I started climbing, as the rain reduced to just a light sprinkle.  Not that this made the rock any drier, and each move was slow and careful.  I’ve climbed Raging Torrent in the rain a few times, and it gets a tad tricky so I gingerly made my way up and went even more slowly up the lower and then upper crux:

Unlike the more textured rock of the coastal crags the hard granite of Welly Dam loses all friction when wet.  So holds that would normally be reasonable become completely useless, unless there is an edge to them.  Today after a few days of rain and low temperatures the rock was also cold to touch, and the longer you hold on the more you lose sensation in your fingers and toes.  So you end up doubly over gripping, to compensate for the lack of friction and because you can’t tell what you are holding onto:

While I really enjoyed the route I was pretty happy to reach the top.  It was a slow decent as the rope wasn’t playing nicely, so Jaime came to help and untangle it as Alan lowered me back down.  Once Alan was tied in I could hear him give himself a little talking too, this started with comments “like why did I agree to this”, “what are we doing here” and “it’s so wet”.  Then as he set off he reminded me to “keep it tight” and “give me any hints of where the holds are”.  This made more sense to me after I found out he had only climbed this route once before:

The grade of the route, as I have probably mentioned once or twice before, is hotly contested on The Crag.  Indicating most find it more of a grade 20, as oppose to the grade 18 Kym and I gave it.  So with this, plus the conditions and lack of knowledge of the route, I could understand why Alan would be nervous.  I gave him instructions, not only where the holds were but also the order to go for the holds and the best body positions.  He was super focused as he soaked up the instructions, so much so he didn’t notice the flakes he knocked off from half height.  It fortunately missed Jaime and I, before impaling itself in the turf:

It was soon after this that sky darkened, the temperature dropped and the rain set back in.  With pumped arms and numbing fingers and toes, I wondered if Alan had it in him to finish the route, as the water started once more to run down the face.  Sadly it was while he was in a comfortable and controlled position that he slipped, completely unexpectedly he found himself in space and the rope stretch resulted in him coming down a few meters.  It was the only fall he took, and after refocusing he got back on and finished the job:

At the crux, near the top of the route he was in auto-pilot and chalked up his hands.  Only afterwards remembering it would (and did) turn to slim once on the wet rock.  So to prevent the same instinctive action reoccurring he dropped his chalk bag before finishing the route.  Well Alan was right it was a character building experience, and he felt his character had been built enough for one day.  Needless to say Jaime didn’t feel the need to build her character today.  So with the rain continuing to fall, we packed up.  When the next damp weekend comes I think we might head to one of the coastal crags, where there are more reasonable options: