Winter treat

The winter school holidays have arrived, and after an exhausting and long eleven week term I thought I would allow Lisa a quiet morning at home.  One without me fussing about making her feel like she needed to get up and get stuff done.  After leaving the obligatory thermos mug of tea on her bedside table I headed out with Jamie, Howsie and Rongy.  Being winter, on some weekends we need to sneak our session in-between the wet days or even hours and today we thought we had been clever and managed it, but the rain came down as we drove down:

After my big trip with Mario last weekend, or was it that damn push-up challenge, I was still feeling pretty weary.  Also sore in places, which worryingly indicate it may not just be muscle fatigue.  As such I already had in mind to make Jaime one happy person, while leaving Howsie and Rongy to rekindle the grade 21 challenge.  It had been a proper wintery week with belts of rain and cold days, so while the cliffs of Wilyabrup are quick to dry we also knew there would be seepages and areas of wet rock.  No doubt Jaime and I would encounter those wet areas today:

The boys managed to stay on the dry stuff as they hit the sheer faces, starting on the delights of Sinuosity.  Meanwhile, I tackled the big corner to its right.   Chockstone Corner, as it is called, is no doubt one of the early routes established here.  Today there were sections that were covered in slim and water cascaded from above.  To add to the adventure the gear was sparse and spaced.  It has been given a lowly grade of 9 but it is always worth being careful of these old routes.  The olden day climbers were tough and fearless, and added to that today it was in less than ideal conditions:    

But Jaime loves these kinds of routes, so I knew she would be keen on them.  And you may be surprised to hear that after fifteen years of climbing at Wilyabrup I have never been on this line.  Indeed there are a number of similar corner cracks here, and I have until today not sampled what they had on offer.  In a way climbing them today in these conditions made the experience all the more enjoyable.  Squeezing into narrow cracks, body jamming and wriggling my way up, running it out between gear and all on territory that I was unfamiliar with:

The next line in our sights was Malaria, the long corner to the left of the classic Hope, at a mere grade 7.  The base was guarded by a strangely shaped limestone formation.  These limestone formations are not uncommon here, but are at the same time seemingly out of character.  I know they are formed by dissolved carbonate coming out of solution, as the water holding it evaporates on hotter days.  But these slivers of sedimentary rock look like “glued” protective coatings over the horizontal bands of genesis, the metamorphic rock that Wilyabrup is made of:

This was the least manky corner of the day, it was damp but not slimy nor running with water.  A lovely long section of classic back and footing moves, in an crack of ideal width to squeeze into making it near impossible to fall out.  As I enjoyed the delights of the second corner of the day it was Howsie’s turning to lead and he warmed up on Hope.  As we climbed the dark clouds marched in and rain fell, but we didn’t care and climbed on.  And for me it made no difference as I enjoyed some good old traditional thrutch climbing:

Mario had last weekend mention to me that he considered it possible to make use of the big number four Camelot on nearly every route at Wilyabrup.  So it followed me up nearly every route I led today, and on this corner crack I came across some unexpected and unlikely pockets and one provided the perfect placement for this big piece.  Like me Jaime was certainly enjoying todays selection of routes, which we climbed slowly to allow us to relish the positions, moves and novelty that these rarely climbed lines offer:

Rongy set the bar a little higher for his next route jumping on One for the Road.  We had already climbed the corner next to that, as our first line.  So Jaime and I went in search of another one and plumped for Brepus, at a lofty grade 10.  After the rain this one was sopping wet, making the crux section all the more spicy.  The width of the crack being such that you could only fit a portion of your body in.  You then had to tentatively wriggle your way up hoping you didn’t pop out.  On every route today Jaime giggled and laughed her way up, and this one was no different:

The boys were still on the same route as we came back down, so we hit Fat Crack next which very surprisingly gets a grade of 15.  I think Jaime would agree with me there is no way it was that hard, even in today’s slimy conditions.  That said it did feel the most runout of the corners we did.  When I popped Mr number four Camelot in I was pretty relieved, as I think Jaime was.  It had been a five plus meter runout from the last available gear options and any further and I was very close to being at risk of a ground fall if I had popped out:

It was high up on this route that I came across something a little unexpected after such a cold wintery week and on a cold day.  This King Skink was wedged deep in a vertical crack, very much alive and awake.  It had sensed my presence and the movement it had made to try and squeeze in a little deeper had drawn my attention.  With nowhere to go it was at the mercy of my camera, and after capturing this image I moved away and kept my distance and as I climbed past its hidey hole:

This time when we came down the boys were ready for Howsie’s next lead and he had set his sights on Charity, at a lofty Grade 21.  He was encouraged to have a bash after the rain had abated and the clouds parted, allowing the sun that had crept far enough round the landscape to cast its rays on this very wall.  I raced up my route and from above I could see a big puddle on a ledge above him.  So I encouraged him to climb on providing guidance on the best hold to go for, fortunately he saw the funny side of my little prank:

My attention was then drawn back to Hope, and for those in the know you’ll be saying hold on that’s a face climb?  Yes it is but when Rongy had seconded up it earlier he had found something just as unlikely at the King Skink and I was keen to see for myself.  Sure enough a small portion of a Carpet Python was visible, crammed in the crack behind the huge hanging flake where I have so often seen these beautiful creatures.  This one was tucked in deep and secure, no sign of its head nor tail but there is no mistaking the stunning pattern of its scales:

Now I’m sure at least one person will question why a snake will not be in hibernation during winter.  They do not actually hibernate and instead bromate, which means they go into a lethargic state.  During this period they will continue to seize every opportunity to warm their cold blooded bodies, which is why it can be more dangerous to come across a snake on a warm winters day.  When it is still a bit lethargic and not as responsive to the vibrations we make, as we bash our way along and an encounter is more likely to result in an attack:

Howsie continued his slow creep up the less featured wall to my left.  It really doesn’t take long for the sun to dry these clean faces and he was appreciative of that, as the holds got smaller and more spaced.  In the background is Malaria, which Jaime and I had conquered earlier that morning and so Hope was not only the obvious choice due to the Carpet Pythion, but also to get a great view of Howsie gingerly work his route.  Jaime looked just as focused below me, as she came up to the crux after which she motored onwards as Howsie started to stall:

We watched for a while, as he battled the final moves taking several falls.  Deciding to then head back down to bag one more line.  We had run out of new wide corner cracks, so there was only one option left.  A route we had both been on before and one that strikes fear in the heart of quite a few climbers I know despite being only grade 13.  This is in part due to the extensive limestone feature in the lower part of the climb on the right wall of the corner.  You can’t escape using it and the seemingly fragile nature of the feature makes people nervous:

Today due to the running water the limestone was slimy, and added to that the corner was like a slow motion waterfall and you just had to accept you were going to get wet.  After the clean, mostly dry face of Hope it felt like were back in business on a good ole traditional route, and it felt great.  The upper half is however a clean face climb, and with the sun on my back and a slight breeze I was almost dry by the time I got to the top.  Due to the length of this route I sadly couldn’t hear Jaime laugh her was up the lower wet section, which she confessed she had done even more so than pervious routes:

We timed things perfectly, and the boys had finished off their project as were walking past.  Allowing us to all troupe down to pack up our gear before the hike back to the car, in bright sunlight with white, fluffy clouds in the background.  A stark contrast to the dark ominous clouds that had greeted us.  It had been a great day out with fun routes and, not surprisingly, not another soul about.  But they had missed out on the unexpected winter treat of seeing our scaly friends who I’m still a little surprised, but very happy, had made an appearance: