Flight of the phoenix

It was the dawn of another day, and being a Saturday the sun found me walking into Wilyabrup with Rongy.  Last weekend I didn’t touch rock so was just a little bit keen to get out, and there was also another focus for today’s session.  Over the winter months most of the climbing has been relatively low key and just good fun, grade wise.  I’m not complaining as I love just being outdoors, the climbing is an added bonus.  But next weekend our finger strength is likely to be tested, so Rongy was keen to get see how he would cope with some more sustained and fingery routes:

We had previous talked about which climbs may provide the challenge we were after.  I didn’t have any preference but he was keen on a couple of fingery grade 18s on Steel Wall and also Charity, which you may recall from a few weeks back.  That particular grade 21 route had spanked Howsie, while Jaime and I had been laughing our way up all the big manky corners.  With the more sustained and fingery routes on our mind the conditions needed to be reasonable.  However, as we arrived a stiff south westerly cut across the crag and was drawing a bank of rain closer and closer, so we waited it out under one of the many shelves:

The main belt passed over as we stayed dry under the roof but the tarp, which I had left out, was covered in puddles.  Not just damp but soaking, as was the rock above.  We were however here and there was no point bailing not having attempted at least one route, so Rongy tied in and set off.  We started on Inner Space, which at grade 17 would ease us into the day.  The wet rock however made it more exciting and the top moves spat both of us off, before we managed to gingerly hold onto the small wet holds and pull through:

I’ve mentioned before how the compact Gneiss that forms these cliffs doesn’t soak up the water, and when wet the smooth surfaces get pretty slippery making slopey holds like the one at the top of Inner Space less than desirable.  Fortunately it was only a couple of holds and with blue skies blowing in we felt that things could only get better.  We were still keen to get those two grade 18s in.    However, for my first lead I went for Totally Awesome, the thin crackline to the left of Rongy’s route.  A bit more sustained and fingery at grade 19, but the holds were more positive with edges and that helped:

Grading is a tricky business at best, but when you have inclement conditions like this you can throw the rulebook out.  My route had certainly felt more sustained but in these conditions Rongy’s line had the more problematic move.  The conditions however continued to improve so we moved on, but we again didn’t get to Steel Wall to jump on those two 18s that were beckoning us.  Rongy got side tracked with Charity, yes he had finished it off for Howsie recently but he was keen to see if it would flow as well as it had then while he had to lead it ground up:

The sun seemed to be poking it’s head out whenever the blanket of clouds opened up, and it was very welcome when it did.  Not only was it warm but it also lit up the white waves below us.  With a full moon the tides seemed high, that and the added influence of the south westerlies resulted in the waves coming in closer than we usually see.  The small beach to the south had been engulfed and was under water and the big boulders below were being continually wave washed with spray being sent upwards.  We half expected the spray to land on the main cliffs and add coat of saltiness but that didn’t happen:

The rock was now in great condition, it doesn’t take long to go from hideous to great, and he floated up the line.  I’m not sure I’ve climbed the route before, in fact I’m pretty sure I haven’t.  So it was good to try something I had no memory of and even better, while it felt solid at the grade, I managed to pull all the moves.  After the successful ascent I started to ponder whether I should have a go at the route next to it, Faith at grade 20.  One I know I have never led and I seem to recall only seconding up once before many years back when I’m sure Mikey climbed it:

It felt good and the tiny edges on the upper wall were a good test, delicate moves needing coordination and balance.  We were certainly testing our fingers today, and so far they were holding out just fine.  As I topped out and looked out to sea, the sky was looking very threatening, again.  I guessed we had maybe five minutes before the rain would be falling on us.  Rongy ran up the route until the top headwall where things got thin and sketchy and anything but dry rock would make the moves impossible.  Fortunately he managed to unlock the sequence just before the rain started to fall and once more the rock was running with water:

Not surprisingly we were the only ones out today, and so it stayed for the whole morning.  Many people suggest to me on days like this that it isn’t worth heading out, but this winter more than ever I feel like I have proven that most times if you head out with the right attitude you’ll have a ball.  While we got wet all over again, we decided that we should still head over to Steel Wall.  That after all was the original plan for the morning.  Seeing Rongy was so keen on the grade 18s I climbed to the half-height ledge making use of Pascal’s Route, and in the process bagging half of another grade 20:

Pulling through the bottom half I started to feel my arms, and I was very happy to hear Rongy make similar statements as he worked his way up.  Even better it was his lead next.  I sat on the comfy ledge looking out at the ocean and watched the mosaic of clouds and blue sky, meanwhile he set off up Unclaimed a great grade 18 with a long sequence of small crimps.  He was getting nervous and the pump that had started in his arms when he followed up Pascal’s Route was now working its way down to his hands and fingers.  As I followed up my fingertips started to complain, as I pulled down on the small crimpy holds, and it felt like the sharp crystals were threatening to break through my skin:

It was not all that surprising, we had managed to keep a reasonable grade on some quality lines all with fingery sections.  As such once sat on top we decided that we should leave the second 18 for another day.  Yes my fingertips had been feeling it on that last route but for me it was my toes that were hurting.  It was the first time I had used my new shoes.  The reliable old style Mad Rock shoes I have been using for years now are no longer available and the new style is more rigid, which will hopefully give a bit and become more comfortable with time.  That said based on how they went today the new phoenix shoes passed with flying colours: