When Lisa and I came to Australia we spent a lot of time going out bush camping, walking and climbing. Not just in Central Australia, where we lived for close to five years, but also travelling to Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. Something that struck us was that everywhere we went, no matter how remote if you looked hard enough eventually you’d find broken glass. Usually a beer bottle, and it became a personal joke of ours that we knew we were in Australia whenever we came across broken glass:
Since that time we still find broken glass, more than we would like, but it seems that it isn’t as frequent as we experienced back then. Today however it was sad to see fragments of a beer bottle strewn across the base of Hands Up Wall, at Moses Rocks. The last thing we wanted was to risk our ropes or slings coming into contact with the sharp shards, or step on any glass as we wandered barefoot at the base between climbs. So the first thing Rongy, Josh and I did was to clear up as many of the fragments as we could find:
Then, and only then did we get ready to climb. As can be seen above Josh was put in charge of belaying. Being only the second trip out where he has belayed someone on lead, we provided him with words of wisdom and useful hints. While Rongy and I are very familiar with the climbs here, you still have to have total trust and have faith in your belayer. Should we slip and fall, Josh and only Josh would be what prevents us taking a ground fall. That is assuming we have put in good protection:
Neither of us tested Josh’s ability to respond appropriately to a fall, but maybe next time we head out we should mock a fall so he can experience what happens and how it feels. Today Rongy and I were not pushing ourselves too much and just enjoying the rock. Soaking up the abundant rounded holds and friction. There are not many positive holds here so it was a new experience for Josh. It took a little getting used to and as we hit climb after climb we imparted nuggets of information, all aimed at helping him to adjust to the art of slab climbing:
Today had a very wintery feel to it, the swell was up and the waves continuously crashed in, a fresh southerly wind with gusts up to 35km/hr whipped along the crag never relenting, and on and off the sun was hidden behind a blanket of clouds. Each time we dropped the rope the wind blew is sideways rather than down. Rongy and I remanded rugged up all morning, and Josh soon relaced his shorts with jeans to keep warm. It wasn’t that we were moving slowly, in fact we kept a good pace and Josh was chewing up the first few lines eagerly. So we bumped up the grade a notch or two:
Josh was given a short sharp lesson in slab climbing, trusting your feet on nothing but friction and knowing that small rounded fingertip holds were enough to keep your balance. Being his first experience of the need to climb delicately and not being able to yard up on positive jugs, he took a few falls. But each time he got back on and worked out a better way to position and tension his body, angle his feet and open up his body to avoid moving his centre of gravity too far from the wall. The harder grades came with steeper territory and the next two lines provided him with a real challenge:
On the second of the steeper routes, he visibly began to tire with the tell-tale signs of technique going out the window. For most climbing styles you can still manage to keep going, but with slab climbing it results in lot of time hanging on the rope. It’s the one style where total focus and a relaxed mind is critical, because while you may have three or even four points of contact they are never overly positive. Loose one and your body tension completely changes and the remaining points of contact lose their effectiveness:
After five routes Josh was looking less and less coordinated on rock, so it was time to give him a quick breather. Like I said he was keeping pace, which with Rongy and I who both climb at a reasonable rate that means there was little rest time. In fact we managed to get eight lines in the four hours we had at the crag, so we were moving. While Josh took a rest Rongy jumped on a trickier line, which he had mentioned he had his eye on. After watching Rongy climb, Josh could tell it was probably a tad too much for him to even attempt, so was more than happy to sit that one out:
We eased the pace after that, moving onto the walls that are off vertical. A welcome change for Josh who jumped back on rock. That was until the last line, the classic of the crag, a crack that requires a bit my grunt work. After managing the bottom section with good style he again threw technique out the window. Fully extending his body, making it hard to be able to see hand or foot holds let alone move your hands of feet, his feet couldn’t seem to find anything to stick too and his forearms were too pumped to hold onto even the bigger holds:
He battled his way up slumping over the top, and then finding a comfy spot to lie down. Allowing his body to recover and feel somewhat normal again. Despite being shattered, he was still smiling and had thoroughly enjoyed the morning and it has to be said had done really well. Rongy and I too had a great time, lapping up line after line and just for fun making sure the pink tricam got used on every route. The temperature hadn’t even hit 20 degrees. For us it was a welcome change from the heat, but from the absence of anyone else on the beach as we walked out at about 11:30 I guess not everyone was happy about it:
Sandbagged 