Oomph

With a propensity to be able to name itself as “the best in the world”, Australia recently bagged another record.  This time probably not one it wanted, with the most recorded COVID infection per capita.  Despite Elseya, Lisa and I being careful and still taking precautions, despite the relaxing rules, I managed to bring it home and sadly also passed it on to Lisa and then Elseya.  So we have all been couped up indoors.  Then on Friday my seven days of mandatory isolation came to an end.  And I was busting to get out of the house and also to touch rock.  Ash was up for a foray and was already planning to head out with Maddie, who as driving down from Perth in the morning:

As such it was a later than normal start and also, after a week of inclement weather, today was looking likely to be a glorious day.  The twelve thirty start was simply too late for me, I had ants in my pants.  Therefore, I went down a bit earlier and expected to be greeted with a mob of cars.  There were however only three other people climbing, and a few day walkers.  It was lucky it wasn’t any busier, as one of the parties had chosen an interesting place to park blocking off two spots, and they surely would have got a few messages left on their windscreen if more people had been about.  I arrived at the crag with a plan to self-belay myself up a route before Ash and Maddie got there:

Wandering along to my destination I passed a couple fo climbers, Joe and Brain, playing on a harder sports line, and stopped for a chat.  Self-confessed sport climbers who were used to Bob’s Hollow they found the style here, with small slopey holds, a challenge but also enjoyable.  They also remarked how, compared to Bobs, the bolts on the route felt spaced, making it very exciting and a bit nervous climbing.  This led to a but more chat and they are yet to venture to deeply into the world of trad, and I offered them the chance if they were keen.  Today however their focus was firmly set on the task that lay above them, but the chance might come up next time we happen to be out at the same time:

It may seem a strange thing to say, but later during the morning something twigged and Joe put two and two together and told me he follows my blog.  Therefore, the chance of organising a trad climb sometime wasn’t to fanciful.  The route they were on was too hard for me today, while I never felt that COVID had smashed me I wasn’t sure how much energy I would really have.  Being sensible I climbed Hope, with wires only and self-belaying myself up it.  While rapping down to clean the gear Ash and Maddie arrived, and after a catch-up we decided to go slow and I romped up Hope again, this time with a belayer holding my rope below me:

Ash had also caught COVID several weeks back and it had smashed him, and Maddie wasn’t well last week either but tested negative.  So the idea of easing into it felt good for all three of us.  This allowed more time to kick back and watch the waves that were rolling in big, clean and crisp.  The first time I had climbed with Ash he told me he was itching to build up his trad confidence, and as a gauge I got him to follow me up Sirius.  That was way back in Nov 20 (https://sandbagged.blog/2020/11/22/a-one-horse-race/) and he was visible shaken by the experience.  The next time we took it on was almost a year to the day with him once more seconding the first pitch (https://sandbagged.blog/2021/05/15/the-new-car-park/), which also happened to be when we came across another interesting parking situation:

Today, with Steel Wall all to ourselves and the rock in perfect condition, it seemed the perfect chance for Ash to finally lead the first pitch.  I couldn’t tell his thoughts but he set off up the initial crack all smiles and happiness.  At the traverse I wasn’t able to see his face anymore and the pace slowed, but he seemed to be calm and steady as he inched towards the exposed crux midway along the traverse.  It had certainly looked all smooth and controlled, but he confessed afterwards that he had probably used up all his adrenaline bank on that lead.  As he set up the belay, in a nice shady spot, Maddie and I remarked on the clean waves were today and how it would be nice to see some dolphins:

And just as we mentioned it, we spotted a fin pop up.  Maddie was up next, so I left them to it and wandered along to find a perch to watch the show.  Being greeted with a spectacular sight, as the large pod cruised past us and then as they came back they started to surf in on the big waves.  With the sun positioned behind the waves I got a stunning view of them having fun.  Transfixed watching them I thought to take a video at the last moment, so only captured the tail end of the show. I didn’t ask if Ash had witnessed the fully glory of the sight, as he was no doubt also keep a close eye on Maddie who also looked to climb the traverse confidently.  Stepping up past the crux without a stutter or whimper.  As the dolphins swam further north, the interlude was over and I tied in:

While I do love climbing, I also love seeing spectacles like the above one.  So despite calling it the interlude, it is hard to say which was the main event and which was the mid-show entertainment.  Then as I led us out on the second pitch, with Maddie and then Ash following, it seemed the spotlight fell on us.  A couple out for a walk stood and watched us for the whole show, from a great vantage point.  It was hard to tell if they may have been just taking pictures or possibly videoing it.  Maddie was keen to see if they had any good images, so went and had a chat.  There was a promise of images being passed over later, but they have as yet not arrived so sadly could not be used in this post:

Ash was starting to feel pretty pooped.  And much as it seems from the post so far that my energy levels were full, I too had struggled a bit to focus on the last lead.  It did however seem a bit dumb to walk back down to get the bags, just to walk back out.  My suggestion that we climb out with packs, seemed to be acceptable, however as we prepared ourselves Ash declared he was happy to sit this one out and would carry the packs up for us.  Leaving Maddie and I to have fun on Sinuosity, which I was very grateful for as my energy and focus really started to wobble on the op half.  Each move felt hard and tenuous, and if I had climbed with a pack I am sure I wouldn’t have pulled it off today:

I reckon Maddie probably was the fittest today and still had some go in her, but Ash and I were toasted.  Was it the afternoon sun on our backs, which had just a bit of bite in it, or the lingering aftereffects of the dreaded bug.  I’m guessing the latter, and while it had been a very fun and welcome afternoon trip out, I for one was grateful when the slow walk out was done and I could flop into the driver’s seat.  Ash and Maddie declared that they were aiming to head to for a mountain bike ride in the morning, and I’d be keen to hear how they went.  For me I already knew Sunday would be a lazy day, and back at home my muscles ached and were on the verge of cramping.  All I was good for was to slob: