Driving out today, like yesterday, the electronics in my car notified me that it was only 4 degree Celsius, the rationale for the warning no doubt being that there could be ice about. However, unlike yesterday there was no hiding in the fog with the morning arriving crisp, cold, and clear. It is hard to believe that the image below is taken at the same time of the day, as the first image from my last post. Sam and I were not the first to arrive at our destination although I suspect the surfers, some of which were already in the water, had camped out overnight:
For Sam’s third trip out for a climb I suggested Moses Rocks. In part as it is a favourite spot of mine but also I have to admit that was also keen to have a quick sticky beak for a particular orchid that is only found these parts. However, other than briefly scouring the scrub as we walked in we didn’t spend any time looking, and as such were not successful. In addition to my own selfish reasons I also feel it would be good for him to sample the climbing style required on a different rock formation Moses offers:
Being his first visit here we headed to Hands Up Wall, with generally longer lines. And I was pleased to observe that while the rock beckoned, Sam took a moment to soak in the setting. Cleaning rolling waves out to sea, crashing white water below, a picturesque rocky landscape, and he even spied a couple of ‘whale blows’. Something that is a technical term in the whale watching world, defined as ‘a cloud or column of moist air forcefully expelled through the blowhole when the whale surfaces to breath’:
I’ve also heard it called a spout, and this term is referenced in the glossary of whale watching language. They discourage the use of the term spout, as it indicates mostly water is being expelled, which is not the case. The blowhole is the whales nostril, but unlike other mammals it is not connected with their esophagus. As such whales can only breathe through their blowhole, or nose, and not being fish they do not have gills so immediately after the blow they take an enormous inhale. I’ve also read that each species has a distinctive blow:
The above image is the best I managed to capture, failing to get the blow. So from memory and based on what I have found out I think we saw two humpback whales. My assessment was made a bit easier by the fact that we generally only get humpback and southern right whales along this coastline, although there is a slight chance of spotting blue whales. So today I learnt all about whale blows, and have more facts stored in my memory for another time, while Sam was being introduced to the joys of the rock at Moses:
The rock is generally rounded and smooth, but the fine grained granite provides amazing friction. If it didn’t the climbing here would be extremely difficult. That said this is how it can feel until you fully trust that climbing shoes and fingers will stick to the slightest of ripples on the rock. On occasion, as below, there may be no holds of note and you have to have faith in nothing but friction for all four points of contact, which is created by body tension. It can be a very disconcerting feeling, and one that requires a slow and steady approach, and a cool head:
Over stretching to find a better hand hold, that invariable is not there, can lead to becoming unbalanced and losing the required body tension to maintain that precious friction. Sam did remarkably well and only slipped once. Mind you that was on the hardest climb he has attempted to date at grade 18 (E1 5a/b), so he could be forgiven for that. On the second attempt, after lowering him back down, he got up it clean by using and trusting his feet more. It wasn’t all slabs today and there are a few steeper faces, and even a couple of great cracks:
The cracks allowed for jamming, which is probably the most secure and least energy expending type of climbing style. If you do it right. And it is something Sam seems to have a knack for, and as a result he found the slabs way harder than the cracks. The last few climbs today felt a little harder than usual for me, and I put that down to being at Welly Dam yesterday in addition to leading every climb today. So next time Sam tags along I might need to get him to take a lead or two:
Sandbagged 