The Traditionalist

For several months Kym has been frothing about a trip up into the Stirling’s to climb the huge walls that Howsie, Dazza and I passed underneath when we hiked the Ridge Walk.  To see where I mean you’ll have to dip into my previous post, of that most epic of hikes, https://sandbagged.blog/2021/11/28/a-most-unexpected-journey/.  The cliffs are huge.  Towering high above an already very high position, resulting in immense exposure, the sort of situation that would make a normal crag rat tremble in fear.  But it is the sort of place I would feel very comfortable in after a short time to get acclimatised to it:

We set a date, and as it drew nearer I thought I could sense a kind of wavering in Kym’s messages.  There were a number of factors at play including the weather, the steep and strenuous 12km hike to the cliffs, and the logistics.  The latter would require an early hike in on the Saturday morning.  Impossible if Kym was not able to get out of his night shift on the Friday, which he was not able to.  So the week before the trip he started to send me images of another option, including an amazing looking slab that shoots straight out of the ocean:

I was happy to just catch up and get out with Kym, something we had not managed for nine months.  But have to admit of all the images he sent me of this location, it was that slab that really peeked my interest.  The area also has some very aesthetic looking boulders perched on wave washed rock platforms, as well as easy access cliffs that are safe from the ocean.  So we changed our plans, which I didn’t mind as it also allowed me to indulge in our traditional Friday night homemade fish and chips with Lisa and Elseya.  And with an early start I arrived in Albany half an hour before Kym got home:

The house was as expected a hive of activity when I arrived.  And with Kym walking in half an hour after me, this allowed time for a couple of cuppas, very appreciated after the near 4 hour drive, and catch up with Meg, Tessa, Claire, and Beau.  Kym walked in and had efficiently packed the night before, so it wasn’t long before we drove out and then walked into our destination.  A short 15-20min walk that was mostly easy terrain but we were weighed down with climbing gear, food, and bolting equipment.  The idea being to scope out some potential new routes:

While the cliffs in the main zawn area had some developed routes, both trad, bolted, and mixed, there was plenty of scope for other lines to be considered.  On arrival we spent a while rock hopping along the coast to check the area and options available to us.  A stiff easterly resulted in the bottom of the iconic slab being wave washed and sadly as such not such an inviting proposition.  We started the climbing by ticking a few of the established lines in the Zawn, which were all very good.  The rock in the zawn was unusually for the south coast, more textured and featured but also prone to being more brittle:

Then we got the drill out having scoped two lines in the zawn worthy of bolting, there was a third and while I was keen to jump on it and lead it full trad ground up Kym was concerned about the rock.  We would have to wait for the epoxy glue to set before the bolts were safe to use, so after a bite to eat we spent the afternoon top roping on the above boulder.  Sadly the routes were too contrived to make them worth equipping.  The rock quality on the very steep wall, two images above, was such that the wall was unsuitable for development:

It may seem like we did not do much climbing on the first day, and I took very few images while Kym took none.  We had however climbed some ten existing, possible new, and not-worthy routes, and added to that we had done a fair bit of rock hopping to scope the area out.  Not a bad effort from Kym who had come straight of his third night shift on the trot.  Back at the house, some ten hours after we had left, more tea was required.  Sunny who on previous visits would bark at me and treat me with caution, had decided I was now OK and he was very snuggly.  Hopefully Sooky and Nicka, our poodles, don’t get too jealous:

The evening went quickly with more catching up, tea, dinner, games, and then finally bed.  I was feeling pretty weary, and imagine Kym was beyond tired by now.  The morning came with Tessa busily preparing pancakes for everyone, Kym having a sleep in, and Meg enjoying a rare if short quiet moment on the sofa.  Today Andreas, who I had met once before at Welly Dam when he was climbing with Mario, was joining us.  He had to leave the crag late morning, so we drove in convoy back to the West Cape Howe National Park.  Taking the track that leads down to Forsyth Bluff:

I could not resist including the above image.  On inspection it did not seem to be the random act of vandalism that it first appeared to be.  The sign had obviously never been erected, as the posts were unscathed and showed no sign of having ever touched soil beneath the surface of the land.  Yesterday Kym and I had hauled the bolting gear out and left all the climbing gear at the crag, so we felt light as a feather walking back down unburdened.  Andreas had memories from many, many years back of having been here, although the approach felt very unfamiliar:

Kym confessed to feeling really tired so unsure whether he would climb much, but was keen to watch us bag some routes and take images.  With Andreas’ limited time we decided that it might be good to go and check out a couple of potential new routes on boulder that Kym and I had spotted but not played on.  As we walked out, we stopped to look at the slab that wasn’t so invite yesterday.  Kym and I had felt equipping it was likely to be a big mission and maybe not worthwhile, but today with somewhat renewed energy he started to contemplate it again.  Maybe urged on by Andreas:

With limited time we had we walked on.  As Andreas and I headed for the far away boulder, Kym perched atop the boulder he and I had unsuccessfully attempted to find worthy lines the day before.  The image does however show how close to the ocean the boulder was, and the day before the swell pushed the water right up the left-hand edge of the boulder.  A warning sign of how dangerous climbing in places like this can be.  And as such we made sure we were tied in at all times, to avoid being washed out should a king wave appear:

King waves, as they are known in Australia, are called sneaker and sleeper waves in other places.  These waves come to shore with no warning and can be as much as ten times bigger than all the other waves of the day.  They arrive with huge force, and have been known to move big boulders.  It is not uncommon to hear about people rock fishing, and dare I say tourists, being caught off guard and swept out.  I may not be painting a very inviting picture of the situation, but I love it.  It really adds to the whole experience, heightening the senses and making you really feel alive:

Kym was a tad too far away to capture the action as, for the first route of the day, I launched up an inviting looking flake.  If you look hard you might see me in the above image launching into the flake.  At least he was safe from the ocean on the boulder, and after my ascent he even managed to have a snooze in the warm sun.  Meanwhile, Andreas was pulling hard as he came up the steep and sustained line after me.  Yesterday when Kym and I spotted the possible route we thought it may be about 17, so I wasn’t worried about jumping on it as the first climb of the day:

However, it proved to be much steeper and harder than I expected.  The footwork was tricky and I was continually my on my arms, needing to shift body position and tension all the while looking for gear and figuring out where to go next.  As I topped out my forearms were solid, but not as I always assumed being due to a build-up of lactic acid.  It is in fact due to the blood vessels becoming restricted because of the muscles being under strain for a prolonged period, and this results in the forearms filling to capacity with blood.  As such I decided to call is Flashdance at grade 20 / E2 5b/c, both due to the pump it gave me but also the very fine movements required:

I was so happy with the on-sight first ascent lead, meaning I had no prior knowledge of what to expect, that I could happily have stopped climbing for the day.  But there was more to come.  Just to the left of the line I had just climbed was another fun feature, and I offered the rope to Andreas.  Whether he was ready or not I don’t know, but after some hesitation he started the above sequence after which there was no going back.  Regardless of how he felt to start with, when he topped out he had a massive smile.  Just like my line, Kym and I had probably underestimated the grade for this one too:

We decided on 16 (HVS 5a), but I am yet to hear what Andreas wanted to call the line.  Those were the only two route potentials we found that looked reasonable, on the boulder.  Any other climbs would be considerably more challenging and/or unprotectable with traditional gear.  Instead we came back to the zawn, where the routes Kym had bolted the day before awaited us.  Kym was still enjoying just being out and chilling, so we offered the rope to Andreas to bag another first ascent on the line Kym can be seen bolting in the second image of this post.  Andreas is leading it above and I then pulled the rope and also led it:

It climbed really well and again I have not heard what Andreas might call it, and we reckoned maybe 15 (VS 4c).  When we first saw the line I felt that it may have gone full trad but the rock was a little friable in places, plus the gear would have been very fiddly to find and get in.  Even then it may be a little suspect, which I agreed with.  As it was when I led it, I agree bolting it was the sensible option.  But then it came to the line I mention previously that Kym was dubious of the rock and gear, but I thought it was fine.  We hadn’t placed any bolts on it so I decided to go for it:

There were some boudlery moves to get to the ledge, but it was never too high of the gounrd (for me).  And it is not until you get estbalished on thee ledge that you get the first marginal piece of gear.  After the first, not so inspring piece, the gear improved and just in time as the route steepens up considerably.  Becoming more technical with height, and you are forced to use great underclings, side pulls, crimps, and delicate footwork.  Every move was controlled, slow and precise, and it was absolutely brilliant.  Much as I would like to see it remain a fully tradional climb, both Kym and Andreas felt the start required a bolt or two:

With my background of climbing in the UK and the normal practice of ground-up traditional climbing I love the excitement of such a route.  Andreas even made mention that I had climbed it with that style and approach, and as he climbed it with the rope above him he looked at the rock and gear with a little concern.  As such I decided to call this one The Traditionalist at grade 19 (E2 5b, although E1 if bolts are placed).  I do love the UK grading system, it allows you to assign both an exposure level to tell you how sustained and/or scary it is, and technical level to advise how difficult the hardest move is.  Grading lines like this with a single number gets tricky:

Andreas left us to it, so Kym offered me the lead on the other route we had bolted.  A steep and very fingery start on sharp holds, shown above.  Once on the ledge the holds and climbing become more forgiving, but it is still absorbing and makes you think.  The holds at the start bit into my already tender finger tips.  It felt like I was pushing my fingertips down onto a knife edge, holding back just enough to prevent the skin from being broken.  As such it was an obvious name of Grin and Bear It at grade 20 (E2 5b/c).  So far the day had comprised of five routes all first ascents, it doesn’t get better than this:

We were both pretty weary, so had a spot of lunch and then wandered over to another boulder that looked to offer a great finger crack.  But when we walked up to it, it was pretty underwhelming.  It was shorter than it had previously seemed and we guessed, correctly that once the tricky moves to get the flake were done it was all over.  Hence the name Red Rover at grade 15 (VS 5a), made perfect sense.  There was talk of checking out the access to slab to see what was needed to make it accessible and how many routes might be there, but neither of us really had any motivation left to do that so we called it a day:

So here is one last image of the slab that had so drawn my attention.  We did at least have a good look at the slab from here and despite the difficult access, which would require climbing a route from the zawn and scrambling across, there looked to be potential for a few routes.  Something for Kym and the south coast crew to ponder, as for us it was time to head out.  Grateful not to have the bolting gear to carry out.  A bonus to finishing early was that I could drive home that day and get back before darkness descended.  But not until after a cuppa and final farewell.  Thanks to Kym, Meg, Tessa, Claire, Beau and Sunny for another hugely enjoyable trip down south, and we are already talking about what next: