Everything that was needed had arrived, so all that was left was to head out and start bolting. Today was the day the three new routes at Welly Dam would spring to life, and Rongy would get his first experience of bolting. In view of the noisy nature of the process it is not something you want to be doing with lots of people around, so we decided on a first light start. The sky went through its morning routine. A tiny slither of orange starting out as a speck on the horizon, before radiating up and out, before turning pale yellow, and finally settling on blue:
There is a fair bit of gear required when bolting. So despite arriving at the carpark in darkness, by the time we had it all sorted out, set up the static ropes to allow us safe access to the walls below, and descended and got into position to drill the first hole it was already light. Although still way too early for anyone else to be about. I had my reservations about a crucial piece of equipment, and that was the drills but we where he so we gave it a go. While it was great that Rongy was able to source two cordless hammer drills through his networks, they were a bit on the small side. Sure enough they simply did not have enough grunt for the job in hand:
The hard granite almost laughed at us as we attempted to sink the drill bit into it. It was immediately obvious that we wouldn’t get very far, and rather than get frustrated we made the quick decision to abandon the plan. Within an hour of having arrived, we had everything packed away. That is bar our leading gear which we needed to hit some of the established climbs. We were both feeling a little weary from our recent trips out. Rongy also admitted he was keeping a careful eye on his shoulders and tendons, having climbed more in the last few weeks than for many months before, resulting in them telling him to be sensible:
In addition to our bodies not having fully recovered from all the recent climbing, our mindset also had to change. Going from hanging on rope drilling holes to clinging onto the rock with a rope below us. All the more reason to ease into things gently, and seeing no one was about it seemed to be the ideal opportunity to hit the four lines on the carpark slabs. Shorter and lower grade routes than the climbs on the main walls, but fun and worth the occasional attention. It was a good move and helped loosen us up:
We were keen to jump on a few of the lines on the bigger walls, for which we pulled the rope to allow both of us feel the thrill of leading. With a rope below, a slip would result in a bigger fall and this makes you focus that bit more providing a more exhilarating experience. That said our desire to have that feeling also depends on your mood, as well as what your body might be telling you. The latter hinting to Rongy to ease off, after we had both lead Ebonie Road and Savage Sausage Sniffer. He felt he would be OK with a rope above him, which proved to be a sensible option for my next chosen climb of Just Do It:
As Rongy rapped back down he declared that his body was now telling him to stop. It would have been dumb to go against the warning signs, and risk an injury that may take a long time to recover from. While too was feeling a tad weary I didn’t have any niggling pains, so was keen to even up the numbers and jump on one more climb before calling it day. So it seemed fitting to end our supposed day of bolting, on Gumby Goes Bolting. My task now to allow us to bolting being to source a cordless hammer drill with sufficient grunt:
Sandbagged 