A few people at work have been keen to see what the appeal of rock is all about. I‘ve already converted Sam, and today Mike decided to have a go. He had confessed to being scared of heights, so had set his expectations of achieving anything quite low. Pat, also from work, joined us for his second taste. You may recall he joined Sam and myself for his first climb last year. When he neglecting to tell us about his fear of high places, until he had a bit of an episode part way up the first climb (https://sandbagged.blog/2023/09/30/a-bit-too-spicy/):
Seeing Howsie had to work yesterday, which is why I went out by myself, he managed to get a day pass to join us today. I’d given him the heads up that I was taking two newbies out, both of whom had self-confessed to being acrophobic, so not to expect too much action. We are however on the same page, in that our trips are far more than the challenges we face on rock. The simple pleasure of being out in nature and just having fun is the number one priority. The climbing is a bonus, and fits in neatly with the other benefits of getting out:
Mike was a bit aggrieved at not only having to get up and out the house in the dark, but also meeting in Capel before light had truly entered the sky. It did however allow us to watch the wisps of cloud go through their morning colour transformation, as we drove toward Wilyabrup. From the carpark we had a bit more of a hike than usual ahead of us, as we aimed to get to The Playground and Lost Buttress. We pondered whether to take the snorkel gear, and hearing the waves in the distance I made an executive decision. It stayed in the car:
Our destination was the perfect place to test where Pat and Mike’s heads were today, and as I’ve said many a time climbing is both a mental and physical challenge. This spot would allow us to progress slowly, in a fun less intense way than jumping straight onto longer roped climbs. The approach also allowed Howsie and I to take a slightly more obstacle course type path. Requiring rock hopping, skipping over wave washed gaps, and an airy traverse. We could have avoided some of these obstacles, but it was a good way to get everyone focused:
We started at The Playground, partaking in a form of climbing called bouldering. One description of this climbing style states ‘Leaving behind ropes and harnesses and just using climbing shoes and a bag of chalk over safety mats, your challenge is to climb short but tricky bouldering “problems” (a route, or sequence of moves) using balance, technique, strength, and your brain’. We didn’t have mats as the rock has a beautiful soft bed of sand below it, and the first lesson was how to jump and/or fall off:
Memories of Pat clinging to the rock in fear came back, as his body seemed to prevent him from letting go. Eventually he jumped and it was all good. Then he surprised us all when he scaled the full height of the crag for the next problem. While it was not a competition this also set the tone for Mike. We were not sending them up anything too hard. Spending time providing tips on climbing efficiently, which was paying of. So we slowly ramped up the steepness and difficulty with each problem. Anyone passing by would never have guessed they had an ‘extreme or irrational fear of heights’:
We of course had moments when we sat still to take in the views, and there were plenty of times when we wondered if my executive decision to leave the snorkel gear behind was the right one. Then a set of waves would roll in and any hesitation in answering was gone. While we didn’t go in the water, the dolphins were out. Cruising up and down the coast the whole time. Calves, in amongst the grownups, were being more playful and on occasion jumped out of the water. While on the rock the grownups were the ones up to antics at The Playground:
I lost count of how many boulder problems everyone went up, but it was way more than I had expected. And I think it was probably also more than Pat and Mike had expected, plus Pat had certainly redeemed himself from his brief episode on his first trip out. The good thing about The Playground is it offers problems for everyone, so Howsie and I were not missing out in testing our headspace or in his case finger strength. And today he simply wasn’t able to stick a couple of the finger locks despite many attempts, including this one:
After such a successful time bouldering, it was time to pull out the harnesses, ropes, and gear to allow Howsie to bag a few trad leads at Lost Buttress. After which, he set up a top rope to allow Pat and Mike to have a bash at some longer routes. Whether it was the need for all the safety gear or something else I’m not sure, but as they climbed these lines their heads seemed to holding them back. Both of them found the routes more challenging, even though technically they were no harder than anything their had conquered while bouldering:
With plenty of encouragement and tips, as they climbed, the battle against their thoughts was won and they both made it to the top of the first climb. I imagine that at double the height of the boulder problems, their acrophobia started to creep back to the fore. And may also be taking hold that bit more due to tiring muscles, and brains becoming weary from suppressing their fears. Back down any negative thoughts that may have started to creep in were washed away, by watching the dolphins and again questioning leaving the snorkel gear in the car:
For the second slightly harder climb Howsie had great fun leading, but watching him dip into his chalk bag and stop to think about the moves near the top probably made Pat and Mike also think twice. They both gave it a crack, but the delicate moves near the top where the handholds turn to fingertip sized friction edges it was just too much. Neither of them however panicked and that in itself was huge. After that and not surprisingly they admitted to being mentally and physically fatigued, and happy to call it a day:
We had left some gear at the top, so Howsie got to pick one more line before we packed up. And in answer to Pat who asked as we drove home if we had climbed enough, both Howsie and I could feel that satisfying ache in our muscles during the final ascent. Walking out we agreed that if we had taken the snorkel gear, there wouldn’t have been enough time to have a swim anyway. And Mike said he could now understand why we started early, as there was nowhere to hide as the sun beat down on us as we walked out:
Sandbagged 