After missing out on our recent trip to Bobs Hollow, Howsie was keen to get out this weekend to get back into it with thoughts on maybe hitting one or two grade 21s.  With that in mind we headed to the Northern Blocks of Wilyabrup, which has four grade 21s.  Two I’ve led, one I decided to abort while leading it resulting in a new route being established and the last I’ve never bothered with, as it leads you to a dead end and it’s a pain to then have to retrieve your gear.  Already conscious that Howsie has not been out much I wondered how things would go:

There are a few lower grade routes here, but the real charm of the area are the longer routes that are graded 18 upwards.  I was a little surprised to hear that Howsie had never led any of the longer lines here, and as such I offered him the rope on the first warm-up route.  Corpus Delecti is a great fully trad line, but the final flake can be unnerving being a tad difficult to protect and also feeling super exposed.  While I’ve led it numerous times before I have also been known to backed off it:

Howsie wandered up with great ease or so it looked from below, when I was actually watching.  He indicated that he could feel his arms starting to pump out on the final flake, but just stayed calm and got on with it.  That and the fact that he hadn’t led any of these routes resulted in me offering him the rope for a second lead.  To the right of us the large roof, which Jug Abuse goes up, still didn’t look inviting to me.  I was kinda pleased when Howsie didn’t seem to be drawn to this line either:

After scoping what was on offer he picked what I regard as one of the classics, which is saying something as nearly all of the routes here are gems.  As Howsie went up again, and like before, I kept a watchful eye out for any signs of dolphins and of course held the rope.  Use No SLCDs has a bit of everything on it, which is part why I like it so much.  A steep start leads to a particular fun jamming crack followed by great steep face climbing that is hard to read.  The only thing missing were the dolphins:

With two very fine routes under his belt it was time to decide whether he needed to get down to business, so once again I offered the rope.  After leading all the routes last weekend I was more than happy to take a back seat and allow Howsie to enjoy the leads.  We wandered round the corner to where two more 21s, of Green Stone and Power Your Mind are located.  The first being super feisty and a bit run out and the second being the one I previously attempted and aborted half way up.  Howsie looked at Green Stone and it stared back at him with an intimidating attitude, so he decided not today:

He did however like the look of Power Your Mind. Without the great ocean views I kept a watchful eye for anything unusual, of course while also diligently holding the rope. It may not seem all that exciting I did spot the above fly, one that I have ever seen before. It’s a Snail Parasitic Blowfly, and as the name suggests their larvae are known to be parasites to snails. As I observed the butterflies and flies, Howsie had already made his decision. Halfway up and after looking at the steep blank wall of Power Your Mind, like me 9 years before almost to the day, he decided that the natural line to the left was more appealing:

He was obviously tiring as he ascended this line, which I called Trust Your Instincts.  It is steeper than the grade 21, but offers better holds and more gear so I gave it a grade that is a couple of notches lower.  After making the decision to enjoy the natural line Howsie made his way to the start of the steep overhung blocks, where it took him a while to muster up the faith to go for it.  As he was getting close to the end I saw him stutter, and his gear was some way below.  Fortunately and with great relief he somehow kept his balance and made the final moves:

It was clear that he needed a break, which in his words meant dialling back the grades or me taking the lead so he could second a route.  Having pre-empted this situation I was already prepared with my decision, which saw us heading back down the main wall to pick off the obvious route.  The start is guarded by a slightly off vertical undercling flake, making for powerful moves before great technical and fingery climbing.  Just my style and I was soon atop and as I was belaying Howsie up I was again looking out for dolphins:

Not a dolphin in sight, and I was now preparing myself to have one of those rare trips to the coast when I didn’t see them.  Meanwhile Howsie was following up, very pleased to have a rope above him.  Loving the line of Digital Delecti but looking super focused, the holds start to round off as you get higher.  But he managed to find enough strength to hold on and work the final moves.  Once standing next to me on top of the cliff, he claimed that it hadn’t quite been the break that he had been hoping for:

So to give him a break I pulled up the rap line and coiled it, suggesting we move across to the shorter lines on The Terrace.  My intentions were immediately obvious, being to scope the fourth grade 21 in the area.  To allow an inspection I even placed the rap rope right down line, giving Howsie the opportunity to check it out in detail and hopefully get sucked in.  As he came down I could hear mumblings, and then as he came over the lower roof he let out a groan and something about that looking hard:

Despite these words, my cunning plan looked to have worked and he was soon giving it a go.  This in my mind is the best 21 of the four here.  It has more consistent and sustained climbing and being a fully sport route seems to be more reasonably protected.  He got past the tricky start and the roof didn’t give him as much grief as he thought it might, but when he reached the second smaller overlap (below) his arms were really feeling it.  As a result he took not one, but three decent whippers before he managed to figure out the moves and pull them off:

Despite feeling completed gassed and having battled for over half an hour on the route Howsie was sporting an ear to ear grin.  Not surprising, while we hadn’t seen any dolphins he was rewarded with having got up Bearded Dolphin, which after all the climbing we had already done was a great achievement.  We were not however quite done.  It seemed rude to come here and not climb Banana Split, one of the original routes here that is nearing 50 years old and is a classic trad line.  Howsie did however make it clear that it was my lead, which I was more than happy to take:

While we may not have bagged more 21s today, it didn’t stress Howsie and I get the feeling that his 2021 challenge will not be pursued with the same level of rigour as his 2020 challenge.  I personally feel that is a good thing, and maybe just attempting one grade 21 on each trip out is enough.  Today certainly had been great and every line was a winner.  To top the morning off, as we trudged out with weary arms and legs, we came across a sand monitor.  As we carefully took a wide berth round it, it just sat there allowing us to get a good look at it before we carried on back to the car:

Keen to get out after a two week break from climbing, Tomski was the only person to bite when I put the word out.  The original plan was to go on Sunday but cyclone Seroja was nearing the northern coast of Western Australia, and despite being close to 800km south of where it will hit this would result in a low pressure system bringing rain to our parts.  As such with the conditions on Sunday looking worse as the week progressed we changed to Saturday.  This did mean I would need to be a bit more mindful of time, as Lisa and I were heading to Rongy’s engagement party later that afternoon:

As such it was a first light start, as if I need an excuse to suggest that!  I gave Tomski a choice of places to go as he is only in the country for probably a month or two longer and I am keen to give him the opportunity to sample the full range of crags and rock types we are lucky enough to have here.  I had in mind either some harder sport climbing at Welly Dam, so he could have a lead, or for Moses Rocks.  Offering the complete opposite of (mostly) trad and generally lower grades (well that wasn’t quite true either).  He plumped for the later and so it was that he drove down towards the carpark in the morning light, shortly after I had arrived:

I had a quick chat with Howsie, to see what lines he reckoned I should take Tomski up.  If he only had one visit here I wanted to make sure he sampled the best stuff, and many of the lines that Howsie suggested aligned with my thinking.  So it was that we headed to Hands-Up Wall to start the day.  Not surprisingly with a 4m swell brewing the Zawn was out of action but that was OK as I really wanted to give Tomski a taste of slab climbing, Moses Rocks style.  We started on Many Hands, a more featured part of the wall so in a way a gentle introduction of what was to come:

Despite the first route being a gentle introduction the rounded nature of the rock and lack of good edges and positive holds, both hands and feet, was immediately obvious to Tomski.  He was really interested in how a place being so close to Wilyabrup could offer such a different rock, it’s true and geologically we are so lucky here to have a lot of variation.  He also remarked on the flared nature of many of the features, resulting in much of my gear looking less than comforting.  At a place like this you really need to know and trust the physics and capability of gear placements, not all the routes are that bad but some certainly are.  It’s part of the reason others don’t climb here but also why I love this place so much, and each time I write a post about it I rave about it:

The other amazing aspect of Moses Rocks that, in my mind, makes it more striking than the main cliffs of Wilyabrup that most climbers head too is the situation.  The closeness of the waves, as shown above, and view both north back to the carpark and beach and south across to Wilyabrup are stunning.  You get to see right down the barrel of the waves as they roll into the bays on either side.   As we walked in Tomski was immediately struck by the situation and was loving it, another person converted!  Added to that with today’s crisp cool morning and light easterlies to keep the spray away we had picked the perfect day to be here:

Next up was Gothic Streak and then what I regard as probably one of the scariest routes here Hands Up.  These two lines are graded the same, which is probably fair for difficulty, but the latter follows by far the most flared and shallow crack Moses Rocks has on offer.  With no other opportunities for gear, Tricams are perfect for this but they really don’t look that secure.  Tomski on second didn’t need to worry about that aspect, which was good as he was having to get used to trusting friction and really working on his footwork.  The first three lines were up the slightly more generously angled slabs, but we were slowing moving rightwards:

This meant approaching the blunt arête of Hands-Up Wall where the next route went, Fat Slags.  It was at this point that I had to explain a few things to Tomski, firstly the names.  You may recall from earlier posts the names of quite a few routes here have been taken from Viz comics.  A classic and at times viewed as an inappropriate British comic from the 1980s (http://viz.co.uk/).  I doubt in this day and age you would get away with such a comic, and no doubt some of the names used for the routes here will be called out over time, as societal tolerances, views and perceptions change:

Fat Slags was the route that would really show Tomski what Moses offered, there are places on this route that there are no hand holds and it is all footwork.  I’m not sure if he believed me when I said this, but when he reached the crux (above) he looked up and said something like “you really did mean there are no holds didn’t you”.  He had to work the crux sequence, but it was a learning experience and one he was eager to make the most of.  My intention had been to skip the next line, and come back to it.  But when I showed him the line Tomski was keen to keep ticking the lines from right to left:

Now before we get to the next line the second thing I had to explain was the strange Australian bolt plate.  This was a new concept to Tomski, and so I explained how they worked which is pretty straight forward.  He also asked the obvious question of why they were used, so he got my view related to cost fully understanding that is not everyone’s view.  But that said seeing the mix of carrots (whether glue or bashed in), hangers and ring bolts on so many crags I reckon my theory has merit.  Either that or the climbing communities care or worry about other possible reasons of visual impact has changed.  Above Tomski has finally reached the better high holds and last bolt plate on Johnny Fartpants:

As we moved from right to left the routes were getting harder starting at grade 14 and for route number five we were at 19.  And it was on Johnny Fartpants, which is close to vertical that I had to explain that on the steeper sections some hand (or should I say fingertip, if you are lucky) holds are not for pulling on.  They are just to balance on.  On several sections on this route they are so small that unless you have built up experience on using them you wouldn’t give them a second glance.  Tomski found this out the hard way and spent a long time figuring out how he was going to get up this route, but he eventually managed it and was still smiling when he did:

Fortunately the next route in line was Wheely Things, what I reckon to be the crag classic.  Unlike all the slabs and shallow flared cracks of the previous routes, this deep crack offered great jamming and loads of gear.  But beware it is guarded by an initial crack that seems to fox many people.  And after the battle he had on the previous route it did perplex a weary Tomski for a while.  After a false start or two he got past that and then got stuck into the rest of the crack line and loved it, as shown by a few picture above and then the smiling happy face in the above image after finishing the route:

I still had oodles of energy and was keen to keep going.  It is not that I didn’t have to focus or work on the routes, I just have them dialled and can dance my way up them.  Although I have to admit I can’t recall when I last climbed or led Johnny Fartpants (sorry just had to get that name in one more time ha ha), so was pleased with how I went on that one.  I think having stepped down to a grade 15 had given Tomski renewed energy, and the next one called Twist Till You Lock I knew would bump things up.  So I did suggest we could bypass this one but he was keen and he will only now hear that it was grade 21.  Something I hope will give him some comfort in why he found it so challenging:

It is not a route I have often led and the final roof feels super tricky, but also super safe with a bolt right at the final moves.  Too tricky for even wearier Tomski when he got to it and I thought he may have been done by then, but no… The next more prominent arête up which Victor and His Boa Constrictor ascends appealed to him.  So off I went one more time, loving the delicate nature of the climbing here.  The bottom moves are steep and make use of more holds not meant to be pulled on, and from the offset Tomski was waning.  It looked like every move was punishing him right up until the final glory jug could be reached.  And even then the following mantle was looking like it was hard work:

Cornish Nasty awaited round the corner, the last of the longer routes on Hands Up Wall.  But Tomski was toast and deservedly so, having worked really hard on several of the stiffer lines here.  I think it is also fair to say he fully enjoyed the morning, location and every route we did so I do hope I can bring him back here before he heads off.  There are other sections of this long drawn out climbing area, with more varied and interesting routes that are so worth exploring.  With a bit of luck we can snag equally great conditions next time.  And if we do make it back, to avoid Tomski burning out mid-session, I might suggest not going at the routes in the such an orderly fashion:

Dan finally made it over from Melbourne to visit his family, and as is the usual custom we took the opportunity to organise a day out on rock.  This time Jo stayed in Melbourne busy with work.  His trip to the west has been an on again, off again situation for the obvious reasons and as such it was not until we knew he was able to travel that we discussed our plans.  In view of his only annual opportunity to climb here I allowed him the choice of crags.  I was a little was surprised to find out that he had never climbed at Bobs Hollow, which was where we decided on:

Not catching up to climb with Dan too often, we are lucky if it is once a year, I decided not to put the trip out there on the wider group.  Although I was conscious that Howsie would be keen for a trip here, to continue on his 2021 challenge.  So he and Mikey were set to join us, but after a rough week at work Howsie had to bail.  Mikey was still keen so we were going to head out with three, which isn’t a bad thing at this steep pumpy crag.  With three it allows a bit more of a rest between climbs.  As it was Tomski was also seeking a trip out and at the nth hour he became part of the crew making it four again:

Mikey, Dan and I met in Capel at 4, an early start for a few reasons.  This place is a bit further away and has a 40min walk in; when the sun hits it at around 11 the climbing becomes uncomfortable for most; and lastly and probably the key driving factor being to avoid the crowds.  With no international travel, the folk that would normally head to Thailand have been using this place.  The popularity of the steep sport climbing cliff has shot up and I’ve seen as many as 40 plus people here, and for a crag with less than that many climbs it can feel too busy:

On the drive down Mikey and Dan made their introductions, the last time they had met was probably at the PCYC a decade or more back.  Both are mentioned in my write ups about the main people I have climbed with in the South West, and now seems a good opportunity to share a link to my post about those people: https://sandbagged.blog/2020/04/21/south-west-climbers/.  Tomski was parked up at the head of the walk track when we arrived and in the cool morning, with just enough light to see the track, we hiked in.  The sky was cloudy and a very slight drizzle fell on us for a brief moment as we approached, but was soon over never to return:

We arrived to an empty crag, but the signs of people to come were there, a few routes were equipped.  Draws hung from the bolts of two lines, but at 22 and 25 these were not lines we aimed to start on or possible even consider.  During our discussion Dan had hinted 22 was the top grade for the day and based on this I had given him a list of routes I felt were worthy, eight all up.  He wandered along the crag taking it all in, after all Bob’s is a mighty and impressive place.  Meanwhile Mikey got straight down to business and jumped on Thyeses Feast.  He had been keen to try it, driven by brotherly competitiveness as Howsie (yes his brother) had mentally struggled on the finishing moves during his 2020 challenge.  And never got a clean ascent:

Dan was a bit slower starting, and didn’t leave the deck until Mikey was on the way back down after a successful ascent, and of course I simply had to take a video of this for Howsie (see below).  After checking out the crag Dan hadn’t picked any lines to have a go at so I directed him towards Right Fin, the first route on the replanned list I had made.  He took a steady pace up the initial easy corner getting used to the rock and after the first steep bugle he sat in a big cave.  Taking in the view and allowing his arms to recover before the final push, which didn’t present him any trouble:

Tomski followed Mikey and a bit like last week at Wilyabrup, while not a completely new rock for him it would be a new experience.  He had been here before but we were hitting some harder and steeper lines than he had previously attempted.  As we are coming to know, he is not one to give up and so he again proved in bucketful’s today.  The intention was for him to second up the first route, but Mikey accidently pulled the rope.  So it was Tomski headed up on lead.  My intention was not to lead anything today allowing Dan all the glory and being happy to relax with a rope above me, but the temptation got the better of me:

So after I also lead and then cleaned Right Fin, Dan and I hit Constructive Vandalism.  While Tomski battled onwards.  He made it to the final steep wall in good style, but the overhung, powerful and pumpy final section wore him down after repeated attempts.  Before Dan or I could offer to clean the line Mikey was heading back up, and got a clean lead again.  It could have been to rub Howsie’s nose in it even more, but Mikey claims he wanted to try the left hand finish.  It’s the way I climb it, and he too found it a more secure way to finish the route:

The place was still empty but as Mikey headed up Right Fin the first person arrived.  He said he was with a crew of six, and it took a while before they all arrived.  Stuart the first guy to arrive obviously speed marched the walk track, leaving his mates for dust.  Mikey polished off his route and Dan climbed Dependence Day, again making use of a big cave to kick back and take in the view of the ocean.  And only then did the second person from that party arrived.  Julian recognised me and had to enlighten me as to where we had met.  He had once come along to my wall with Ash and smashed every problem I pointed him towards:

My memory of Dependence Day was that it was hard, sustained and had a powerful finish.  I pondered my options and this time I accepted a top rope, and only afterward questioned if I should have led it.  It, or was it me, climbed really well and the route wasn’t half as hard as my memory had led me to believe.  I too took refuge in the big cave, and man that view is good.  The holds today felt good.  Some are starting to get slippy not from moisture but wear and all the chalk that people use.  Too many people climb with way too much chalk and coat the rock, filling in any pores resulting in any friction being lost:

Today both Dan and I rarely used chalk, and there were only a handful of times did we dip into the bag and even then sparingly.  The conditions were that good today, dry but also cool.  As I was preparing to rap back down Tomski was this time climbing with the rope above him, so I hung on the rope for a while and watched.  Also Stuart was being belayed by Julian up Magnus the Robot Fighter.  This route was on the list I had put together for Dan and is the same grade as Dependence Day, jumping on it cold is a tall order.  One Kym had set me many years back when I had failed at the anchors, and today Stuart failed to get to the anchors despite being tantalisingly close:

This did make me wonder about the route and whether I was up for it.  I’ve climbed it once since with Rongy and again it had me beat, the sustained pumpy nature wore me down even quicker that time.  Before heading back down I watched Tomski battling the bulge offering some advice and encouragement.  He had again managed the lower wall, but was really struggling with this steeper more overhung stuff.  It comes down to technique and confidence, but when your arms are beat both are hard to muster up.   And try, try and try as he did the battle against the bulge was over:

As more people turned up we got into tickety tick mode, as Kym would say.  I cleaned Right Fin to allow Mikey to save some strength for other routes.  That wasn’t however until after Dan, after watching Julian attempting Hollow Promises, decided to have a go.  At a lofty grade 25 it was ambitious.  He set off confidently, making it to the crux sequence and looked calm and relaxed.  From there it looked like a series of sharp fingery holds came next, and they all had to be gained dynamically.  After one attempt he declared he would come down, but I rallied the crowd and they all agreed he should try again.  It  looked promising but it was too tough and this time I lowered him back down, and he was rightfully happy with where he got to:

They then attempted to encourage me to have a bash. I was however contemplating my nemesis and decided to go for it Carmen, one of the crew of six and had just climbed it. And watching her more focused and fluid approach to the climb made me think that I would be OK on it. She almost faltered at the crux but we all encouraged her to keep going, which she did. Coming back down after the successful ascent Carmen questioned whether it was a real clean lead, as she had sat in a big cave that is on route. We all agreed that it still counted, after all Dan had used the same approach twice today and there was no hint from any of us that he had “cheated”:

I’m pleased to say that I managed Magnus the Robot Fighter without too much worry, even the final holds felt good.  But I did take a moment in that cave too, to look out and enjoy a view that I will never tire of seeing and prepare for the next stage.  Sadly I forgot to carry my camera up so there is no image of what I was lucky to see from there.  After that Mikey hit Constructive Vandalism and was super happy when he got that one clean too, he was on a roll and climbing well.  Tomski also got up this route… eventually.  This one is steep most of the way but he was determined not to give up and must have been shattered when he finally got there:

Dan and I successfully attacked Black Lung, and as we continued to hit routes more and more groups were turning up.  Nearly all were walking past us to the southern end, which was now being hit by the sun.  Dan munched on some food but I had ants in my pants and felt like I had to keep moving or throw in the towel for the day, so I ran up and self-cleaned Puk Puk Sen.  Meanwhile Julian successfully got up Hollow Promise, on his second attempt of the day.  While it was a clean lead he still had a bit of a hissy fit, because he hadn’t been able to clip both anchors.  This became the next topic for debate and we agreed it still counted and told him to stop whinging.  Mikey was pleased with that as he did the same thing just minutes later, as he got up Black Lung:

Sport climbing and the ethics therein are a fickle topic, and it was fun having those debates. Before Mikey had climbed Constructive Vandalism, I had badgered him about pink pointing the route when there was a hint the guys already on it would leave the draws in for him.  I didn’t mentioned, and no one noticed that this was how I led Magnus the Robot Fighter.  It’s all about fun at the end of the day, and a bit of heckling is a good thing.  Tomski decided not to climb Black Lung, so I cleaned that one before we trouped down to the southern end, hoping that the twenty odd people down there were not occupying all of the lines.  We were lucky and they were mostly split into two groups, each huddled round one line each:

Dan was drawn towards one of the crag classics, Shaved Cat, while Mikey plumped for the fun Juggernaut.  We had to wait for a couple to finish on our route before we started, and it was in full sun as we approached midday.  It certainly felt warm and there was a sting to the sun, but that didn’t stop Dan.  He was however happy to call it the last climb, as his forearms started to cramp on this route.  I was more than happy to have a rope above me on this one, and even more so when a line of Processionary Caterpillars (like the ones I included in my post Battling the Elements: https://sandbagged.blog/2021/03/10/battling-the-elements/) were marching up the side of the flake where all of the holds were.  It’s best not to touch these as their hairs will penetrate your skin and it can be very irritating:

Mikey was going fine making good use of all the caves on his route, then as he had to exit the relative comfort of them and climb the open face three things happened.  The sun hit him, he kinda went off route and then his arms flaked.  Taking his first fall of the day, just as he reached the next bolt.  He’d runout of draws on the side he wanted to get one from, struggling to reach the ones on the other side he didn’t managing too before his arms gave way.  He got it on the next attempt and polished off the route, I feel like he too was toast and ready to call it a day.  While Tomski was heading up for the last lap of the day, Dan had scooted to what we had seen from all those caves we had sat in today:

I joined him and it felt wonderful to fully immerse into the cool, crystal clear waters.  The ocean was flat today, Mikey and I both felt it would have been the perfect day to have brought the snorkel gear.  But time was not on our side and after this route we knew we had to make tracks.  As Tomski battled his way up, Dan and I kicked back in the cool waters watching.  Waiting until he neared to end before we got out and made our way back up, all refreshed and feeling cool.  We packed the gear and said our goodbyes leaving some 30 plus people to carry on climbing, as the sun started to creep round soon to dispel any lingering shade:

It was a hot walk out.  There was hardly a breeze in the air and the heat seemed to get trapped on the track especially when it was carved through the higher vegetation.  To the west that view we had seen from the caves was constantly there, only disappearing when the vegetation went above head height.  Before the last stretch we stood there for a while taking in the stunning colours.  Below a long perfectly white sandy beach stretched out with maybe ten people on it.  It was amazing that the place wasn’t overrun, and my guess is that many people are waiting for next weekend and then they will be down in droves:

Not only will it be the long Easter weekend but also the start of the school holidays.  About ten cars were at the head of the walk track from where the climber walk in and I dread to think how many may be parked here next weekend.  So much so that I am unlikely to head out and instead have other plans.  Today had however been a storming trip, everyone had worked hard and really enjoyed themselves.  In perfect conditions we clocked up seventeen leads between us, which is pretty impressive for Bobs.  Dan and I made plans as we drove back, and hopefully this time next year I’ll be able to pop over and visit Dan and Jo so they can take me round some east coast crags:

It felt like it had been forever since I had climbed at Wilyabrup, but looking back it has only been a mere two months.  On that trip we climbed with three.  Ash, having his first bash at trad leading, and Jaime happy to second up nearly anything.  Today I headed back with Tomski and Jaime, and as we approached the morning was looking glorious.  Ash was considering tagging along, but after a few days of outdoor adventure he said he had housework to do, while his mates who we met down there indicated he was a little cooked from all the other adventures.  Despite only arriving half an hour after light had crept in, it was already bright and after just leading up one climb also hot and sticky:

I had already mapped out a bit of a plan of attack for today, and we started as I had planned.  The Unbolted and the Beautiful, which I originally graded 15, once again proved to be a tough opposition.  Jaime came second and the crux, which some say is worthy of 17, had her beat.  There is fortunately an escape past this up the route to the right, but after that there is no getting away from the relentless headwall.  Great holds but no rests.  Tomski also struggled, probably rushing in a bit, like a kid in a candy store.  Chomping at the bit he came up, and a couple of times he just did not seem to stop and think things through:

I had thought Tomski would cruise it, as he’d just spent two week climbing in Tasmania.  But where he was climbing for those two weeks the rock had superb friction and it was cold, relatively speaking.  Here the hard Gneiss does not soak up any moisture and today was humid, making the many smeary holds feel like soap.  Layered on top of that Tomski really hasn’t climbed a huge amount, so jumping on a rock that demanded a different approach and style had thrown him.  Climbing is so hugely variable depending on the rock, conditions and your state of mind, which to me is a big part of the appeal of trying different places when I can:

My original intention was to bump it up for the second route and hit One for the Road.  While they both enjoyed the challenge of the first route, based on how they had gone there seemed to be some sense in dialling it back.  So we ambled up Glory at a relaxed grade 13.  As I belayed up top in full sun sweat was dripping off me and the mossies buzzed all around.  It was weird to have not even completed two routes before it felt hot.   So much so I wouldn’t have been surprised if we wrapped up early today.  Jaime was stoked as she followed up, getting over the small rooflet clean first attempt.  Previously when we climbed it, that section had given her grief:

Tomski was still adjusting the more open hand rounded holds, the routes he’d been on in Tasmania were sport routes with more in cut  positive holds.  The use of open hand holds makes use of a different set of muscles and that was not only foxing him but also making his arms pump out quickly.  After veering off my planned itinerary for the second route we came back on track for number three.  There are two fabulous 18s on the upper part of Steel Wall, with a great ledge to set up camp on.  So we rapped down and it felt like bliss, both the shade and a slight cooling breeze made it so much more comfortable:

I took the first lead up the trad 18, a great route that is technically never very hard but requires focus, as you run it out between gear placements.  Not all of which inspire confidence, and the hot sweaty conditions made the lead a bit more nervous than usual.  I took my time and carefully made my way up.  In the background I could hear Jaime and Tomski questioning whether they would be able to follow me, and I feel that my much slower and cautious pace was making them  think it looked too hard.  Both however managed a clean second, and while they may have had a few tentative moments on the smaller holds they both came up with big smiles:

The other 18 is fully bolted, and I had in mind for Tomski to have a bash at leading it.  So we rapped back down to our lofty perch and he got himself psyched up for the lead.  I wasn’t too sure how he would go, but the way he climbed the last 18 gave me more confidence.  He was slowing down and being more thoughtful, and also using his feet better.  Also on this wall the holds tend to be more in cut and crimpy holds.  A style that he was more used to.  Before we rapped down he was hinting that he was happy to try because of the clean falls, and that he probably wouldn’t get it clean:

We needn’t have worried, as is usually the case when you lead your mind kicks into gear.  The consequences of making a mistake are far more real and you become more focused on the task that lays ahead.  This showed, Tomski made more deliberate but not rushed movements.  Checking holds and making sure he worked his feet well, not over extending and never slapping for any holds.  It was great to watch, and he looked like a completely different climber to the Tomski we had seen on the first climb of the day.  Not only was it a great lead but it was also his first time at belaying from the top of a route:

While whether you belay from the bottom or top may seem like a small thing, it does change how you go about it.  The way you catch a fall changes and to make it comfortable your belay setup also changes.  Both Jaime and Tomski throughout the day were eager to observe, ask and discuss all the elements of climbing, looking at what they could do to improve their climbing.  It is as simple as how you place your feet to allow rotation in your knees and hips, not over extending yourself to avoid getting stuck in a position that is near impossible to get out of and as the day had worn on the climbing styles had improved:

It had felt like we had been moving well on rock today despite climbing with three, and we were now four routes in.  But when we checked the time five hours had slipped past, midday was closing in on us and the sun was creeping round.  Soon to bathe every wall.  We were back on the deck, and without the elevated position to maximise the slight breeze you could feel the heat again.  While time had caught up with us, the heat was rising and the sun was soon to be on us we all felt good after the last couple of routes and so decided on just one more.  My plan was only to hit the four routes, so we walked along to pick a line and decided on the wall with the most shade:

This also happened to be occupied by several other groups and as I set off up Inner Space, without warning, a rope came down from above.  We made a few terse comments about the stupidity of not checking below before throwing the rope down and the guilty party eventually and sheepishly came over and apologised.  I carried on up regardless, the holds felt slippy and I wondered how the other two might go.  Jaime managed to get most of the way up before she was toast and Tomski not quite as far before he was slipping off the slimy holds.  The decision was made pretty quickly after that, time to pack up and sweat our way back to the car.  We agreed that next time we would hit Innerspace first up, with fresh arms and hopefully cooler conditions: