With the promise of a cool dry day just one month into Summer what better place to visit than Smiths Beach.  With the sun hitting the walls of the zawn early in the morning it is not a place to go to on a hot day, that plus the fact that it has been a staggering eighteen months since I last climbed here made it the perfect choice for a quick morning session with Howsie:

I kicked things off jumping on the crag classic, which is also the first line to fall at this crag.  The rock was a damp.  Maybe from the swell, surely not the small amount of rain we had yesterday morning?  That would have dried by now but the rock didn’t have that salty feeling when it has been hit by spray.  It was all a bit irrelevant because as I made my way to the final slopey diagonal crack I heard Howsie say it’s going to start to rain:

It came down hard and the rock, gear and rope were all sopping wet.  Both Howsie and I were a bit shell shocked as to how full on the first climb had felt.  While we could have blamed the rain we knew that wasn’t entirely it, so we dialled back the grade to make sure we could survive this session with some dignity.  The good news was that the bank of rain was passing us over, as we made our way to Murphy’s Boulder out of the zawn and on the seaward side:

While the rock was wet the lines looked more relaxed and we picked off Over Extended and Murphy’s Scramble.  Both lines were really enjoyable but still had that Smiths Beach seriousness about them.  Looking at the guide I wondered what drugs Craig and I may have been on when we graded them.  So we climbed them with care and then passed on the option of the inviting open project in the face comprising a wrinkled curving crack, with no obvious gear:

With the rain having moved on and the sun hitting Harbour Wall each time the clouds parted, the rock felt better.  Still damp but not wet and starting to dry up, so Howsie set off up The Drunken Sailor.  It looked like he was going to climb the wide crack just like Kym likes, grovel style.  However after looking like he would disappear from sight he popped back out and climbed it without getting sucked in again:

The reason for his one disappearance was the need to place a bomber hex deep in the recess of the crack.  I was only just able to reach it, despite climbing the route as Kym had taught me too.  The first time I hit this line Kym made a “strong” recommendation/suggestion that for full value you need to get into the crack and worm your way up in very traditional style.  Howsie couldn’t help from laughing as I inched my way up with what could definitely not be called style:

We then popped over into the smaller of the two zawns, a wall on which Howsie has only done one route before.  So he plumped for what looked to be the driest and most likely line to have good protection.  Deceptive Looks was a good choice, enough spice to make it real but with also with great holds in-between the nervous bits.  The only issue with Smiths Beach is that the grainy rock at times makes you wonder just how brittle the holds might be:

There was time to squeeze one more line in, so I offered the pointy end over.  Partly as I had climbed all the lines here before but also Howsie was climbing with more confidence today and I didn’t feel the need to push myself.  That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it.  Sandy Sunday was a perfect choice, climbed in the style Craig had intended with no venturing into the chimney just to its right:

I think it is fair to say that while we walked in with confidence we walked out feeling a little less so.  We had fun on the lines we picked but they all had that slightly serious feel to them, there was an issue with trusting the rock at times and also some of the gear (but not all).  Smiths Beach certainly packs a punch and today we were on the receiving end.  Despite it being an old stomping ground I feel the need to start to revisit this place more often to get my head back in the game:

T’was the morning before the night before the night before Christmas and while many of you were tucked up in bed a few of us were up at the crack of dawn.  The almost full moon was out and lit up the driveway as I walked to the car.  By the time I was just 5min down the road the sky was waking up:

As I drove up Pile Road and made my way up the hill the moon was slowing inching its way down behind Bunbury and it was full daylight.  Normally on a trip out for a before work climb, which would only have been half an hour earlier, I would have seen many cars but today there were none on the entire trip:

After making my way up the hill only to drive down into a hole, a way that Collie was described to me when I first arrived in WA, the sun was peaking over the horizon.  It had been 18 degrees when I got in my car and it hadn’t changed much during the hour journey.  As suspected it was going to be a warm one:

Dan rocked up with Jo and his dad and we decided to start sensibly on Block and Tackle, seeing these lines would soon be in full sun.  While we had the place to ourselves there were the tell-tale signs that other climbers were not far away.  This and six other lines having draws on every bolt, and that was way too much crag booty for it to have been accidently left behind:

Jo was nursing a pulley injury on her rude finger, and dad well he was sporting all the usual old age issues of a body that has been worked hard during its younger years.  So as not to tire them out too quickly only Dan and I played on the next line of Shock Therapy, again making use of the draws already there and again bagging a line before the sun hit:

Welcome to Edges was the next line to fall, again on someone else’s gear, and at that time Jakke turned up.  It was to be his first experience of climbing outdoors.  This route has a fitting name for that prestigious occasion, which was made even more special seeing he was christening his new shoes and managed a clean ascent:

Soon after Steve and Leanne rocked up and not surprisingly Steve plumped for his favourite route of the area Raging Torrent.  He too was sporting injuries and alignments.  While he managed the first clip without complaining about its height (but only just), he didn’t have the strength to pull off the last crux moves:

As Jakke was enjoying the edges and Steve battled with his alignments I sent Dan up a line that didn’t have pre-placed draws.  Attack of the March Flies seemed a fitting one to test him on seeing he was climbing so confidently.  He pulled through the multiple cruxes and only had to reach for the glory jugs at the end but slipped at that final moment:

Leanne has not been out climbing for it could be a few years so it seemed a little ambitious to be setting off on what some regard as a sand bag route.  Being a traditional style climb it only really seems a sand bag route for gym junkies and sport climbers.  That said there is certainly an advantage with height on this one, something Leanne is lacking a little:

Another, self-confessed vertically challenged person, Jo managed to get on the floppy end taking on This Murky Corner of my Mind.  It took a little mind control and talking too to encourage her up this line, but she managed it as did dad.  This line too had pre-placed draws and the owners had still not appeared, maybe it would become the biggest haul of crag booty ever:

Dan picked was drawn to the aesthetic quartz layback arête of Savage Sausage Sniffer, and there were no complaints from Steve or I on that choice.  We kept a few top ropes up and Raging Torrent was the climb that had the most attention, it also proved the most problematic for most.  As the fun continued I direct Dan towards Taj Vs the World after which I jumped on Ebony Road:

It was not until we were on these final lines that the owners of the draws started to drift in car after car after car after car.  I lost count of how many people rocked up but I’d guess over 20.  City Summit was having it’s Christmas do and they had arrived and climbed by torch light last night, and then partied hard at Potters Gorge hence the late start.  The crag suddenly felt like a crowded house with ropes going up all over the place:

It was coming up to 11 and the mercury was over 30, so one by one we drifted off leaving the big crew to crank on.  It was a great morning and no doubt to be repeated next year… if not before.

Just over a year ago Kym and his family moved to Albany and I’ve said several times that I’ll pop down to visit, with the intention to get out for a climb (of course).  Each time our plans have been thwarted, whether due to work, injuries and this time the weather.  I was supposed to head down this weekend just gone and earlier in the week the weather was looking great and everywhere was open for business including the mighty West Cape Howe.  However, as the weekend drew closer a front began to develop so we decided to can the idea.  The weather also closed in on the SW and we had on and off rain from Friday night onwards.  That did not however put me off, so at 5am Sunday I drove into Bunbury to pick Eric up:

I’d been watching the bureau of meteorology interactive maps and I took a punt that on the Sunday morning Pinjarra would be just far enough north to avoid the rain and sure enough when we got there it was a glorious start to the day.  To boot the rock, ground and vegetation was all dry so it seemed it had avoided rain all weekend.  I had been pondering whether to aim for Boobyer Boulders, on the north side of Boomer Hill, but Eric had not been here before and Boomer Crag has the area classic on it plus morning shade.  While I’ve been to this crag a few times it was still great to get back here, in part due to the very different feeling and setting:

Eric has mostly climbed sport, and while he has dabbled with trad the last time was when he came out with us down Willies, which would have been many years back.  So it was with some trepidation that he kicked off the day’s climbing on a fine fully traditional, and one of the easiest routes, on the crag.  For such a small place with only a few routes many of them are quality being interesting and sustained at their grades.  I’m particularly fond of this route, it has a certain style about it and a starts with a cruxy start that keep you honest:

Slow and steady was the order of the day.  We intended to have a relaxed climb but being on a different rock to what we are used to and noting that the grades would bump up quickly that plan was not guaranteed.  Whether it was the flash pump or just not being very climbing fit, Eric’s calves were complaining almost from the start and by the end of the route so were his forearms.  It was also no doubt due to the different psychological approach required for trad climbing, unlike sport it was not a case of clipping and going:

I then plumped for the only route in the old Perth guide that had an X rating.  Maybe at the time it was put up, in 2001, the gear was not as small at is gets now.  With micro-wires this slab provided just enough protection without taking away the spicy feeling.  While I had felt a little woolly and light headed seconding Eric up the first line, on this one I was feeling comfortable and confident.  Several micro-wires and several number one nuts later I set myself up to belay Eric up:

The only issue with the granite boulders/crags of the area is that the tops usually round off and if you belay from the top you don’t get the best view.  So I decided today that I would set myself up hanging belays part way down the crag, so I could watch all the action.  This also, of course, allowed for some better angles for the images.  Eric didn’t seem to struggle on this line and even managed to fiddle out a tri-cam while smearing on his feet, so it looked like it was just a flash pump on the first route and it was over and done with:

So seeing he was getting into it and feeling good, and to avoid burning out too soon that is something Wiggins did when we came here, Eric set his sights on the classic of the crag.  As we were driving up I got him to scan the guide and this route was one of the reasons he preferred the idea of this crag over the boulders.  While they are called Boobyer Boulders they offer routes of equal height and technical range to Boomer Crag.  He set off confidently and soon had his feet on the horizontal and hands in the crack, but was yet to place any gear:

The crack proved a tad trick to place gear, and being that much steeper he got pretty pumped.  Fortunately, as you go higher the holds do improve and he managed to focus and work his way up to the good holds taking his time to place three good pieces along the way.  Then with more secure hand and footholds he set about loosening up a bit before pushing through the next stages, which for me provides the hardest move:

He was just about to start working through the next hard part when there was a mix between a squeal and a squawk.  This is when I found out that Eric is not keen on spiders.  Nestled in the crack which you have to make use of was a hairy 10cm eight legged fella (including legs), which unnerved Eric.  He didn’t fall or rest on gear but had to do some extra composing, and with some calm encouraging chat from myself he worked a way round the crack and avoided disturbing the little fella:

I was taking my time to check out the gear and provide constructive feedback to Eric, but there was very little he placed that didn’t inspire confidence.  It was a top lead!  So as I seconded up stopping to check the gear rather than just pulling it out I could feel that I was pulling that bit harder than I really should have been.  I even spent a bit longer to say hello to the little fella, who was tucked away in the far recess of the crack.  No doubt he was way more scared of us than us of he, so I climbed by and left him in peace:

Last time I came here was with Craig in 2016 and on that trip I attempted a line that looks soooo  good, managing to get most of it clean but bottling on the crux sequence and taking a rest.  So today I thought I’d give it another bash.  My slightly tired feeling on the crag classic, should have given me forewarning of what was to come.  I didn’t start too badly but as soon as I got to the harder moves I could feel my arms, fingers and general whole body start to wane.  I thrutched my way up with absolutely no style, resting several times and whimpering most of the way.  Eventually I topped out having left a bit of a blood trail:

Keen to watch Eric climb this one I set myself up halfway down our rap rope to get a good view.  There were a few of the moves that are pretty reachy for me, so I thought he would do better with his go go gadget arms.  He certainly started strong and was looking good, right up to the midway where you make use of a rounded arête.  This threatens of barn door you off at every move, so you desperately look for anything on the face to help keep you in balance.  There really isn’t much:

Eric certainly climbed it with more grace and composure than I did!  That said I was still glad to have given it a crack, and would not be afraid to do so again.  We were both pretty pooped after that route, so we decided that any thoughts of attempting one of the two new routes was completely insane.  Craig and I saw a line of new bolts in 2016, it looked hard and we played on it briefly to confirm that is was hard… too hard.  That route is now written up as a couple of grades more than my last lead, and the other new route was on par and probably harder as well as full trad:

We left the new routes for another day, but I managed to encourage Eric into taking on the next lead.  After all it was his turn.  He had looked at one line when we first got here and something about it attracted his attention.  So he decided to give it a go, encouraged by the fact that it is supposed to be fully equipped.  The original description of this route is a classic “use the cairn to clip the first BR. Then launch from the deck on small holds until you gain the Thank God jug and second BR”.  Step one was easy, but step two proved far from it:

With much grunting and a bit of pulling on the first clip the “Thank God” hold was reached, but not without some potentially tendon ripping moves to reach and use the sharp and small crimps that you can’t avoid if you want to get over the initial bulge.  Once the second clip was made, and after looking above him it was Eric’s fingers, arms and body’s turn to disobey his mind.  He sat there for some time trying to work out how to make it to the third clip.  After a few less than committing attempts he slumped back in his harness and suggested maybe I would like to try:

It was horrendous, and as I looked back to my last trip report from this place that is how we felt about it last time.  In fact Craig was me grunt up this line and decided not to even bother!  This time I managed to get off the deck, but the next move which is where Eric also struggled, was just too powerful.  After adjusting my position, something I simple couldn’t do without resting on the clip, I carried on pulling like crazy on small sharp holds for what felt like way too long.  Eric managed to work his way up and I could see he too was pulling hard and feeling his fingertips burning:

For some strange reason I thought that the last line was a few grades easier than what it actually was, and even at the grade it actually is we both felt it was a sand bag.  Feeling pretty trashed we rapped down and forgot we still had to get the rap rope down.  Rather than walk up we decided to do one last route, this one was now fully in the sun but it was not too hot.  The pleasant crack and slabby arête provided a welcome relief from the last three steep climbs.  This one was about putting our trust back into our feet rather than cranking down on fingertips:

The arête provides just enough to feel like you can work your way up, needing to trust smears and small crystals in-between the more pronounced features.  Footwork is everything and this kind of climbing was a great way to let the muscles relax and brain slow down.  It is the only way to climb slabs, otherwise you are likely to slip and on this route that would have meant shredding your skin as you skid down the grainy slab.  We both managed a clean ascent and thoroughly enjoyed the route, a good way to finish the day:

So another successful day was had to Boomer Crag, but next time I reckon I might need to make sure the tank is full on the way up here.  This little crag certainly packs a punch with its small but impressive collection of quality routes, and Eric tells me that today he feels like he’s been in a boxing match (one he didn’t win).  While I’d love to come back to Boomer Hill, maybe next time I’ll be venturing to the Boobyer Boulders.  Eric and I packed up our gear and headed to a bakery in Pinjarra before getting onto the highway home, just to make sure we had enough fuel in the tank to get back safely.  Within 10km of being on the highway the rain hit:

Dean has been absent from climbing for some time, two years in fact, so it was not certain how much or what we might do on our Sunday trip to Willies.  One thing was for certain there would be no cams used, I’d brought the usual passive gear with the hope of making use of my hexes.  So my first image is of one of those bad boys placed on the first climb.  I’d be keen to know if anyone can name the climb before they scroll down:

It was a glorious day, overcast but warm and only a light breeze.  The rock was dry and the friction was perfect.  So it was a little surprising that on our 7am arrival we were greeted to an empty carpark.  In a way I was pleased not to bump into Mick and one of his tour groups today, as I intended to hover round the lines that he would normally throw his ropes down:

Tom Thumb was for me an obvious first climb, a low grade that provided climbing that was not fingery or pumpy.  Although that can change if you try to avoid jamming, but Dean followed me making use of the occasional jam and topping out in good form.  So I decided to bump it up a grade, again a climb made easier if you jam and of course another one that took hexes.  Any guesses as to which one this may be:

It looked like he was going to style the jamming as he hit the crux move of Twenty Questions, but try as he might those hands just wouldn’t hold.  So Dean restored to the face holds which makes the route a tad harder.  He didn’t falter and managed to pull off clean ascent number two.  Now normally I would encourage going lead for lead, but I was feeling kind seeing it had been so long since he’d climbed plus the fact that he has not done any trad leading before:

While Mick still wasn’t showing any signs of bringing down a tour group we jumped on another fun line he usually makes use of.  Seeing how well Dean had cleaned the last climb the hard way we bumped up the grade a few notches this time on Setting Sun.  He was adamant when he looked up that there were no holds, but gave it a crack even going for the fingery direct start.  He then proceeded to cruise past the crux moves:

It was still overcast keeping it a nice temperature, but the lack of sun might also have meant that our chances of spying a carpet python (or two!) would be reduced.  Our hopes were raised however when we saw a king skink basking in what UV was breaking through the clouds.  He was even lively enough to scamper into cover when we got any closer than this.  So we had a bit of hope in us as we went for the next longer route:

We started on Hope and this time the hexes stayed on my harness, with wires being the preferred arsenal.  There was no sign of our scaly friends on the flake, but the last few times it had been the sister climb we had seen them on.  Dean followed up and had to stop and think about the crux move half way up.  He attempted going left, right and straight up the crack each time backing back down to have a think.  After a quick shake out he took the right side and managed a fourth clean ascent for the morning with no evidence of tiring (although his toes were starting to complain):

So next we jumped on Glory, the roof near the start had him stumped for a bit but he pulled through.  Unfortunately, despite it being warm enough for the king skink we didn’t get to see any carpet pythons on this climb.  No matter it was a fine line and more impressive Dean managed another clean ascent even going directly up the last wall, making use of all those slopey holds.  He did confess that his toes and fingers were starting to feel it, but was keen for one more:

I reckon it is always good to finish a session on a positive so I picked something I have not climbed in many, many years.  I know at least one person will be able to tell me the name of this route from the following image.  No doubt as you can see the hexes came out to play for the last climb.  It may surprise some people that I had practically no memory of this route, so I wasn’t just using muscle memory and going through the motions that I do on so many other routes:

Sinuosity proved that little bit trickier than I expected and the gear was also a little sparse.  If I had cams (big ones) there would have been ample gear, but I didn’t so it made it a very cool climb to finish on.  Dean had trouble with a wire low down in the initial crack, so I told him to leave it and enjoy the climb.  I was hoping he would manage sixth clean ascent, and he almost didn’t as the last few moves get a bit more technical and fingery and he was hurting:

He did manage to pull it off but his fingers looked red and his toes were clearly telling him enough was enough.  That only left me to rap down and get that pesky wire out.  Then enjoying the fine moves and holds on this line one more time, as I self-belayed up the route.  We walked back down and a couple of climbers appeared following us down.  After a quick chat we packed up our gear and left them to enjoy the peace of the place:

After walking out, getting that usual tree-trunk leg feeling that climbing up the faces doesn’t seem to give me, Dean spied a whale.  So we sat atop staring out to sea and spotted a few big ones far out to see and a pod of four or five a bit closer.  They were not moving anywhere fast but we did eventually have to get back on the road so we left while they continued to play in the bay:

I’ll have to make an effort to bring the hexes more often, as it was great to use those big guns again (I’m guessing the link to the title probably only makes sense to the older generation)…

I wasn’t intending to head out yesterday morning, as we are coming up to silly season on more than one front at home so weekends become hectic and some things usually have to slide.  So when Wiggins put the call out for people interested to play I initially said ‘no can do’.  However, I’m very lucky to have Lisa who said I should go out.  So at a rather sensible time Wiggins, Rongy and I drove down to Willyabrup:

I got proceedings underway, and after last weekend’s enjoyment of doing things a bit differently Rongy had decided today was a kind of no active gear day.  So we only had wires and tri-cams, and going one step further we started off attempting to climb using tri-cams only.  Bearing in mind that unlike Steve we do not possess anything larger than just above an equivalent no. 1 Camelot size:

While I did lead the first line to get us warmed up, you may wonder why Rongy is belaying Wiggins up the fine line of Inner Space.  Well seeing we had three I once again had the chance to get a few more angles for images.  So I dashed down to grab some gear to get into position for Rongy’s lead.  Getting back just in time to watch Wiggins negotiate the final steep headwall all smiles:

The waves were clean and crisp out to sea but closer to land it was more of a white boiling mass.  Light winds and a slight offshore were working in our favour today.  It certainly feels like the change of season is bringing more favourable conditions.  While the first line had a slight damp feel, we had a good feeling that conditions would only improve as the morning wore on.  That was going to be pretty important for Wiggins lead:

Rongy kept up the tri-cam only approach.  Like me he only took tri-cams up so there was no ability to be tempted to slip in wires in those places that we knew from past experience were just perfect.  This meant that we had to hang onto the holds that bit longer fiddling in the gear, which is probably not a bad thing.  We have many of these lines dialled and so it was good to slow us down so we could appreciate them that bit more:

Totally Awesome is very well named, and the middle portion in particular has very fine climbing.  Watching Rongy lead it from this angle allowed me to see another way to get through the gnarly upper section in what looked to be a slightly less intense way.  Truth be told on this section the use of tri-cams didn’t really slowing him down, which is probably a good thing:

Then after having to place some gear deep in the wide horizontal it was time to ascend that headwall one more time.  Two lines down and we still had the place to ourselves, despite the relaxed kick off time.  As Wiggins followed up he was not looking he usual smooth and focused self, and it transpired that in his mind we was already climbing the moves on the next route:

It was time to pack up the gear and move down towards Steel Wall.  Before we got climbing Rongy was keen to check out the routes to the north of the Stormcock Area, in particular Welcome to Arapiles.  This area does not have many routes and he soon saw why, it’s a bit choosy and ledgey.  Even Welcome to Arapiles didn’t really grab him, so we went back to Steel Wall where Wiggins was do the final mental preparations:

I scrambled about on the slabs next to the iconic Steel Wall to get myself set up and Rongy was on video camera duty in addition to belaying.  On this line Wiggins again only took tri-cams but these were only needed to for the first part, as after this Washed up Punks is a fully bolted line.  This time you could see he was more smooth and focused, taking his time and being very deliberate with every move:

Even when he was clipping each bolt he was looking ahead and preparing for the next move. Hardly even looking at the bolt or where the rope had to go.  He’d been on this line a few weeks back and had worked the moves in preparation for attempting his first clean ascent.  Today you could tell he knew what he was doing and he was certainly looking confident and calm:

This route is not the hardest on the wall, but is arguable one of the finest due to its sustained nature.  The steep wall, slightly overhung in places, doesn’t let up and while the handholds are mostly positive they are small, with the need for big moves in-between them.  Watching Wiggins climb is inspiring due to the way he can hang in a position and chill out, even when that position is pumpy and exposed:

He got the ledge under the final headwall and took a rest before taking on the final moves.  After all that finger strength sapping steep climbing the final headwall looked relatively benign with descent holds and only a few moves required.  But getting established requires a bit of grunt and then focus to keep the arms from pumping.  On those last moves after a long route even large holds start to feel insecure:

With one last move to get the glory jug he knew his arms were spent and for the first time on the route he spoke some words to indicate he was coming off.  Despite Rongy and I shouting encouragement for him to go for the last move he seemed to just fall back, and just like he had climbed the whole route even during his fall he was completely relaxed and calm:

After a decent rest he jumped back on and topped out with what looked like relative ease, making me wonder why he had given in taken the fall.  Regardless of the final slip it was a solid lead and hats off to Wiggins.  He was all good with it and simply said he knew that he could do the route, and just had to build up his stamina a bit more to be able to make a clean ascent:

I rapped back down and sat halfway down the wall to watch Rongy work through the crux sequence.  It’s at an overhung section, both hands are on a crimpy rail and you have to smear your feet and make a long reach up to a couple of slightly bigger crimpy holds.  It looks like, and feels like, a big move.  Us shorties have to work that a little harder at this section and Rongy does a bit of a dynamic move to get through it:

Before getting back down I couldn’t resist checking out Steve’s insitu gear, it looks like the pin in starting to rust but I’m sure it still gets used.  Then it was my turn on the big line, which I have only been on a couple of times many years back.  I was somewhat nervous and can safely say my arms felt like lead and my finger tip were on fire as I worked my way up.  When I topped out I flopped on the ground exhausted and hurting, it was a top lead by Wiggins:

There was time for one more climb and while I had earlier suggested Fishing with Dynamite using just tri-cams.  Common sense got the better of me and I lead it using the bolts that this sport line has.  It was a good call, while I managed to pull the route off it was a close call as my arms complained most of the way up.  Despite Rongy and then Wiggins also feeling the same we managed to save enough strength to carry out a few more rocks.  Rongy is setting up the newly refurbished Bunbury Dolphin Discover Centre’s marine aquariums, and each time we go out we carry a few more back:

The walk out felt warm.  Maybe it was the additional weight from the rocks we had in our packs and arms, or more likely it was the fact that there was only a very light breeze and the sun was now high in the sky.  The seasons are certainly changing, as we were lucky to spy a king skink basking on the rocks and then walking out this beautiful goanna was lazing on the edge of the walk track.  He didn’t seem to mind us even when we stopped to watch him for a bit:

The idea of climbing during the last few week have been canned due to uncertainty of whether we would get blown off the cliffs or drenched while trying to scale them.  However, this week the weather forecast had remained relatively settled, something we have not had for a what seems a very long time.  So taking advantage of the easterlies to send any salt spray from the waves back out to sea and warm sun Andrew, Rongy and I headed out to Moses rocks.  For those familiar with the area you may notice that the main beach is somewhat narrower and lower than normal:

It is hard to gauge just how much sand has been washed away but there were rocks exposed that we have not seen before and I reckon the beach is at least half the width it has been every other time we have been here.  It is worth noting that it was a very low tide today making the changed scenery even more startling.  Regardless of that the sand was still soft and while it was no worries walking in we knew what that meant for the walk out after a morning’s climbing:

Rongy kicked proceedings off, with a very fine (you’ll be happy to know Steve) tri-cam only ascent of Hand’s Up.  The rock had that “morning damp” feeling about it but that didn’t stop him practically running up the line.  The reason I note that is that seeing there were three of us climbing I was hoping to set up on top of the crag and take some images from angles that I would not normally get the chance to.  This didn’t always end with the best result as the image below indicates, he was having fun honestly:

We had decided we would stay on Hand’s Up Wall, so Andrew plumped for Gothic Streak.  We felt that he had to do this one, as he had just recalled taking his daughter up the climb and at the time only having wires to protect it making it a very nervous experience.  So this time he loaded himself down with the full range of gear and made use of most types.  It took a little getting used to using tri-cams, as it had been a while since he had placed them, but all his placements were bomb-proof:

The black streak which is present year round, and is where the climb gets its name (am I stating the obvious?), was the wettest part of the wall.  That really wasn’t a great surprise, but it was good to see it didn’t put Andrew off.  Better still he kept a cool head and used good technique to avoid the, at times, slippy holds sending him flying and testing his gear:

Belaying from atop was very pleasant, the sky was a glorious blue and the ocean was clear.  You could see right through the waves as they tumbled in, but unfortunately there were no dolphins to be seen.  After we followed Andrew up we left him behind on top not to take in more of the glorious vista but to fiddle about with one pesky tri-cam that he had placed a little too well.  I’m pleased to say that this was the only one that gave anyone any grief, and at least he could lie down on the job:

I’ve been working out on my wall and was quite content to allow Rongy, who had been away on a (non-climbing) road trip for some time and Andrew who had only just recently got back into climbing, to bag some leads.  So next up Rongy decided to take on a very fine line, and one that requires a very calm approach as the first piece of gear is high up and the landing is not very inviting.  Seeing he would probably push us down the slopey rocks with him we decided not to spot him.  Any guesses as to what the climb is before you scroll down to the next image:

Rongy you will be pleased to know that Victor and His Boa Constrictor is graded 17, not 16 as we talked about.  Now as the guidebook author/editor you would think I would know all these details, but as from discussions during the day it was evident I was losing my touch.  I blame old age.  Regardless of grade we all agreed that this line is very worthy and should get a heap more attention.  It is a great consistent climb with very fine positions:

Rongy again used just tri-cams, as well as one bolt plate.  This was good going as it is pretty airy and exposed.  Speaking of exposure, you may notice the odd image is a little more grainy than ideal.  Well the last time I was taking images was at a night time event, and while I had remembered to reset the exposure settings I had forgot to reset the ISO on my SLR (don’t I sound so clever).  So while I thought I had a swag of great images it seems we may need to repeat today’s experience so I can take them again (um not so clever eh):

Andrew was up next and rather than wait till the end of the session when his arms may have been too tired I gently suggested he take on the crag classic.  Wheely Things really is a true classic and also a little different to anything else at Moses rocks.  If you can jam it is a breeze (at the grade) but if you can’t it feels really, really, really hard.  Andrew has proven his ability to be unafraid of jamming, so he set off full of vigour and optimism:

It seemed that his climbing stamina is far less than what it used to be and despite giving it a good crack he had to hand the lead over.  So Rongy showed us the great jamming skills he learnt during some of his overseas and interstate climbing road trips.  He did confessed after finishing it that the climb was a fair bit harder than he thought it would be, and a number of the jams were a bit more technical than he had expected.  Um maybe my memory failed me again and I had sandbagged Andrew:

As we wandered back down I decided that I fancied Fat Slags… the climb of course.  So the boys permitted me to jump on the floppy end.  Now I have to confess at this point in time that despite there being three of us only two of us had brought shoes.. Um somebody really was getting very forgetful.  So another reason for me offering up the leads is that so far I had seconded all the climbs in my sandals.  It made sense therefore that I tackled my lead in the same manner:

I was going really well but then at the top of the slab where it requires some serious smearing, I slipped.  As I had an old pair of sandals on the soles were very worn and they failed me at the crucial moment.  Yes I have an old pair to take on jaunts such as this, and a good pair for work on which the grip is far better condition.  I tried a couple of times with the same result, so decided to bare all and took my sandals off.  It worked a treat and I cruised past the crux scampering up the rest of the route barefoot:

We decided that one more route was required before we left, and they decided I should take on another lead.  So I plumped for Many Hands, for which the guide (i.e. me) states gear can be tricky to find.  So seeing it could be a little nervous on lead and the fact that bare feet worked better than sandals I started that way from the ground.  Fortunately with tri-cams and Rongy’s offset micro RPs the gear was plentiful enough, and I thoroughly enjoyed the lead.  I’ve always considered Moses to be a friendly crag and I found out today that it is also friendly on your (bare) feet:

There was something nice about climbing barefoot.  Some might say that I have particularly gnarly and hardy soles, so I am biased in that opinion.  However, Rongy followed me up both Fat Slags and Many Hands in the same naked feet fashion.  I guess when you’ve climbed everything there is multiple times, and then climbed them multiple times only using passive gear you have to find the next way to spice things up… and I think we may have found it:

Everyone wanted to get in on the action so Andrew also took off the shoes and put toe to rock!  Just a warning to the next person who comes to climb this route, it may have a distinctive cheesy smell about it.  Now you may think that I am the one who is getting forgetful, and to an extent you are probably right.  But at least I can say that it wasn’t me who forgot their shoes, you’ll have to look back at the images above to check the footwear that was used and guess who it was:

The following image is again for people who know the area, we had really low tides all morning and just like the rocks we had seen on the main beach, the second smaller beach was also had a mob of rocks and seaweed pools exposed that I have not seen before.  It may have been a great day to get into the zawn but we will leave that for another day, as I am sure we will be back again in the not too distant future for some more barefoot fun:

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder… before we left we loaded our packs with rocks.  Rongy is going to be setting up a big aquarium and was after some rocks for habitat.  So we each took a few rocks in addition to our gear, and needless to say we all really felt our legs as we walked out on the soft sand.

Six in the morning seemed a reasonable time to meet in the Capel pub carpark, and Andrew was amenable to that idea.  What I kinda guessed but didn’t think, or more likely hoped, would not happen was that the mercury was low.  On the drive down it dipped to a mere finger numbing 1 degree and on arrival at the crag carpark it had only risen to 3 degrees.  Surprisingly neither of us felt the cold walking down and it was a glorious clear sky morning.  As we wandered down the rocks Andrew spied the red and white tape:

Seems that the official top wall anchors have been tested, and a good number of them must have failed to meet standard.  We both agreed that the standard was more than likely way above the expectations of us climbers, and had a giggle at how most of the bolts on the climbs would probably fail dismally.  Yet still we trust in them.  Having checked the forecast daily this week, Saturday had always looked a sure bet.  We were greeted with clean crisp waves rolling in with the spray being gently blown back out to sea by the light westerlies.  Perfect:

After the last few cool mornings out where the first climb had made our fingers go numb, we decided on a slightly different approach to get the day’s activities started.  Shorter routes and also not quite as challenging.  So seeking something that I hadn’t been on for a while I plumped for this one.  While it never felt too hard it did feel a little run out, and for some reason my body was not as fluid as it normally is on rock.  The good news being that my fingers didn’t go blue and it strangely felt quite a comfortable temperature:

I did do a bit of mucking about to belay off to the side in order to get the best angles for images as Andrew followed up.  This led me to a great hanging belay that I raved about just a little bit in my head.  Is it just me that thinks there is something beautiful about a full hanging belay?  Normally I have a keen memory for routes and every detail about them, but I didn’t recognise one piece of this puzzle.  Was it old age befuddling my brain or had I never been on it?  I’m not going to give the name away and will instead see which of the local climbers recognises it:

Andrew had taken a few images of me on lead, as yet I don’t have them and as usual I have rushed in and written the trip report up before being provided the additional images.  Um Steve did you not have some from our trip to Castle Rock last weekend that you were going to send me?  I digress, after Andrew had taken the images he slipped his phone into his jacket pocket, and when he went to take the above image on his phone it was not there.  Fortunately we found it undamaged and it looks like it fell out as he was belaying and not climbing:

Hence why on his lead he decided, as the image above shows, not to take his phone with him while climbing.  It has been a little while since he has been out, and his trips out have also been few and far between.  But today I was keen to ensure that we went lead for lead, he’s got the strength, stamin and skills it was more his head that needed sorting out.  So taking things one step at a time I encouraged him to lead Setting Sun.  Being fully bolted the gear would be one less thing to mess with his brain:

He did a neat job of the lead was on atop the wall, and I have to say I didn’t check if he used the anchors that had been marked as unsafe to use for his belay.  We both did a lot of wave watching today, the predicted rough sea seems a little tamer than expected and we put it down to the low tide.  So low in fact that there were rock bars exposed that neither of us recalled seeing before.  We were quietly hoping to see some dolphins cruise by and surf the cleaner waves, but with the lower water levels and exposed rocks our hopes were not high: 

During his lead Andrew had picked up on a detail that I hadn’t previously noticed.  The p-bolts on the route he climbed had a little lizard engraved in them, no doubt an indication of the brand.  The relevance being that he thought Howsie would be keen to see this, in view of his dad being called the silver lizard.  Andrew didn’t know why and it has got me wondering whether that was some secret code name for sinister operations he was entwined in, um Howsie please let me know before my theories get too obscure.  Thought I would also point out that this bolt looks, admittedly from only from the parts we could see, as being in way worse condition that all those marked as unsafe:

Shorter routes seemed to be order of the day.  This was no longer necessary due to coldness, but it was the way things worked out.  Andrew continued climbing on in a t-shirt after only the first climb while I still kept my buffalo on, for most of the morning.  I decided that after putting Mikie on Gargoyle way back, and watching him flail around on the crux sequence and never completing the line, I should give it a bash myself.  This line I did recall, and it was as tricky and pumpy as I remembered it.  We both did a bit of yo-yoing when the going got tough, but also both managed to get up it cleanly:

Next up Andrew liked the look of Brepus, a low grade line that often throws people due to the need to jam.  If you don’t jam the crux move feels many grades harder and leaves those people bleating and screeching about under graded routes and sand bagging.  Andrew however is not afraid to jam and as such made short work of the line.  On this line he also had to contend with placing gear, which also proved to be no problem as he saunter up the route only occasionally looking a little nervous:

Couldn’t resist another wave image, the winds were holding a steady westerly course keeping the spray off the rock and us.  We were lucky enough a little later in the day to look round at just the right time and see a pod of dolphins surf in one of the clean waves.  One of them even did a big jump out the back of the wave for us.  We stopped and watched for a while but they were heading north and into deeper water, so while it was only a one time show we felt very lucky to have got to see them at least the one time:

While we were down this end of the crag I was looking for something new to do, and my eye was drawn to the arête next to Gargoyle.  I’d looked at from below and above and thought there was a bit of gear low down before the arête really became pronounced.  Above that the shallow and rounded looking horizontal and vertical seams didn’t look like they would offer any more gear.  I was in too minds but Andrew kept indicating we could just escape left if we needed to so I went for it:

Two small tricams fitted beautifully at the base of the arête and as predicted there was nothing above.  Some of the holds looked like they could be loose so on lead it was a little unnerving as I left the gear some way below my feet.  It was luckily never too hard and I ran it out.  So became what I thought about calling Into the Light, just because of the image below and while trying to get a good shot of Andrew the contrast was simply too stark:

For those who a have a keen eye you may notice that on I had done my usual and mucked about with the belay location to get the best images for Andrew following me up.  Managing to achieve a second hanging belay, this one being off the wall to the left of the route.  After not needing to escape left and make use of the crack of Fairy Floss it seemed only right for Andrew to jump on that line.  A neat little climb that I discovered, after reading my own guide, had originally climbed the lower wall the way I had done the new route.  I reckon that was however only to get to the lower shelf, so thought it was still worth writing up the new line:

Most of our time had been spent in the shade, and that along with the fact that it was the first clear sunny day for a while pulled me towards Hope.  In the hope of finding the little carpet python sun bathing atop the flake.  Unfortunately it was not to be and the python was nowhere to be seen on the flake of Hope nor Glory.  Hope was however as always a great climb and today, just for fun, climbed with only a single set of wires:

Time was ticking along and we plumped for one more line, one to even up the leads and so looked for one that would not be too pumpy.  Was it because Andrew wanted something more relaxed, or did I push him towards it so I could carry all the gear out on second… no matter the reason the combination of slippery Slab and First Climb was a great choice.  This allowed us to avoid the steep hike to the top of the cliff with full packs, which usually make my legs ache, and to sort the gear from atop the cliff in the warm sun and with a great view:

We walked out, after yet another great session at Willyabrup, and discussed route names for the new climb and came up with a far better choice of Grotesque.