Bad ethics

The moon was bright at 3:30 when I stepped outside, the car indicated a lowly 4 degrees but where we were heading was forecast to be 0 degrees at sunrise.  We hoped to get to the crag before the sun poked its head out so we could watch the world wake up with a second cup of tea.  After a short thirty minute drive Howsie was with me in the car and we headed north, Google maps suggested the 270km should take 3hrs:

We had initially intended to visit one of the tallest crags in the Perth area, Mount Cuthbert.  There were two options, park on the Albany Highway and risk the car being broken into or drive in on the forest tracks which required approval.  We got the approval but for it to valid there needed to be a three day dry spell before entry due to the increased risk of spreading dieback when it was damp, and it had rained every day that week.  So instead we headed a bit further inland to a crag on the edge of the wool belt.  Dreaming Frog crag was found by someone who was driving past for work, and the landholder was happy for him to establish routes there:

We arrived soon after 7 in time for the sunrise, but…. the last 100km of the journey and the crag was enveloped in mist.  Moisture hung in the air and everything was damp making for some amazing sights created by mother nature with assistance from spiders.  First things first we texted our families to say we got here safely, roos were a risk due to the time of day and the countryside we had driven through but we fortunately didn’t see any:

Second thing to do was make a brew, in my usual fastidious manner I organised the back of the car for later food breaks and more importantly making hot drinks.  You can tell it was cold as the pistons on the canopy door would not stay open, but it was not the big fat 0 we thought it may have been.  The mist had helped keep it to a balmy 5.5 degrees which didn’t feel that bad:

We didn’t stop to drink the brew, seeing there was no sunrise to watch and instead not feeling hungry got stuck in.  The place has heaps of bouldering and a number of routes, we started sensibly but that also mean the first few routes were not climbed as much a bit more mossy.  The moisture had brought the lichen and moss to life and it made picking our way through these miniature jungles tricky:

If anything the mist seemed to come in, making the place seem eerie.  We couldn’t see the countryside round us but there was hoe pint he shy as it was brightening up.  We had definitely made the right choice to not head into Mount Cuthbert today, it included a decent walk in and we would have got soaked going in, had to leave the car on the Albany highway at the mercy of the undesirables and could possibly be in poor condition:

Couldn’t resist showing you this butterfly, it was alive but had gone into a dormant state due to the cold with water droplets forming all over it.  Normally in the sheep belt you’ll get annoyed by the flies, but today while we saw a couple flying in a drunken state there we surprisingly absent.  Howsie then explained that they only become lively when it hits 14 degrees and above, so in a way we visited this place at the perfect time:

The routes were surprisingly fun and tricky, different to the Avon Valley and Threeways that we had visited on our last foray to new places.  The slabs were slick and delicate making for tense moves and a need for a very calm head.  This was increased by needing to find the clean rock, which despite the mist was dry and had awesome friction:

Some routes were cleaner and this was the first line that Howsie and I spotted when we did a recon of the area on first arrival.  It was the fourth lead and mine, we were both nervous about it as the first bolt looked high and the move to get to it was far from obvious.  After a few dud attempts, I dyno’d to a sloped hold and with nothing but friction to keep my feet on clipped the bolt, while it eased up the higher it got it stayed interesting:

The mist was finally fliting and we could see the ploughed fields around the crag, the sheep could be heard as could red tailed cockatoos.  The place soon felt warmer and drier but it didn’t get above that magically 14 degree all day, which was a good thing.  I’ve worked in the wheat and wool belt and when the flies come in it can be unpleasant:

We decided to get a few more climbs in before we got a bite to eat, but it was not to be this boulder which is the tallest here at some 15m.  We proposed to save this one for later, it was some drone footage of mostly this boulder that made us decided it would be worth coming here.  We didn’t expect the rocks to be as big as this and with routes ranging from 10 to 15m thought it was worth the trip:

We instead went for the second highest boulder, picking two mixed lines that went up similar slanting cracks to the ledge on the left and then had a tricky face move to top out.  As Howsie placed his first piece of gear I thought it was time to stop taking images and do some belaying.  The crack had painful jams that you had no choice but to use, adding even more variety to the style of climbing here:

After I led the other route we decided we would have a look at this feisty number.  We had rapped down this line to check the gear in the thin vertical cracks above but we didn’t have small enough cams and in truth the placements and then moves above them looked sketchy.  So this is where the bad ethics started and we top roped it, not only that we both bottled the direct line and went the variant finish up the flake and then traversing back in.  We agreed that both options would be a very hairy lead:

With seven fun lines completed it was time for food, not that our stomachs were telling us we were hungry but our minds were telling us to be sensible.  So a wrap and cup of tea was on the cards, and it went down a treat.  It was also sensible because we had bagged the easy lines and were moving up through the grades:

Howsie decided on one of the harder lines as his next lead, but for very good reason.  This line looked amazing and he did a stellar job of the bottom half.  Unexpected positive crimpy holds, lots of friction foot work and some acrobatic moves  saw him pull over the lip onto the slab with the biggest smile possible:

Then came the roof, and this was a challenge.  Couldn’t resists two image of this climb as it was the one we spent the longest on and.  The final roof had him foxed and he kept trying and trying eventually sussing out a way through.  Atop this route we were both feeling happy but a bit stuffed, no matter for Howsie as it was my lead next.  I knew where I was going I’d seen the line earlier and was raving about it:

So the other obvious route to jump on after our lunch break was this trad crack line, while the upper holds look ok there were some spicy moments low down and the need for pushing the toe of the boot into a small rounded blank crack and trusting them to get up to find gear.  We both agreed this was a wicked line and lie Sundance Crack at Avon Valley I was the lucky one to bag it, but only because Howsie left it for me:

The bolting at this place has seen some heavy discussion, they had use bolts of a smaller diameter than recommend.  This made pulling big moves on just one bolt nervous at times and as we were pushing the grades this played with our minds even more.  It didn’t stop us but focused us more, and the landings on the next few lines onto angular blocks provided that extra encouragement not to fall off:

That said many of the lines were really good, exciting sustained and surprisingly different.  The route in the previous image had weird small nodule holds that just didn’t give you total confidence, and the one I lead after had great positive features but they were small and on very steep territory.  I even stick clipped the first bolt on that route, having contemplated the start moves and landing we decided to follow the guides advice.  Next up more bad ethics when we extended the bolt on this line.  It was worth doing as the moves to get to the bolt that was higher than the second bolt on the route next to it required to use of a loose flake and were balancey and nervous:

For the last lead of the day we jumped onto the big chimney on the tallest boulder, of which there was an image given earlier. Well in truth we jumped into it as this was a solo through the narrow crack that split the boulder.  It widened up at the top but the lower section was a tight squeeze requiring some interesting worm like movement to get through, lots of fun:

We then decided to rap back down it rather than down the outside.  Definitely the way to go to maximise the fun factor and wrap up the days climbing.  We bagged a baker’s dozen and along the way managed extend gear, dyno, stick clip, top rope and solo routes so it was a day of letting our standard slip but all in the name of fun:

We had another wrap and brew but Howsie was keen for more.  We had overlooked two routes but both agreed that they didn’t look inspiring and we wanted to end on a fun note.  That was from a leading point of view so next we went to investigate all the bouldering here.  We struggled to find clean lines so it seems they don’t get many repeats, but we found this one which was a lot of fun.  It also told us that our toes and fingers were sore and we should really give up:

But Howsie was determined so instead we found some problems of our own which wouldn’t rate as V0 or probably even a minus V5 (if such a thing even exists).  Eventually the mind won and our fingers and toes were given the relief of knowing their job was done:

With the sun setting one last image of one of the impressive boulders at Dreaming Frog Crag, with a solitary trees growing atop.  It was a good choice and the perfect day for it, within an hour of driving it was getting dark and it took another three and half hours to get home.  If the bouldering was cleaner we may have considered revisiting this place, as it would be a great place to camp out at but they were not so while we had a brilliant day here we are not likely to go back:

So some sixteen and half hours after leaving I rocked up back home and received a lovely welcome from my girls and then enjoyed a well-deserved beer.

Part 2 – First lead – The Roaches

It was pointed out to me that I was a bit remiss in not including a map so you could see where in the UK I was referring too.  So from now on I will progressively add to the map below.  For Part 1 the island of Anglesea sits north west of where I have marked North Wales.  In Part 2 I’ll be taking you too, as promised, the Peak District but only a small snippet of the place that has been made so infamous by the bold and fearsome gritstone routes and ethics.  While the Roaches has some bold lines it is nothing like the gritstone that you may have seen or been expecting:

With minimum of two 3hr trips a week to Mile End climbing wall I was getting strong and confident, holding my own on the competition wall and getting used to doing crux moves a lofty six meters above the deck.  During one such session John came over and said ‘you don’t get outdoors climbing do you’, and that is when it all changed.  He subsequently offered to take me out to sample real climbing, so not long after we were heading to the Roaches.  This resulted in my first climb on rock since North Wales being Maud’s Garden.  It was a V.Diff so it wasn’t too much of a challenge, but John put me on the floppy end and as such it was also my first ever lead.  After a great day at the Roaches we hit the road and the next day we climbed at Froggart Edge, which is more akin to the well-known gritstone, and you’ll see more about that place another time.  In two days we bagged fourteen routes and I led twelve of them.  Not a bad intro to the art of lead climbing and a very big thank you to John!  I returned to the Roaches often and below, only a few months after that first visit, I can be seen seconding Maud’s Garden.  As the date stamp indicates it was during the lead up to Christmas with snow on the ground:

Where I worked we had to use our own cars for site trips, so they were offering a loan to people when they needed to buy new car.  I already had wheels so brazenly asked if they would loan me the £500 on offer to buy climbing gear.  Well they say if you don’t ask you don’t get, and I got.  With that amount of money I was able to get a pretty decent rack back then, and I still have a fair chunk of it now.  At 20 years old most of it was eventually retired about four years back, and now just sits about the place, because I can’t bring myself to part with it.  There are so many reasons I have such a connection with the Roaches: popping my leading cherry; the beautiful setting; a good year round destination; when it really is too wet there are great walks; a camp spot comprising a paddock (and literally nothing else) is right next door; and a pub in walking distance with good food and a fine selection of ales.  It’s the only place for which I have got pictures hanging on the wall.  They are next to the computer and comprise two small water colour postcards, one of the Roaches and the other of Hen Cloud:

The image above shows the ridge that forms the Roaches, the main feature on the right.  To the left are the five clouds a place I didn’t explore as much partly due to having shorter routes but also because it was a fair bit harder.  The image below is the mighty Hen Could, a short walk from the Roaches and super impressive and intimidating.  This place has steep forbidding lines on rounded cracks and blank faces, which all start atop a steep incline that adds to the exposure.  That meant that not many of the people I went out with were keen to climb on Hen Cloud, so we spent most of the time on the more friendly Roaches.  Another important reason I so loved this place was the Roaches Tea House, a family run establishment owned by Mick and Kath.  They introduced me to Staffordshire oatcakes and just typing about this delicacy is making my mouth water.  I was such a regular at the Tea House that I’d take my dishes into the kitchen and do the washing up for them and was even allowed to go in after hours and make a brew.  Mick was a farmer and stone mason, he’d renovated the buildings himself using traditional techniques, and was working on a second project down the road.  That was never completed as he was struck down by cancer and Kath lost the love she had for what they had built together.  Sorry about that turn, I promise to cheer this email up from here on:

Now I mentioned this was not the gritstone mecca that many of you may have been expecting; but fear not images from that place will come in good time.  The Peak District covers 1,440km2 and includes areas of gritstone, shale and limestone.  There is brilliant climbing on both the gritstone and limestone, and these routes were at the time recorded in a selection of 6 guidebooks.  One of these was dedicated to the Staffordshire gritstone.  The rock at the Roaches is a coarser grained gritstone to the places further north and tends to have more features.  It also has portions of blankness where you have to trust smears and friction holds, as shown below as Gareth follows me up Crack and Corner.  The routes on the Roaches are up to 30m long, a good length for gritstone, and that made the place popular.  There was limited parking here and often it would all be taken up unless you came early, not that it worried us when the campsite was just a short walk away:

One of the people I met at Mile End was Scott, an American stock broker living in London.  He was filthy rich but looked like a bum wearing holey baggy bottoms and he never had any cash on him.  That said he was a top person, climbed well, encouraged me heaps and was good fun to get out with.  I only remember climbing with him once at the Roaches and when we arrived he scoped the place out and set his heart on one climb.  Wombat is described as a pumpy lead and it also required some big gear, that we didn’t have.  But climbers being (mostly) good people, a couple who were keen to watch us happen to have the bigger gear we needed and offered them to us when they heard our quandary.  So off he set, but try as he might he was unable to pull through the lip of the roof.  Now Scott and I climbed together a lot at Mile End and he had a lot of faith in my ability telling me that with all my training in the Monkey Room I should be able to bag the line:

I was not so convinced but tied in regardless and set off, and… pulled through the roof and onto the wall above with relative ease, nice.  But, due to my lack of confidence I had not taken any gear with me and was left with one of two options; fall onto the gear below the roof or solo the rest of the line.  Fortunately it eased up a fair bit on the wall and I soloed on while Johnny Sad Man Solo ran to the top to give me gear for the belay.   The kind people who leant us the gear fancied a bash so I ended up belaying a number of people on second, I too then had one more bash myself because it was so good.  It’s regarded as one of the classics here and reading through more recent route descriptions I noted that they advise against putting cams behind creaky flakes under the roof.  Looking at the image above you can see where portions of the flakes have previously failed:

Being a more featured rock it does have a lot of easier lines and this made it a great place to take beginners.  That combined with the friendly feeling of the place is maybe why John had brought me here in the first place.  I brought lots of newbies here myself including friends and family members, and I got many of them to have a bash on Maud’s Garden.  When taking out beginners I would take an easier pace, so as not to burn out my climbing partners, and this sometimes resulted in the tea kit getting more of a work out than we did.  Possibly a little posed, but below Rob was pretty stuffed and if I had allowed him he probably would have had a snooze on this perfectly formed rock deck-chair:

This is the only place for which I had two copies of the guidebook, the one I took out with me and a second that was a present from my sister.  The second is the one I brought out here with me and is one of only 50 copies signed by the guidebook writer, and one of even less also signed by the peak district climbing guidebook series editor.  The second person being Geoff Milburn a close friend of my sister.  He had a garage full of guidebooks, not only wall to wall but each shelve having multiple layers.  It was like a treasure trove and if allowed to I would have camped there for a few weeks pilfering through the 6,000 plus guidebooks.  With all the time spent at the Roaches I did a full range of the routes, and got pretty familiar with them.  When no one was available to climb for the weekend I’d camp here go walking and solo the easier stuff, such as Pedestal Route below:

The next image shows a few of a lines that have stuck in my memory, starting with Saul’s Crack, which the climber is on.  Above him is the crux corner with a rounded crack and not much else, this line has spat off many a good climber and I remember mucking about at this point for ages before committing.  One day someone was struggling at this point and their belayer must have got bored and had wandered away from the crag to chat to someone at the walk track.  When the leader went for it he fell and the belayer was dragged along the ground and they met each other at the foot of the climb.  The spat that followed went on for some time, I walked away!  The next line to mention is the obvious big roof and this is the centrepiece of the upper tier of the Roaches.  There is a crazy route that tackles this roof on flakes but the one that attracts most is the Sloth.  A wide crack that has enough gear and holds to take you out at a reasonable grade, it took me a few years to muster up the courage to tackle that one:

The crag has heaps of overhangs and prows, which results in many routes having exciting exposed positions of all grades, such as Bachelor’s Route that Kate is leading below.  The climb that was my scariest lead ever was at the Roaches.  Two images above you’ll see a strange shaped flake, and in the image above you can just make it out on the far wall.  After placing gear behind this flake you need to make a rising rightward traverse up the undercut rounded prow on big rounded pockets.  Not only do all the holds comprise these rounded pockets with nothing but friction holds but they are too flared and big to take any gear, resulting in a solo.  I remember teetering up this route nervously and when I finally reached the top laying on my back, breathing deeply and not moving for what seemed like an eternity.  The route description of Kelly’s Direct simply says this route is ‘exciting’:

Another favourite line of mine but for very different reasons was Black and Tans.  It was long and had great character being interesting and sustained.  At the time I used to drink black and tan, which is a blend of a stout and ale and I likened the climb with the drink due to the layered dark and light coloured rock bands.  The Roaches has two tiers, the lower and upper.  The upper tended to have longer routes, but there were many quality lines in the lower tier too.  One of them was Elergy it always caught my eye but I never got to lead it as it seemed to scare all my climbing partners.  Then one day saw someone one on it and asked if I could jump on the rope after them, and it was as good as it looks.  I often met Johnny Sad Man Solo here and on one occasion he put up a first ascent, or so we think.  The fact that it was up the tree, which the upper branches can be seen in the image below, meant it was never recorded.  Needless to say we were not always the most sensible people at the crag and I do wonder what people thought when we did things like that:

Being located pretty central in the UK and not too far off the M6 (one of the long motorways that connect the south to the north) this was a good spot for friends from all corners of the UK to meet.  It was probably the place where we had most of our bigger social gatherings, and below Mel from the Lake District is tackling Gully Wall.  The only gear that didn’t follow me out to Australia when I moved here was my no.3&4 friends, they seemed too bulky and so they went to Mel who was probably one of the tallest people I climbed with.  It would take me about 3-4 hours to get to the Roaches from my base down south and Mel could do it in the same sort of time, as could Johnny from over east in Norfolk.  We often talked about whether to buy a place here, there are beautiful historic stone cottages dotted about the country side some of which had boulder fields and crags right next to them… but it never happened:

One the best cottages that caught our eye was a short walk from the Winking Man Pub, a place I had spent a great New Year’s Eve during one of our social get together climbs.  At the end of the night during the 5km walk back to the campground a couple of us thought it was too far and crashed for a quick nap on the side of the road.  I digress, the cottage we liked guarded the access track to Newstones and Baldstones, a place with a heap of great boulders that had routes from 4-10m.  We met the owner once, he was a strong and confident looking climber who had done just about every route in the area and there was no way he was going to even think of selling up.  We frequented this spot a fair bit and yes back then I was known to boulder.  Below I’m tackling the Elephants Ear, and we had a crack at soloing a lot of the routes here but as soon as it felt too hard we got the ropes out.  Of note back then was before the era of the ‘hermit crabs’, it wasn’t until I returned from my two years in West Africa that I notice these strange creatures with big mats strapped to their back wandering around the peaks:

As with much of the Peak District in which gritstone is found the countryside comprises rolling hills with prominent ridges that can stretch for miles.  These ridges are mostly formed by the harder wearing gritstone, while over (geological) time the softer formations in the valleys were eroded away.  The walks we did tended to follow these ridges as they offered perfect spots to put the stove, get out of the wind (and rain) and have a play on rock.  The more isolated boulders had been sculptured by the wind into weird and wonderful shapes with rounded edges making for some scary top outs.  The valleys had some equally good spots with the creeks and rivers having created interesting gullies.  The best was Lud Church with steep rocky sides, but you had to be careful as the rock quality wasn’t that great so it was usually only me playing on those walls:

Above in an image looking from back end of Hen Cloud northwards across to Ramshaw Rocks and in the background Newstones and Baldstones.  Ramshaw was a little different in that a large percentage of the rocks were undercut on the eastern side, making for steeper lines and giving it a feeling that the rock is praying.  This was a great place to go in wet weather as it gave a bit more shelter and promised a better chance of dry rock.  Below I’m having a play on the well-known and popular Sharks Fin, and yes I’m in my sandals.  Once I was introduced to these all-weather safety shoes in Australia I could be seen, even in winter, in them.  Although you may notice that I needed that bit of extra protection and have thick woolly socks on, it’s fair to say I’ve never been one to follow fashion:

As the Roaches was such a good place to have a social I had a few leaving do’s here.  One when I was heading out to Australia for three months, another when I went to Africa for two years, then when I was moving to the Lake District to live and finally when I was moving out to Australia.  I got a bit of a reputation for being the person who was always having a leaving do, but then why waste a good opportunity to get together and climb!  For the bigger moves my family and non-climbing friends would also come along and on these times the rope would often stay on one line and I’d coach and encourage lots of people to have a go.  The place was perfect for these non-climbing friends and family events due to the Tea Rooms and it’s cottages for rent, the good pub and walking options.  Below my mam at a youthful 60 years is doing her first ever rock climb, and you’ve guessed it, on Maud’s Garden:

During the last farewell my uncle Chris came over from Holland, he is of a similar age to my mam and he loved climbing so much that he was soon soloing a few lines with me.  It was also a place that Lisa and I went to before I moved out to Australia, as well as during our first return to the UK with Elseya as a four month old.  I was a little surprised to be going back with her the second time, as the first time I had encouraged her to follow me up Easy Gully on Hen Cloud.  A great scramble that goes into the heart of the tallest bit of rock in the area before popping out the top via a small hole.  It feels sketchy at the top and she doesn’t like heights, added to that she also at one point slipped and landed in a big puddle!  She can’t however have been put off too much as she also mucked about on some other climbs, such as Prow Cracks below (note no rope) and went through the Birthing Stone.  The latter is a boulder with a hole from the top to one side that has a decent dog leg in it.  You have to squirm your way through and it is not one to try for the tall or does that may be a bit rotund:

As I proof read this email I’m not surprised that I haven’t focused only on climbing.  The Roaches and surrounds mean more to me than just climbing, it’s a place where I did a heap of walking, socialising and finding new friends.  That said it has awesome routes and was the first and last place I led a climb in the UK before moving out to Australia.  On one of our trips back to the UK we took a (big) detour to drive past the place but it was shrouded in cloud, raining heavily, surrounded by boggy access tracks deep in water and the rock looked green and uninviting.  I was a bit sad at that as I was looking forward to at least walking up Hen Could and taking in the views before warming up in the Tea Rooms.  Instead we drove on but it hasn’t dampened my memories of this place and maybe when we head back to the UK another time we will go back here and have more luck:

If you have got this far, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the Roaches as much as I did.  In Part 3 I’ll show you the delights of my favourite coastal crag, one that has a reputation of requiring a committing abseil for access and being difficult to escape from once you’re down.

Part 1 – North Wales – were it all began

I’ve been climbing for 24 years and it dawned on me that for close on half of that time I have been living and climbing here in the south west of Western Australia.  So in view that you have been hearing so much about my adventures in WA I thought it was high time to delve into the murkiest corners of my memory, dig up my old photographs and slides and provide you with a snippet of my climbing past.  It won’t occur in one email so be prepared for a bit of a journey that will take eleven emails, each one touching on a different location that I either used to frequent or had a decent climbing holiday to.  But don’t fret you are not about to be bombarded with them all in quick succession and it may take me a few months or more to get through them.  Also Some will be longer than others, such as this one.  If you are keen to hear more keep reading and if not then reply to this email and ask me to take you off this distribution list.

As all good stories must start:  A long time ago in a land far away… a friend I knew through hockey, Andy, convinced me to have a bash at climbing.  He’d previously climbed but hadn’t for a few years and was eager to get back into it.  I’d done a heap of mountain walking so knew I loved the hills, but wasn’t quite sure what to expect with climbing.  After only two visits to indoor walls in London, just to make sure I was keen, we were organising a trip to North Wales.  We agreed on a ten day trip starting on the Easter long-weekend of 1993 and we arrived in glorious weather in the mighty Llanberis Pass:

In the image above there is a prominent buttress across the valley.  This is Carreg Wastad and it was on this crag that I seconded my first ever climb.  My memory of the climb on that day is vague and I took no images during that ascent.  However, below is Kate following me on it after I finally got to repeat the route.  This is the worst quality image I’ll be using, but it simply had to be included.  So why did it take so many years before I jumped back on this line, well probably because there are simply way too many places to go and routes to choose from to warrant repeating these big routes.  Lion is a 100m four pitch line so not a bad one to get my rock addiction off to a good start:

Llanberis is a mecca for traditional climbing with a multitude of big buttresses that offer all styles and grades of long multi-pitch routes.  The first image I used was of Andy looking up at Dinas Mott, which happened to be where we climbed on the second day of our trip.  I must have been pretty comfortable and confident on the first day, as for day two he was eyeing up Diagonal another long three pitch line.  If you look closely below you’ll see someone on the second pitch of this route just above the flake in the middle of the slabby wall.  I particularly liked this crag and visited it many times, partly I guess as the slabby nature suited me but also it not only offered sustained long lines but the scramble descent that can be made down the left or right gullies made the routes feel twice as long:

The route shown below is Superdirect a simply stunning line and I loved every metre of it.  However, the reason for this image is more to show the line of Diagonal.  It starts at the left end of the base and takes (of course) a diagonal line to the right side of the big flake.  When Andy and I climbed it the first pitch was fine, but as he started up the second the clouds rolled over Mount Snowdon (the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 metres).  The heavens literally opened and the smooth slab was running with water and we were drenched to the skin.  It has to be the coldest belay I have ever been on, and as soon as we got off the crag we headed into the shops of Llanberis and I bought my first ever buffalo.  I’ve sworn by these fleece lined tops with a pertex outer ever since, and amazingly am still using my second one which is a testament to their durability:

The shop I bought that first buffalo from was the Joe Brown climbing and mountaineering shop.  For those who know their alpine history he was somewhat of a legend, and North Wales was his training playground when preparing for his bigger Alpine expeditions.  Some say that rock climbing originally started in the last quarter of the 19th century in at least three areas: Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Switzerland, Dolomites in Italy, and the Lake District of England.  That said the Alpine Club started visiting North Wales for winter training from the 1860s, but the first recorded rock climb wasn’t until 1879.  So arguably North Wales could also be on that list as one of the birth places of rock climbing, and below is the crag that Llanberis Pass is probably most famous for… the awe inspiring open book corner of Dinas Cromlech:

With two vertical walls that provide a rope stretching 50m of sustained climbing this crag is both impressive and a daunting proposition.  Andy and I not surprisingly didn’t climb these walls, but we did tackle Cobweb crack on the west wing of the buttress.  This was the last climb we managed on our ten day trip, despite attempting to climb it on day three.  The first pitch was a tad rambling but the second was an imposing T shaped crack that required jamming and big gear.  Andy didn’t have much big gear so he decided to climb the blank wall instead of the crack.  Even to my untrained eye his gear didn’t look that great and I recommended against his actions.  But he went for it regardless and part way up he slipped and my misgivings about his gear were founded.  He literally bounced past me and was left semi-conscious dangling below me.  After lowering him down I down climbed the first pitch.  Not really knowing what I was doing I soloed it so I could retrieve all the gear!  Andy subsequently ended up in hospital with a broken elbow and dented ego:

I didn’t climb outdoors for another six months or so, instead becoming a regular at London’s Mile End Climbing Wall.  Back then for just 50 pence I had access to multiple rooms with up to six metre walls of all angles and designs and no ropes.  Two of the rooms had traverse walls one with a 50m traverse loop and the other not as long but including a full roof portion.  I would spend hours here and grew strong and confident, and then eventually someone offered to take me out climbing again.  That was however to different location so will be continued in part two.  Once reacquainted with real rock I frequently returned to North Wales mainly because I loved the big multi-pitch routes it offered, so my story at this location continues.  Below and above is Sheridan going up and then down the mighty Left Wall that follows the thin crack (on the left wall) of Dinas Cromlech.  This mega classic was first ascended in 1956 and was an amazing feat at the time, it is renowned for being ‘quite simply one of the best pitches in Britain’ and ‘an aspirational climb which defies most superlatives’ – I completely agree:

I lived near London for most of the time I was climbing in the UK and North Wales was a four to five hour drive.  The last couple of hours of the journey was along the twisting roads of Wales that were barely wide enough for two cars and had high stone walls on either side.  Most trips were with Gareth, and we’d leave work at 4 on a Friday, driving in the dark way too fast on these roads and hoping not to come across anyone heading the other way.  We’d get there in the dark and the obvious place to camp was over the wall on the opposite side of the road to Dinas Cromlech.  Not many people camped here and preferred the campsite at Nant Peris just down the road, probably because it had a pub.  Early in the morning an old lady would come round and knock on our tent telling us she owned the land and it cost 50 pence to camp there.  We never believed her but paid up anyway:

Gareth had in the past worked as a guide for the National Mountain Sports Centre of Capel Curig at the head of Llanberis Pass and had formed a strong bond with the area.  He knew the place well and was eager to come back whenever he could, which was another reason I came back here so often.  We were like-minded and keen to be up early so we could crack on with climbing.  Often we would be the first on the rock and last to leave.  In the image below he is following me up one of the many pitches of Flying Buttress a very renowned lower grade route that has to be done just because it has such amazing exposure.  Way below you can see the Dinas Cromlech carpark boulders, and we would camp next to the creek across the road from here:

The next image may seem a tad samey to the one above but there is a good reason for including it.  Gareth is following me up Brant Direct on Clogwyn y Grochan.  It was a year or so before this image was taken that we were stood at the base of this crag eyeing up a line just next to this one called Sickle.  Little did we know that to our right someone was taking a photo of a climber leading Snape Direct, and the image was used as the front cover of the fourth edition of the Llanberis Guide released in 1994.  Despite having used that guidebook many times it was not until about 2010 that I noticed Gareth and I on the cover image:

This will be the last image of climbing in Llanberis Pass.  We were climbing The Crevice on Carreg Wastad, a climb that has a great description that says ‘a pleasant route for the slim but a fiendish problem for the corpulent and those above average girth’.  At the belay above the stature dependent pitch this fella rounded the corner while climbing pitch 2 of Crackstone Rib.  Crackstone Rib is another one of the very highly rated and massively repeated lines of the pass, and one that I have climbed a few times.  This guy had an ear to ear smile and he was one of the happiest people I’ve ever met.  We had a good old chat with him while belaying and he admitted to having climbed forever, he was close on 70, and that it had kept him healthy and happy.  I still remember how the conversation and his never ending smile made me think that my aim was to continue to climb to a ripe old age, just being out there bumbling up the classics:

Llanberis pass runs in SE to NW direction, parallel and to the east is another amazing rock filled pass to called Dyffryn Ogwen or more commonly known as the Ogwen Valley.  As you drive through this valley it has more of a rolling nature and the buttresses are generally not so prominent or visible.  Many of the crags are not as extensive nor as tall as in Llanberis but they are equally good in quality and there are a couple of gems that need to be mentioned.  Another aspect that is different is that there is usually a bit more of a walk in.  As such when you aim for a crag you tend to be more committed for the day.  The walk-ins for me form part of the day and provide just as much enjoyment and entertainment as the climbing, providing the occasional diversion such as this fun boulder next to Llyn Idwall (i.e. lake Idwall) that I couldn’t resist.  For those that noticed yes I am in hiking boots not sandals, as I wasn’t introduced to the improved safety footwear until a trip out to, funnily enough, Australia in late 1996:

Our destination for the day was a 160m crag called Idwall Slabs.  I’d attempted to get to this crag a few times before.  In literally every previous trip we’d get to the base, rack up, tie on, touch the rock and the clouds above would darken and rain would fall.  The weather comes in from the west and the tall peaks of the area were a magnet to the wetter weather.  On all previous visits I’d hiked in with Johnny Sad Man Solo whereas this time I’d come with Gareth.  You’ll have to wait for other parts of this tale before I properly introduce John, but just maybe the misfortune was down to Sad Man Solo?  Seeing there was only two of us in the party you may be wondering how we got this image.  Well, Gareth similar to me liked his photography and was not worried about being taken off belay during leads (when he felt safe) so I could run to a good vantage point.  It does have to be said that this is however an extreme example of our exploits:

We decided to jump on the crag classic – Tennis Shoe.  It’s the one everyone aims for and in our usual early bird way we were the first at the crag and as such didn’t need to jostle with anyone for pole position.  Truth be told this valley didn’t fill up like other places in North Wales, which made it a place to go to when the Pass was busier than usual (such as long weekends).  From memory I think we were on pitch four when the next part rocked up.  So after topping we decided to leave them and the magnificent view of Llyn Idwall behind us, opting to hike out to some other quiet crag:

I didn’t go back to Idwall after bagging that classic, for no other reason than we went to other crags in the valley and had just as much fun.  There was however one particular crag that we did keep going back to, the most impressive rocky peak in all of North Wales – Tryfan.  Not as high as Mount Snowdon by any means, being just shy of 918m and the 15th tallest peak in Wales, but it looks impressive with its peak surrounded by rock walls.  This image doesn’t show the full extend due to the top being partially in cloud, but the peak is in fact a long rocky ridge and all of it is rock, rock, rock!  The routes can be over 300m and are not consistent in difficulty, providing a mountaineer style outing rather than a crag experience:

It was the perfect peak to carry everything plus the stove up allowing us to sit atop, make a brew and take in a grand view.  In this image we are climbing Grooved Arête a wonderful 230m line, with some section being a tad broken but non-the-less interesting and fun.  It’s definitely a crag to bring all weather gear as like the others it can be subject to unexpected and quick weather changes, but unlike them bailing off this rock masterpiece is not so easy:

The higher up you go the steeper the territory can get, which is reflected in one of the descriptions I came across for this peak ‘in calm dry weather it is not too hard but the penalties of failure are unpleasant in the extreme’.  However, more often than not we would climb here in hiking boots, picking the more consistent lower grade lines rather than the ones that had one hard pitch with a multitude of lower grade pitches just for access.  I could ramble on a bit here but instead will let you soak up a few images, as possibly I’ve included a few too many of this place:

Some weekends we knew it would be cold and probably not the best weather to try and climb, and on those trips we’d aim to hike.  Tryfan provides one particular hike that is soooooo good, it’s called Bristly Ridge.  It traverses the entire ridge of Tryfan followed by a steep decent down the back and then climb up to Glyder Fach, which sits proudly between Llanberis pass and Dyffryn Ogwen at 994m (the sixth highest in Wales).  The way to start this hike is to ascend the NE Ridge of Tryfan, which has a number of short rock buttresses protecting it:

If the clouds clear then the views stretch out endlessly, such as this one where the backdrop consists of Llyn Bochlwyd and Glyder Fawr (1,000m and the fifth highest mountain in Wales):

Just one more of Tryfan which shows Bristly Ridge with a light dusting of snow.  It is on days like this that you really appreciate the effort of hauling up the stove:

I hope the last few images didn’t make you feel too cold.  You come to expect cold weather in North Wales and as such I quickly invested in a descent tent and more importantly sleeping bag, the latter costing three times that of the former.  Sounds excessive but on nights when the mercury drops into minus, the coldest I can remember was -7°C, it was money very well invested.  In fact the only thing I really spent any money on was climbing related, I lived cheaply and rarely went out.  I’d  head off to the hills each Friday not to return until late Sunday evening.  So in some ways my car and tent were as much my home as the places I rented:

North Wales has so much more to offer than the Pass and valley I’ve introduced you to above.  I would have had to stay in the UK a lot longer to find to time to explore all of it, but there were a few other spots that we did visit.  One of the old industries that made this area great was slate, the old mines are impressive to behold with numerous tiers being carved out of the hillside 100m up.  These places now sit unused other than as tourist attractions with museums full of historic images, and are frequented mostly by climbers.  Slate has to be one of the most obscure rocks I’ve climbed on.  I reckon it would be hard to find a rock type that is more slick in nature. Add that to the nervously thin flakes you need to trust to both crank on and place gear behind.  The slate quarry we went to most often was called the Bus Stop, and below I’m belaying Doug on Guillotine.  Behind him another crew are on Fools Gold, which is one of the very few routes on which I have been known to do a full-on dyno:

On days when the weather closed in on higher peaks we had a favourite place to escape to.  Close to the coast Craig Pant Ifan (locally known as Tremadog and to us as Three Mad Dogs) was more likely to be fine than any other location in North Wales.  It is promoted as a year round crag offering a great cragging experience with mostly two pitch 60m routes on steep clean rock that dries quickly after rain.  It has very few routes below the UK grade of VS (very severe), which helps keep the crowds and big groups away.  During one visit the place was drenched and there was no end in sight so we sat in Eric Jones’ Climbers’ Café, which can be seen just above Gareth’s head.  The owner was a great character and we always made an effort to know people like him.  The place was packed with climbers looking a tad disappointed and he came over and quietly advised us about a little known place that offered a good long multi-pitch traverse that would be dry due to the roof overhead.  I’ve clean forgotten the name of that place but it was gold:

I’ve just read an article written in 2007 they reckoned this place was in the ‘doldrums’ for the last decade, which does surprise me a bit as it has so much to offer.  As an example above Gareth is about to head up the very fine second pitch of Scratch Arête, and below he is pulling like (the guide says) a tractor to mount the crux overlap.  This was yet another sunny day in paradise for us on yet another successful trip to this awesome place.  The people I worked with were constantly amazed with the images above my desk, asking if I’d been to Spain or Italy.  They were not willing to accept that the UK also offered great weather (back then) if you were prepared to observe the weekly forecasts and make the long drive to the place that promised the best weather:

It was on the trip that these images were taken that Gareth and I managed to get in a stack of the classics in, such as Scratch Arête, Poor Man’s Peuterey, One Step in the Clouds, Merlin Direct, The Plum, The Fang and the one shown below Pin Cushion.  This route was the last and the toughest, back then it went at E2 5c but looking online today it is given a E2 6a grade so I’m feeling pretty chuffed about that lead.  More often than not when you peruse a guidebook you are drawn to the climbs of which there are images.  This one was no different, with an old B&W image of Joe Brown with flat cap on and a fag hanging out the corner of his mouth after completing the crux traverse.  The route is also listed in the North Wales 100 Classic Climbs and Ultimate E2 Tick List, it’s a real gem and described as a ‘route of contrasts – it has roofs, slabs and cracks, wide bits, thin bits and blank bits’:

When we topped out on Pin Cushion the light was fading and it was time to head back to the café carpark, at which point we noticed that the phono-plug which was the immobiliser key for Gareth’s car had unscrewed and fallen out leaving an empty shell.  I still have this empty shell on my keyring.  We had a quick look about but it was pointless so we went back down, and had to knock on someone’s door, the café was closed and this was before everyone had mobile phones, to call the RAC.  That meant a tow home and missing out on climbing on the Sunday, but at least we still had the key so as I sat on the edge of the car boot munching on a muesli bar I was very surprised when the car started up.  In the past couple of hours he omitted to tell me he had a spare!  So after just remembering to call off the RAC we jumped in the car and headed to the mighty Anglesey, an island off the tip of North Wales:

We didn’t arrive until the wee hours, the streets were dark and empty and we were a bit lost.  So after waiting at a cross road for the lights to change for what seemed like forever, I encouraged Gareth to ignore the red lights and go for it.  Damn a police car was round the corner and pulled us over.  Ever the diplomat Gareth sorted it and even got them to lead us to the campsite.  Early next morning we were greeted with mist and drizzle.  Not put off we walked to Wen Zawn, which has the might Dream of White Horses a route that makes the top 25 UK Climbing wish list.  Truly a mega classic with four pitches covering 100m girdle that rises from sea level to the top of the zawn with alarming exposure.  As we climbed the drizzle and mist continued and the fog horn of the distant lighthouse along with the crash of the waves below added to the atmosphere.  I’ve heard horror stories of groups banking up on this climb, but we managed to climb the whole route with no one else about, I can’t talk it up enough and this too was one of the best ever climbing experiences I’ve had.  As we were topping out the mist and drizzle moved on giving us clear views, and at that point another crew arrived so we sat and watched them.  They unlike us, probably due to the wet conditions, skipped the first pitch (as shown above) which starts at the bulge above the sea.  More fool them I say:

In 2000 before moving out to Australia I had one last trip to North Wales, the images of us hiking up Tryfan with the snow was taken on the Saturday of that trip.  Then on the Sunday we plumped for a place we had never been to, Carreg Alltrem.  We picked it for the only good reason, there was an image of a climb that looked great and that was Lavaredd.  Although the place was also described as one of the most beautifully-placed crags in the Lledr Valley and the route as thrilling and exciting and not for the faint hearted.  Checking out this crag online it doesn’t really have many routes and I have no recollection of what else we climbed that day.  Maybe we only bagged the one route but no matter it was a stunner and made even better as we were climbing in the sun, which was a welcome contrast after feeling like we had been in the freezer the day before:

As seems to happen all too often another party rocked up after us which was good this time as I was again bale to snap a few images of this great line.  In the guidebook the pine plantation hadn’t been harvested so covered more of the land and the mountains in the background had far more snow on them, but no matter we climbed it and it was very, very worthy.  It was a fitting end to my time in North Wales with a big hike on Tryfan in picture perfect conditions and then a glorious sun bathed climb on yet another place that we only had the time to sample once:

In part two I’ll take you to the Peak District where I did my first lead.

Wave for the camera

Despite my prediction that we would struggle with the weather in my last email, this weekend has been a flurry of options to get out.  There were offers to visit a Perth crag (it was very tempting!), a trip to Welly Dam this morning and yesterday a day of local trad, which is the one I plumped for. I was very lucky to be able to squeeze this trip in, as Elseya has dance and it was going to take up most of the weekend, until they changed some of the session times and that freed up Saturday morning. With trad and longer routes in mind there really was only one option.  At the carpark, looking down the track towards the coast, a faint rainbow appeared in front of the bank of cloud we had been looked at as we drove down.  A sign that it would be a good day:

This year most of the trips out have been to Welly Dam, for convenience mainly so it was long time we got out somewhere else.  During Wiggins three weeks off, which is coming to an end, he admitted to having climbed more than expected.  But most had been indoors or at the Dam so he too was keen for a change.  As we drove down, there was discussion about keeping things easy and getting some mileage in so nothing more than 19.  We talked about which lines and why, and then as we walked into the crag we came across this sign:

The crag had been closed off from the slab next to Steel Wall heading northwards.  This put paid to three of the lines we had in mind, but this crag has plenty of choice in the range we were looking at.  The urge to inspect the damage was too great, so with warning signs of danger, rockfall and keep out… we of course ignored them all and “entered at our own risk”:

The largest new block at the base we could identify is the one just in front of Steve. This conglomerate block had come from low down on the slab, just above the greenery living in the low crack line.  But there were other cleaner blocks that seemed to have come from higher up, which had no doubt dislodged this larger section on their way down. From what we could tell a flake section (two blocks both the size of several car batteries) had come away from the top of the right end of Steel Wall possibly affecting Steel Yourself, but not having ever climbed this route we couldn’t be sure:

The good news is the rock fall was minor and hadn’t affected much, but goes to show the fragile nature to the sea cliffs we climb on.  The flakes and occasionally teetering blocks combined with our cold wet winters and hot dry summers means there is always the chance of something unexpected coming away.  But we don’t let that stop us, and today from a weather point-of-view the blue sky prevailed (at the start) and despite coming up to high tide and having a reasonable swell the rock conditions were great:

We set up camp at the bottom of Inner Space Wall.  With the grades we chose it made sense to start on this section with two great 17 and a 19 to pick from all next to each other.  We had three great lines, three racks and three keen people so there were choices being made all round… I’m sure one day we will be organised enough to come down with just one rack and rope between us.  However, hauling a bit more gear does provide that extra bit of exercise on the walk in and even more so on the walk out:

I offered to warm the other two up by taking first lead, plumping for Waterfall’s Second Folly, with the direct start of course.  Now I love trad and feel that I’m not too bad at placing gear, but I’ll be up front and say that this lead had me on edge for the first two thirds. I seemed to struggled to get gear in easily and more often than note was not very happy with it.  I could say that I have been bolt clipping too much and have lost it, which is baloney as I’ve been to Willies, the Book Shelf and the Avon Valley recently.  So I can only put it down to my head and possibly the climb, as I’ve heard others say the direct start on this route is tough and today it certainly felt it for me:

The good news is that I got up clean but not without over tensioning my forearms and shoulders, way more than needed, to compensate for my lack of head space.  It was good, as it made me dig that bit deeper and keep going only to be rewarded, like every climb, by feeling good and having a calm moment while sitting at the top belaying the others up.  Of course the added bonus of leading here is that you get to sit like a king (or queen) on top of the world looking out at an awesome coastal view: 

Steve made it up but not without pain and was concerned about his left hand, Wiggins coming third was able to enjoy the climbing without need to fiddle with my gear.  Some of which proved to be in pretty good and being problematic to get out, of course they were the wonderful tri-nuts!  So with one route down we headed down but increasingly Steve made indications that he should maybe not climb anymore L:

So Wiggins donned the shoes next and had his eye on Total Awesome, which I was very happy with as it’s a fine direct line.  He plumped for his own rack, probably a sensible move as mine might mess with his head as it did with me.  Before I had to get on with belaying I got a little artistic, but the timing of sets of waves didn’t want to play along so it seems the sea behind him is calm.  This was however not the case and the regular thunder of waves crashing in continued as we climbed on:

Meanwhile Steve was in self-diagnosis and management mode, the first aid kit was out and the hand was being strapped and immobilised.  I’m not sure is he has one foot bigger than the other or whether the pain in his hand was getting worse, as he only managed to replace one climbing shoe with his walking boots.  He did grumble so I’m guessing both feet were comfy in their respective choice of footwear and his hand while sore was manageable.  Strange the details I pick up as I sit here typing away:

Wiggins was in fine form and looked calm and collected as he ascended the very good thin seam not stopping to think too hard and just flowing up the line.  It’s a great route but the section above his last piece that he has just completed is pretty technical, thin and steep.  I’ve seen it mess with many a climber who invariably end up piking-out and making use of the flake of Inner Space just to the right.  Not today though and not only was his climbing good to watch, but I marvelled and raved about his gear placements with each one being absolutely text book perfect:

Of course while it was a pleasure to watch the effortless climbing going on above me I also took the time to keep an eye out to sea.  This place is amazingly beautiful and I probably say that too often.  But today for some reason the waves seemed even more impressive and I spent as much time focusing on belaying and climbing as I did watching the waves barrelling in.  It was just after I took this image that I was lucky enough to watch a very clean wave come in, with four dolphins not only surfing it but jumping out in front of it three times before the wave broke. They then jumped out the back of the wave spinning high into the air and looking like they were having a blast.  They were the only dolphins I saw, so it was a good job I looked that way when I did:

Steve didn’t follow us up the route and instead decided to practise some rope work and take images.  We would have been quite happy to bail and head home but he wasn’t in pain and in truth why wouldn’t you want to stay out here on a day like today.  I climbed the route he had wanted to bag today while he dangled down the second rope, so it was a good job we brought two ropes.  He had fun playing with a new knot which I can’t remember the name of, it is kind of like a prussic but one doesn’t snag as much and is easier to use as an ascender knot:

This also meant that you’ll get an image or two of me on the pointy end, as this one shows my trusty camera follows me everywhere hence why there are rarely images of me.  Inner Space simply had to be climbed, it has been the scene of many a struggle and this top section has thwarted lots of aspiring mid-grade climbers.  While it remains no harder than what it first was, since a hold came away, it is still a challenging and nervous top out/crux.  Fortunately for me, and inspired by Wiggins lead and gear, I felt the clam come back and soaked up every move, placement and position on this route:

Sat once more on my throne I observed as Steve got in close to take images of Wiggins coming up.  I have to say I can understand why Steve was having so much fun despite not climbing, I do love taking images of and watching others climb.  Surprisingly at the crux moves with two cameras watching and recording his every move Wiggins confessed to feeling tired and asked that I kept a close eye on him, well I guess belaying does come before images in these situations so I obliged:

While the clouds were marching in from out to sea they were patchy and this allowed the sun to poke through periodically.  When this happened it was really cool to watch the boiling waters below as they switched from a lustre to full glow.  With full sun on them the white water of the waves, as they crashed into the rocks, the seemed to be boiling with energy and beauty and you can’t help but feel in awe of their power:

Due to tiring arms the next lead went down a few notches in grade, and Tom Thumb Direct seemed the obvious line.  It suits Wiggins style with technical, delicate and exposed moves protected by good but spaced small gear.  Despite being a couple of grades easier this climb more than makes up for it in exposure.  It’s not a climb to send a new leader up, but it was the perfect choice for today:

Despite Steve’s best efforts to knock Wiggins off, as he was trying to work out which side he needed to be for the best images, the gear was not tested today.  For the sharp-eyed yes this images was taken before the one above, but why let things like that ruin the flow of the story.  The section above Wiggins is where it gets spicy and I’m pleased to say Steve not only sorted out his rope work but also picked the right side for the best images.  This part of the route is where you need to pull out the micro-wires and RPs, and then run it out.  Gripping stuff and where you really test your faith in your gear and your head space:

Every so often there seemed to be a set of waves that came in and called out to be capture on “film” to be shared with others.  There is a slight headland at Wilyabrup and so the waves come in and then spread out either side.  Looking out from the point of the headland you get these picturesque views, made even better when the waves are barrelling, there is an offshore wind to create the trailing mist and the sun is out but not too high to give a subtle but beautiful glow.  Today we had all of those aspects come together, and maybe that is why the waves demanded more of my attention than usual:

My lead next and I can safely say I lived up to the name of the climb I picked.  Blubber Boy is a rare find here, a true mid-grade slab and one that has a long section of what can only be described as marginal protection or quite possibly psychological gear, i.e. don’t ever test it.  It was quite fitting to go on this line after Wiggins lead in many ways.  The small gear, runouts and delicate and thin nature of the route all complimented the previous line.  Other than Craig I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone else lead this route, possible Rongy but I’m not sure.  After a fair bit of mucking about, yo-yoing and checking from different angles what holds were to come I committed to the slab and once committed there was no reversing the moves:

Atop once more I looked across and found Steve on his own throne looking like he was either finally let his emotions come through about his hand having stopped his climbing or maybe be was having a nana-nap.  Neither were true, he was videoing the whole escapade, and I’m dreading watching my stop start efforts before I finally committed to the climb!  This explained his motionless down looking hunched stance, plus he had to concentrate on shielding his camera from the sun:

Wiggins has one trait that does irk me a tiny bit, he has too long a reach!  Not that it made this climb or any of the others a walk in the park, but it does mean that where some mere mortals (i.e. short) have to make a move or two he can reach past.  He admitted to working on his style and technique by not making use of his Inspector Gadget reach, but on this climbing and I can’t blame him his did make use of it.  I’m super happy I chose this line but can’t say that I’ll be rushing back to it anytime soon:

To even things up Wiggins plumped for one more lead, so as he tackled Hole World I watched him, the waves and Steve.  Steve was inspecting a line below his throne.  It’s one Wiggins had considered jumping on but it didn’t happen today.  Rockfish Dreaming is a great lead, a tad tricky, fingery and sustained but damn good.  It certainly caught Steve’s eye so maybe next time, and we better get on it before that huge detached flake decides to come away!  However I digress, late last year after winter had departed, Hole World beat Wiggins and during one of his attempts back then he pulled a block off and that put paid to his endeavours at the time.  Wiggins was however looking good today and I’m very happy to say he managed a clean ascent:

So all that was left was for me to follow up, and I had relinquished my camera so there could be a few more mug shots of me.  While we clocked up repeated lines today each and every one was worthy and also worthy of more repeats yet to come, um maybe not too soon for one.  It was, as it usually is, a top day out: despite Steve not being able to climb he had a ball;  Wiggins was in top form and his style and gear brought me back inline after a dodgy start; and of course let’s not forget mother nature who gave us the backdrop of most incredible waves that kept calling out to my camera:

Fair-weather climbers

It is starting to feel like winter has arrived, at least for our slice of Australia in the far south west.  As per usual I checked the forecast regularly all week and it didn’t look to be changing from rain, rain, rain.  Then as we got closer it looked like there may have been a glimmer of hope as the 48hr forecast indicated Sunday would have clearing showers.  Then Sunday morning the radar while wet first thing looked like it might just be ok, so I put a call out for anyone keen to risk it:

Much to my surprise and happiness Steve, Kym, Howsie, Wiggins and Rhys (in order of those who said yes) all were keen to get out.  Others were working, in Perth, doing house stuff or too soft to admit the forecast was putting them off.  So we six hoicked to our usual easy access spot of Welly Dam.  You can tell we were prepared for inclement weather, as base camp was set up under the shelter and everyone was rugged up with beanies and thick cosy layers:

It has been an age since Kym has joined us at Welly Dam, so it was only fitting to offer him first lead.  He was keen-as picking the delightful Just Do It, which he promptly did in great style even starting and finishing direct to give it that extra punch.  Most of the route was still dry despite a number of big downpours over the last 48hrs, but the black streaks definitely had dampness about them:

Steve plumped for a more sensible warmup on Raging Torrent while Howsie set off on Savage Sausage Sniffer.  Rhys was being a far more attentive belayer than I, as Howsie inched his way up to the first bolt.  Not surprisingly no one else was climbing and no families were picnicking, but there were a number of car tourists who did the customary carpark loop stopping long enough to stare at us through their windscreens while in the warmth of their no-doubt air-conditioned vehicles:

Despite his self-professed gluttony the night before, which involved more snacks that any person should be allowed to eat without regurgitation, Steve was looking good and despite this potentially top heavy disadvantage managed the sting in the tail of Raging Torrent.  It seems that on the crag.com this climb doesn’t get rated by many, which surprises us as it provides yet another different climbing style at this place, but one that is more traditional in nature.  I of course had to say that as Kym and I developed it, but in all seriousness we do believe it:

It was looking like we had snuck in a good day and the rain held off except for a few light sprinkles that never really worried us too much.  This was however not the only pleasant surprise of the day.  With ropes flying this way and that as we picked off line after line Rhys was belaying Howsie up Gumby Goes Bolting, while trialling Steve’s anti-belayers-neck-crick invention!  Both he and Wiggins and found it worked pretty well, so maybe one day we’ll see this contraption on the open market:

Most of the rock was dry but the ledges and obvious water runnels were certainly not the best. However, at Well Dam you can usually find a dry line and as such with careful selection there was many an impressive lead being done today, such as Howsie bagging what we consider to be the crag classic Ear of Fear.  Wiggins gave it a bash on lead but after an equally impressive fall he decided against trying again.  This didn’t dampen his mood because like Kym he also managed to get a clean lead on Just Do It, so allowing him to strike yet another climb off his tick list:

Savage Sausage Sniffer was however was the line that saw the most ascents, with three leads being done and everyone jumping on it, with some of us doing it more than once.  Having left it a little late to try and lead it, Steve was unable to get it clean.  So it remains on his to-do tick list.  It was also the last line of the day to be cleaned so Steve had another bash on top rope to practice the moves, as the clouds darkened more than before and the temperature started to drop:

Most of us were done but Wiggins also wanted one more burl on the great Savage Sausage Sniffer, so we clear-up and then watched on.  As the sun disappeared it was definitely getting more chilly, so Rhys wrapped himself up in all the layers he could find, and conserved his heat by becoming a garden gnome:

Then as Steve belayed Wiggins the heavens opened big time, if you look carefully you can just make Wiggins out near the top of the quartz layback section.  It was never going to last long and the sun poked through a break in the clouds to the west, but above there were still rain clouds dropping their load.  This allowed us to capture some great images of the torrent that hit Steve and Wiggins:

Wiggins stuck in there and waited for the storm to pass, and luckily Steve was obliging.  Then he doggedly made his way up the now wet rock, with the familiar black streak of The Long Goodbye to his far left running like a waterfall.  Um it looks like I missed my chance to bag a clean lead on The Long Goodbye until things dry up in spring.  Oh well we all have to have some projects to aspire too at Welly Dam:

Amazingly after Wiggins came down and pulled the rope we were once again bathed in sunlight.  This seemed to give some people a second lease of life.  So what better thing to do than pull-ups inclusive of knee raises.  Rhys (who due to the warming sun had shed some of the layers and started to move again) and I also join in with this silliness J.  It was a grand day out and enjoyed by all of us who can now well and truly claim that we are not fair-weather climbers:

That is a good job because looking ahead things don’t look too great for outdoor pursuits unless you are prepared to brave the odd shower.  I’m sure some of us will still get out and about, and I’ll no doubt share our experiences with you:

Cranking!

The sun was breaking through the horizon while the land was shrouded in mist on this Sunday morning.  It is easy to tell that winter is coming due to the mornings starting later and later, I took this image at about 7am and is very typical of the country round here at this time of the year, moisture burning off, flat and full of cows:

This image is taken an hour and 45min later as we were walking into our destination, a place I hadn’t been to since July last year.  Bob’s Hollow is a bit of a trek both in distance and also the last section of narrow and rocky 4WD tracks.  It’s a long haul to get here, relatively, but is one of the most atmospheric spots to climb, better still no one else was here so we had the place to ourselves (to start with):

This steep juggy limestone cliff has become an extremely popular destination for the Perthites, so often you’ll find a mob of people here.  Today a few crew turned up while we were there but they mostly climbed down the far end.  Not that they were antisocial (most said hello!) but they wanted the more friendly lines.  I was however climbing with Kym and friendly lines was far from his mind.  That said we started sensibly on Puk Puk Sen (20 – or UK E2 5c).  This is Davo and it is only his third time on rock so I felt  bit mean having gone to Bob’s but he loved it here even if the climbing was a tad tough:

I led the first route and it was a sharp reminder as to how steep and pumpy the place was.  But my ankle is improving weekly, I’m now rocker boarding it, so it was time to turn up the dial in my training as Marky Mark (the machine) is coming to WA and we are hitting Kalbarri so I need to get strong.  Kym is looking sheep’ish here as he took my words a bit too literally and encouraged me to take on Magnus the Robot Fighter (22 – UK E3 6a), a line I have never been on before and one that would test where I was at:

The only beta that Kym gave me was where that crux of this fine line was the lower wall.  So with arms still feeling the first line I set off and cranked hard, making the crux look pretty easy.  At the cave I squeezed in as best I could to have a rest but my whole body was pretty stuffed by then.  So the flash/on-sight or whatever you call it was gone.  That’s said despite resting a couple of times I did all the moves, so I only need to work on my stamina before my next attempt:

Couldn’t help but include a picture of Kym seconding me, just to show the steepness of the lines here.  Davo decided against trying this one, maybe my panting in the upper half put him off.  I was however chuffed with what I managed but also ready to let someone else take the next lead:

So Kym feeling like cranking himself chose another line I’d never been on, Toy Shopping (26 – UK E6 6b).  This was really turning the heat up and pushing me into a grade I’ve never managed to get up.   Steve you’d hate the first high bolt and after that it was small pockets to a dyno – my response was ‘groan’:

Kym showed us the way making the for him semi dyno look not too bad.  After the dyno there were hard moves past the cave and to get established on the slab above where finally things relented.  Kym managed to pull off all the moves but not link them, he was however deservedly very happy with getting to the top.  The only problem being that it was my turn next:

As I grunted and groaned my way up this line Davo understandable took on the role of photographer and general layabout/relax person.  With a view like this you can understand why.  Interestingly with the five routes we bagged today I didn’t once turn my head and soak up this awesome view, so I’m pleased Davo captured it for me:

I manage all the moves and even found a static approach to the dyno, and I was very stoked.  But it took all of my strength and resolve to top out and yes I also took a few rests.  When it came to the slab the sharpness of the holds showed through and, combined with my rock hugging climbing style, they ripped into my knees.  My arms were stuffed but waiting for me when I got down were some energy boasting lollies:

Despite feeling completely spanked it felt like we needed another line or two, so we eased off the pedal and jumped on Right Fin (20 – or UK E2 5c) and then Constructive Vandalism (21 – or UK E3 5c).  I led the first at is felt sooooo good with descent holds for both feet and hands meaning no more close encounters with the rock.  The second which Kym led made my arms ache more than it should have, so we all agreed we had cranked hard enough for one day and wandered back to the car:

It was yet another awesome day out, hopefully we worked hard enough to deserve that satisfying ache and if not we’ll have to crank harder next time.  Couldn’t resist a driving image and no the camera is not at an angle, the car is.  The track really is rough as guts so I’m pleased Kym doesn’t mind driving in (thanks mate):

I had a choice today, fun at Castle Rock in a social sense or crank hard at Bob’s.  The choice was made but that doesn’t mean the crew that headed to Castle Rock are off the hook and I expect a bit of a write up please

Meatloaf

The alarm went off at 2:40 giving me 20min to pack the esky, make a tea and head out the door.  Half an hour later I found Howsie walking the streets of Bunbury in darkness with a cuppa in his hand.  We’d been organised and I’d picked up all his gear the day before, which when leaving at this time in the morning seemed like a good idea.  Three hours later we had passed through Perth and headed north east out to the Avon Valley, managing to avoid the madness of morning work traffic that if we had left later could have added an extra hour or more to our journey:

The last leg of our trip was a winding 12km of dirt road into the heart of the national park, on which we kept a watchful eye out for roos but fortunately none were to be seen.  The day was just waking up and we had a good feeling about what it had in store for us.  We’d been watching for forecast carefully all week, as of all the times to head out today and tomorrow had been forecast for thunderstorms.  But the sky was looking mostly clear and what little cloud we saw looked like it would burn off:

Our first stop of the day was Bald Hill Boulders.  We parked up at the campground and decided that we didn’t need food so instead headed out on the ten minute walk-in, leaving the people who were camped out to wake up and cook breakfast.  Being the last weekend of the school holidays the campsite was pretty busy, but there were no other climbers in sight.  Howsie kept a keen eye out for scats trying to figure out what animals were hidden in the bush nearby.  Then he saw the ‘obvious’ big dead tree that the guide said to look out for:

The ten minute walk seemed to be a bit longer, but while steep in sections was never too hard and there was no bush bashing to be done.  The scrub was pretty clear under the canopy of the trees.  Grass trees and cycads were strewn across the floor of the woods with the occasional prickly shrub, which we skirted round:

We didn’t waste much time and I jumped on first lead, Corner Shop.  It was a fun layback crack and slab with a funky start that I made feel and look strenuous and hard.  Howsie walked past the start by not getting sucked in, and then relished the great layback crack.  There are two climbing spots in the Avon Valley and this one has shade in the morning hence why we started here.  These boulders had nothing higher than 12m and there were only 6 routes so we were confident that we could knock them off and get back in good time to have a late breakfast:

We decided to tackle the routes in order of grade and Howsie took number two that was ominously called Fresh Meat.  This time a steeper crack past a couple of leaning boulders.  This time on lead he got sucked in and had to heavy, crawl and wedge his way up.  It was a reverse of the first climb and I managed to stay wide and out of the crack making the climb look more elegant, with the knowledge of a having a rope above me helping:

The granite here has great friction, there was the odd crystal but there first few climbs were not too bad on the fingertips.  The backdrop to the crag was pretty specky nestled on a steep hillside the valley stretched out in complete silence.  There was not a breeze in the air and we didn’t hear a single animal.  It was a little surprising not to come across feathered, scaled or furred creatures; the only life that we saw all morning was green and still:

My second lead looked great.  Boddyjammer looked like a corker of a line but the guide didn’t seem to rate it that highly.  The start was awkward and then the security of the peapod came.  The only problem was how to get out of the pod and back on track.  It was just way too comfy and secure.  I had to strenuously squirm my way into the right position to be able to exit.  That led to great jamming and exposure and I eventually reached the top exhausted and sweating, so much that the strap on my helmet was dripping:

The fourth lead, Blue View, was the first climb that didn’t involve a crack.  The hard bouldery start, which gives it the grade had us foxed for some time.  Being on an arête there were a couple of options and eventually it yielded.  Just in case you are thinking it, the grass tree wasn’t used as aid!  This one required a bit more pulling on some sharp crystal holds and after the bouldery start followed the slabby arête on bolts.  Only two of the four routes here used bolts and Howsie managed to bag both of those:

Next up was one of the main reasons for coming to the Avon Valley.  Sundance Crack provides a narrow splitter that started only just wide enough to get your fingers in but widened up after half way.  This route we both agreed was well and truly worthy of classic status, it both looked incredible and was exciting and sustained to climb.  It looks like I’m cruising this impressive line, but that was not the case.  I took a fall low down taking the top of one knuckle off; I was then more cautious and I took a few rests.  Placing gear was hard as I had to fiddle wires into the parallel crack; we didn’t have any micro cams and only the smallest tri-cam fitted the lower crack:

So now I had given blood and sweat so all that remained were tears, and it came close on the last route called Rude Mood.  A very thin and balance slab and arête, which I was very happy to leave to Howsie.  Maybe it was because were starting to tire from our early start or that we were foolish to have not had any breakfast before we started, but the last moves on this route had us completely stumped.  Up to this point it was incredible but then it just seemed to blank out and even Howsie with his extra reach couldn’t get to the next holds:

When I came up the holds all the way up felt excruciatingly sharp and painful, but I held back the tears.  Even with a rope above me I could find no way past the last section, so I also pulled on the last bolt to reach the next sequence.  Despite the dramas on the last two routes we were all smiles, the crag was great and well worth the trip.  By now the valley below us was bathed in sunlight and we were glad we had come early and headed straight down as the sun was also starting to hit the wall.  It had real bite to it and the next crag was said to be shaded in the afternoon:

On the walk out we came across a cycad with the seed pod freshly opened.  The brilliant orange colour of the seeds was striking against the, in comparison, dull browns and greens of the understorey.  Neither of us had ever seen one freshly opened like this, and while there was plenty of evidence of old seeds that had dried and browned off this was the only fresh one.  So it was time to break out the big camera and make sure I got a good clear image of this unusually sight:

Then we hoicked back up the hill, and the ten minute walk-in felt a lot harder walking out.  We were both sweating and feeling our legs up the steep incline, while the sun beat down on us.  Back at the car we decided to drive to the next spot before breaking out the food.  The car indicated the temperature was already at 28 degrees, something we hadn’t expected.  So the air conditioner went on as we drove the short few kilometres to Drummonds campsites.  Here we munged out on wraps with lashings of tuna salad and mayonnaise for what was now lunch:

The next crag was a 30min walk-in, steeply down to Emu Creek which was then followed for 1km.  It was getting really toasty and we were both tired so I don’t think we really appreciated the beauty of the walk in as much as we should have.  It involved a fair bit of rock hooping and we realised later it was best to stay in the creek bed to avoid the vegetation that in couple of places thickened up and was pretty spikey.  Once we came to Emu Falls, with unfortunately no water, we caught sight of the crag 200m up the hill:

Emu Creek Wall is another short 12m crag with 9 routes, and was not in the shade.  It was already past 1pm and it looked like only a small portion would be shaded even in a few hours’ time.  Another granite wall but finer grained and in placed even smooth and slick, it almost seemed like it was a quarried face.  To get going we went for the left hand routes on the main wall, as they at least would be partly shaded:

My led went up Freestone Valley a feisty number with slick holds that you really had to work.  The gear was marginal in places and it was a nervous lead, I needed to go some way above the last wire to clip a bolt on smeary holds.  That was then it till the top out so I gingerly worked my way up the rounded finish.  I was thankful to be up and even more so that it was not my led next:

This crag had a clearer view across the valley, it also meant it had less shade and it was hard to find a spot at the top or base to cool down.  There were two belay stations with carrots but not being set up as rap anchors we had to walk down a meandering line, it was all feeling too hard:

Howsie not put off plumped for another two starred line which was thankfully in the shade now.  Redline did look good and followed the line where the black wall turned white.  He started confidently getting to a good slot, the topo in the old guide told you what gear was needed and where.  It seemed a bit over the top, and as we climbed the few routes we did it was clear there were no other options.  For this route after the slot there was a runout on sketchy moves to get to the first bolt, with only one piece in.  After a few yoyos he finally gave in and decided it wasn’t worth it:

Instead he went up a lower grade route with equally minimal gear and despite having a bolt in the lower wall, you would deck out before you got to the next bit of natural gear.  I followed up and my fingertips were pretty raw by now, I thought it may have been me being out of practice but Howsie was also suffering.  We scoped a few more lines but none of them looked particularly inspiring either being run out or not that good a line.  So we both decided it was probably best to head out, this time avoiding the bash through the cycads and following more of the creek bed:

Bald Hill Boulders was awesome but Emu Creek Wall was a disappointment, and we both agreed we wouldn’t bother going back.  Instead we hit the road with an hour and half journey ahead of us.  Next stop was Threeways, another set of boulders and this time in the middle of whoop whoop.  The last 20min of so was on dirt tracks that got progressively smaller and less maintained.  We got there with a hour of light left and wandered about to scope the crag out.  The boulders were a short 30 second walk from the clearing and comprised a coarse grained granite with lots of sharp crystals.  Just placing our hands on the rock we both knew that it would hurt tomorrow:

Putting that thought aside we boiled up the pasta disaster in a vacuum bag that Lisa had kindly made for us.  It went down sooooo well and tasted divine, washed down with one of Howsie’s homebrews.  As the light faded we set up camp and reheated the water to make a cuppa, both of us needing to rehydrate a bit more from our days exertions:

Despite being some 60km from Perth, as the crow flies, the light pollution was still noticeable, either that or a full moon was getting ready to rise.  The stars above were great to see but not a scratch on when we camped out at Eaglestone Rock in the wheatbelt.  I still however tried to get a picture of them and this was the best I could do.  Admittedly I was being lazy on only tried on my point and shoot camera.  Eventually with the cuppa drained so was our energy and it was time for an early night, man did we sleep well:

Next day we were up early and after watching the clouds of the morning sky change from pink to red to yellow to grey we made a cuppa to take to the crag, along with a selection of snacks.  There was no need to pack up a sac with the crag so close, we were both a tad achy but didn’t say too much about that instead deciding to take one climb at a time:

Apologies for the grainy images above and below.  The night before while taking images of the stars I had pushed up the ISO setting to the max and forgot to reset it to auto – doh!  I know that Rhys will understand what I mean.  The sharp crystally granite boulders had line after line of bolts, many of the lines looked crazy and were listed on the mini-guide as projects.  There were however a heap of lower to mid-grade routes and not being here for the numbers we picked off the lines that looked good to us:

Chris kicked the day off with Nice and Easy and then I went up Friend of Easy, both the same grade and similar in style.  An easy angled slab that after the obvious break had crimpy moves on sharp crystals and smeary feet.  Both were good fun and we had a good feeling about this place.  Being sensible today we then took a break to have a sip of tea and a snack:

The place is called Threeways as the boulders have been split down the middle three ways, on each external and most internal faces there are routes.  The next one we tried was right in the guts and it was here I realised the error of my camera ways, as I was taking an image of the moon.  The relevance (if you can spy the moon) being that the ‘blanket of stars’ viewing the night before had in fact been affected by Perth’s light pollution:

Both of us had spied this line and were keen for it, but seeing I had bagged the mega crack the day before it was only right to offer this gem to Howsie.  Get Your Crack Out was a beautiful splitter from bottom to top perfectly sized for small cams (the sort we did have) and nicely sustained.  If the wall had been vertical it would have been the twin of the previous days crack.  It was the only completely trad line here and an absolute pearler:

Atop the boulder the views stretched out in all directions, endless bush.  The clearing where we were camped was on a bit of a rise where the granite was close to surface.  That made it wetter in winter and as such the vegetation was very different to that round the boulder, only a 100m away.  You can see the change in the trees in this image, with the lower sheoaks being where the clearing is:

Around the boulders the tall mottled white gums glowed in the morning light and below them were scattered grass trees and boulders.  There were a few cycads but nowhere near as many as we had found in the Avon Valley.  This is as close to pristine bush as you’ll see and it looked great.  Again however there was not an animal in sight, even at night we thought we may have heard a roo hopping about, maybe they were and we were too fast asleep:

Next up I led Tic Tac Toe which started out as another great trad crack before a fine crystal pulling face climb that kept me focused.  The thought of falling on this stuff is enough to make you stay on.  So far four out of four great climbs, this place was warming to us big time.  For a short boulder no more than 10m high the routes we’d been on were varied and had real character:

After one more snack break Howsie decided on yet another crack climb, this one only one grade harder than his last lead but looked a bit more feisty.  The gear was not as obvious and it was possibly more technical climbing.  So the rope stayed put and he checked out the gear placements, seeing the walls were so close it was possible to lean in and do that:

His chosen route was aptly called Bull Ant Bravado and funnily enough as he checked the line out I saw a bull ant, then another and another and another.  I managed to trace them back to the nest and spent some time trying to capture them in an image.  The can move when they need to and seemed completely fearless coming for me every time I got too close.  The name of the route was perfect:

Howsie was still contemplating his line so I took the time to get an image or two of the boulders and bush surrounding them.  I’ve said it but will say it again, this place was like a slice of paradise:

Game on, finally I got the call that he was ready to go.  The crack was as good as it looked, fiddly gear placements, a few technical moves and then he was at the good looking break.  He hung there and hung there and hung there.  Eventually he was going to move up to clip the bolt when he realised he had run out of extenders, and he promptly sat:

I took out some lower pieces so he had a few more extenders and then he tried and tried but couldn’t get up the a face.  I leaned back to hold him as he clipped the bolt above, just managing to reach it.  Then even with the rope above him it seemed impossible, eventually dogging up to the next bolt and repeating the escapades.  Eventually he hauled up and I followed.  The face had holds but they were microscopic, spaced and so very sharp.  The grading on this routes was highly questionable:

Both feeling a bit battered I then plumped for a line only 2 grades lower than his called Let’s Not & Say We Did.  It provided a fun chimney and then a short face to finish.  It was over before it started and while it was a heap of fun it was also completely over graded by at least five grades:

We’d left a couple of lines on the outside of the boulders till last.  Howsie started on Mouse Trap which required a funky move to get out of a short chimney onto the slab proper.  With both feet smearing like fury and his left hand on a pebble he grimaced his way into a more secure position.  Fine climbing above matched the style, that was better and we were back onto the good stuff:

For my last lead I rambled up a great slab with no real edges, if you didn’t trust your feet you would not get far.  This was marked as a project in the guide but with no pink tape (other lines had pick tape) we decided there was no harm in climbing it as it really didn’t look that hard.  It mimicked the previous line in style and grade, great fun:

The sun was swinging round now and we were ready to pack our bags, although there was one route.  The only one of which there is an image in the guide and it did look good, but it was also three grades harder than anything else we had tried today.  So we were a bit unsure.  In truth we are unlikely to ever come back here and so Howsie couldn’t help himself:

So off he went up The Squirm, the last and hardest line of the day.  A great traverse along the rising break followed up a steep slab above.  I was paying more attending to belaying than pictures, thinking this would be tricky and with both of us being pretty tired I might need to catch him. About here he had a foot slip but held on and re-established himself:

Then one step up and the rest seemed a walk in the park, he made it look easy!  Following up I was not so convinced, but the break was gentle on the hands and fingers and the gear was boomer.  One move along the traverse was sketchy but not that bad really, then I stepped up and it was game over.  Um… probably over graded by four this time!  No matter it was a fun line and we were both glad we did it:

It was definitely time to head back to break camp, have lunch make a few cups of tea and eventually head out on the road home.  But not before taking an image of this great fungi.  Seeing there were not any animal images to amaze you with, other than the bull ants, I thought a splash of colour would be nice:

We followed the road out the same way we came in.  Eventually getting back to the sealed roads, and with a tank full we didn’t stop.  Within 3 hours Howsie was home and soon after I was too.  Another great trip with three new crags now having been explored and rated, and as Meatloaf sang Two out of Three Ain’t Bad:

On the way back we talked about other areas around Perth and we have a few more in mind that one day we may visit.  Short they may be but they do have character and require a different climbing style that adds extra interest value.

Animal Magic

With school holiday upon us, Elseya had a sleep over and so on Good Friday Lisa and I headed out back to the coast for a climb.  We had arranged to meet a few people there and Rongy was the first there, and we found him under the shady bush looking out to see through a window frames by brush.  There were some dolphins out in the waves bobbing about which he had been watching for about 15min.  So that is where Lisa sat and then promptly didn’t move from for an hour or two:

So with Lisa in the shade of the bush below with an awesome view of dolphins and picture perfect sets of waves coming in, I took the first lead.  It’s been three months since I’ve done any longer routes (relative to our patch), and before we got there I’d already decided there was one route I fancied bagging.  The Unbolted and the Beautiful is one of mine but I’d never led in solely on passive gear, as it is easier to whack in a cam on the steeper territory.  So today with one wire and tri-cams only (including two of Steve’s big ones) I did:

Steve and Karoliina had turned up soon after I had started, and not long after Geoff, Nana, Gav and Monica also arrived.  As I walked down, with pumped but very satisfied forearms, Gav was starting up the Setting Sun.  This is a route that is normally swamped with organised climbing or abseil groups, but today or at least the morning the crag was group free.  With a high first bolt on crimpy holds he gingerly inched his way up.  By the second bolt he looked back at me and mentioned that the dolphins were out:

I kinda knew that but instead of now bobbing about they were playing in the waves and full on jumping.  The last time we came out to Moses we got to see them surf three sets of waves, which felt like such a privilege.  Today however, there seemed to be several pods and they were all having a bit of fun:

Gav had made his way past the second and third bolt and had a comfy spot to turn and watch too.  .  Lisa and I reckoned on over fifty were out there, so I stopped focusing on the rock antics and took five to enjoy the view, which Lisa was also watched from her sheltered spot.  Eventually I left him to decide on whether to climb or watch and wandered along:

Lisa hadn’t moved and seemed in no mood to up on a harness or shoes, and who could blame her, with a great view out into the watery playground.  Time after time we would see them mucking about, and just when we thought that they were heading off to another part of the coast they would drift back again:

Steve had plumped for some Hope, a well-practised but also classic climb of the crag.  Karoliina was belaying, which was her first time of taking on that responsibility, and was under the watchful eye of Rongy.  So adjacent to Hope there are two contrived lines and Rongy was keen to try Faith, which then allowed me to keep a watchful eye on Karoliina’s belaying as Steve stopped posing and climbed on:

We were just high enough to keep an eye on the waves and I couldn’t help myself but snap just a couple more images.  It was a day when I was really wishing I had brought by SLR but I was stuck with the little point and shot, which didn’t do too bad a job.  Needless to say Lisa still hadn’t moved:

With Steve and Rongy on top, I wandered over to see how Geoff was enjoying his Peanut Crumble.  It must have been good as he was chewing his way up this long pleasant slab, and had nearly topped out.  I then jumped on second to see what all the fuss was about on Faith, I have a vague recollection of trying both these lines eons ago with Craig and dismissing them as not worth it:

Karoliina was already following Steve up and had got to the magic flake section of Hope when I caught up height wise.  Steve had duly put in rock solid gear mostly comprising tri-cams and she had done well to get them all out except one under the flake, which I helped with.  She then had to surmount the flake being careful of the resident Carpet Python, but that didn’t seem to faze her:

Just in case you missed it here is the fella, I’ve seen a Carpet Python on this flake probably one out of five times I’ve climbed this route and I’d like to think it is the same guy every time.  But after some ten plus years of climbing here he probably should have grown a bit more so maybe he had been a she and then he or maybe a her a few times.  Below Lisa had spied the surf life rescue helicopter, which often flies the coast looking for sharks in the more popular areas and was keeping a watchful eye out:

She had been hoping to see a shark today, but despite the helicopter staying a short while it wasn’t lucky enough to see one.  Eventually I topped out and Rongy and I agreed it was contrived and not that great.  It is possible that some holds have fallen off but at the two bolts it was impossible you stay on line unless you were seven foot tall.  Still it was considered a good adventure time:

When we got down Lisa had moved!  However, it was not to join in with the climbing but to find some sun to warm up, it seemed the dolphins may have eventually moved on.  We had has an almost two hour show which was spectacular, but now it was time to catch up with the others while watching the waves and soaking up the rays:

Gav was well on his way up his First Climb.  Another long route up a slab with a fine corner system, he had a bit of a nervous moment when getting established in the corner but had overcome his fears and pushed through.  So while he was topping out everyone else was back down wondering what to do next:

There seemed to be no rush and it seemed like a good excuse to browse the guidebook looking like we were trying to decide what to do; when in fact we all know that is just a way of not having to exert ourselves with climbing.  The wind which had been westerly had started to shift a bit and there was a slight onshore now bringing in some of the spray making for slightly misted views:

Rongy was going to head off early so I was more than happy to offer him another lead, which I was very happy to say resulted in a Pocket Full of Nothing.  Another of my creations originally called Hollow Promise until I realised there was another route by that name at Bob’s Hollow.  I’d never heard of anyone repeating this line and had found it quite intimidating myself, but he had prepped his head well and cruised up:

Just as I was about to follow up I noticed Lisa was testing the start moves of Hope, but I felt her to muck about and didn’t want to ask if she was thinking about…  I made my way up to the headwall and the slopey pockets that led the way through the crux sequence.  I teetered up but felt like I was pulling hard and the arms were tiring.  I managed it but found it tough going, shamefully after three long climbs was feeling pretty spanked:

Back on deck and Rongy was off, Lisa while having played on the start had no interest in climbing which I wasn’t so upset about as I was feeling the effects of the morning.  So we watched people watching, and here Gav is giving his brother Geoff some advice on the climb he had just led.  So Geoff had plumped for First Climb as his second climb, as Nana (nor Monica) seemed that keen on having a lead:

Steve meanwhile was styling, without poising (in this image at least) on Road Trip.  He wasn’t sure what to climb but wanted something not too hard and with good gear, foolishly he listened to me.  It must have been my old age but the gear was a little thin in places, which was beneficial as I was able to get in the best position for some good shots as the sun had crept round and I was no longer battling with the contrasts.  I was however right about the climbing and there was nothing too serious:

With Steve up and Karoliina about to follow I was no hankering to do any more but felt I should stay and make sure all Steve’s gear would come out OK.  So it was my turn to do some watching, and I was watching Gav now barefoot halfway up the crag providing advice and support on the section that he had got spooked on.  I asked if this was ploy for not getting on the pointy end himself, but he retorted with the fact that he had led two climbs, and seeing I had only led one I thought fair enough:

Soon Geoff was at the top, and seemed not to have any problems other than running out of medium cams.  He really should listen to his brother sometimes, eh Gav J.  Not much to say at this point as we were ready to head off, soon to be followed by Steve and Karoliina and then no doubt the motley crew of four.  So we were going to leave the crag in her same order we had arrived:

Steve’s gear mustn’t have been too bad to get out as Karoliina was close to finishing up when I found Lisa relaxing in a her first rock armchair of the morning.  But it was a pretty low grade one so it wasn’t; hard to get her out of it so we could make our way up the hill:

At the top there was just one more farewell to say, Geoff was busy setting up his belay looking pretty happy and content.  So he should another fine steady lead, lots of great waves, heaps of dolphins putting on a show and a great temperature giving us yet another great day out at Willyabrup:

Rock armchair (grade 20)

After such a fun day out at Castle Rock the relatively newbie and returning cripple crew of the SW decided it was time for another trip out.  So we headed down to Moses Rocks, and Lisa and I were the second crew to arrive finding Wiggins at the top of the excellent Gothic Streak with Rhys eagerly waiting to follow.  Now Dazza just happened to be in Bunbury with his girlfriend Karoliina, and cottoned onto the fact we were heading out today.  He was unable to come along but she was keen as mustard, so had scabbed a lift with the boys.  It was only her second time climbing and it didn’t show:

Lisa and I took the opportunity to also follow up Gothic Streak and the rock was a little greasy, which made Lisa stop and think.  I’d hammed the day up as having lots of easy climbs so throwing her onto a greasy and slabby grade 15 to start with probably wasn’t that kind, personally I blame Wiggins as he led the route!  The conditions didn’t however seem to be worrying Wiggins and he jumped onto his third lead of the day on Many Hands:

Lisa didn’t seem put off and she followed Wiggins up his route as we all did, thanks for the patience mate J.  I can honestly say that the smile was not for the camera and it was another day of fun and laughs.  On the plus side for Lisa this climb was a tad easier than the first, but not so much so for Wiggins as the mid-section get run out.  So you need to sure of your moves to avoid a potential almost deck out:

I think I may have said (a few too many times in these emails) how much I love Moses.  It has an awesome atmosphere, gritstone like climbing style (which I love), and a never ending supply of boulders to muck about on which all makes it feel like a big candy store for me.  It’s one of the closest crags to the sea and today the steady northerly wind and strong swell was the cause of the greasiness on the rock.  It’s often the story for Moses, as the coastline is perfect for when the waves come in, helping to spectacularly send sea spray high into the air:

While Wiggins was leading Many Hands I got stuck into Well Rounded, another great climb that we all used to think was poorly protected.  That was until the mighty tri-cams entered our lives.  Now I can happily stitch the rounded and outwardly flared crack up, so much so I ran out of extenders before I topped out.  While I said before there were lots of smiles todays I reckon this image captured the biggest!  A top effort up the crack followed by a nervous moment to get over the overlap, not that you would ever be able to tell looking at Karoliina’s face:

Rhys got ready to follow up just as Glen arrived with Dean, another climber who used to frequent the Dunsborough climbing gym.  I reckon that if we had a new gym in Busselton it would do really well, that is a hint for anyone out there looking for a business venture and SW WA lifestyle.  I like this images as it shows the waves crashing below the first of Lisa’s rock armchairs, this one being a tad upright to be really comfy (so probably only a grade 10).  She is not one to come out and bag a heap of climbs, and often will describe herself as a one climb wonder girl so after two sterling climbs she felt it was time to kick back and socialise:

I had my own throne at the top of the crag, which commanded a great view.  So while Wiggins had his video camera perched on an extension pole over my head to film Rhys coming up, I sat and took in the view and of course a few sneaky snaps.  The reason for including this one being that Rhys is at the same place that Karoliina was and they both had the same reaction to this section which was ‘what am I doing here’.  This was closely followed by ‘keep it tight’ but one said it while smiling like a nutter and the other while grinding teeth.  I just found the two expression very contrasting, or am I just over thinking what to say:

It was just after I got back down that Lisa spied a pod of dolphins and we all stopped to watch them cruise up the coast.  Now with such awesome waves, which must have been pre-ordered for the pro-surfing competition that happened to be on, I was quietly hoping we’d see the dolphins surf a wave.  I was wrong, they surfed three waves one after the other!  With all the times I’ve been down you’d think it would be a sight I’d seen often, but this is now only the third time.  Not that it matters as I’d find this an amazing sight no matter how many times I may have seen it before:

I didn’t quite time it right, but if you look carefully you can make out the dolphins jumping out of the back of the wave just before it crashed into the rocks.  They are such amazingly agile and intelligent animals, enough said:

Now Lisa has a bit of a reputation when we have been out climbing.  She tends to seek out the perfect place to relax, and this was a fairly high grade armchair contender certainly beating the previous grade 10 upright version.  The reason for the move was primarily to get a bit of sun, but also make sure she didn’t sprain her neck while watching all the action.  It’s a hard life but someone has to do it:

While kicking back in the mid-teen grade chair she watched Wiggins lead Johnny Fartpants and no that is not a typo, check out the Viz comic – it’s a classic!  I was on belay duty so while he was climbing and as yet had not placed any gear I took the liberty of taking a few images.  Yes it is a bum shot but it is very artistic and the colours just worked so well.  Then it was time to put the camera away and belay, not that I really needed to as he led it clean.  He even stuck to the direct line making it a better climb, as it is possible to sneak right at the crux into much easier territory:

It was about now that Lou, Nana and Geoff rocked up……. what sort of time do you call that!  Geoff was not quite in the mood to climb having enjoyed himself a bit too much the night before at a social of a different kind.  But Lou and Nana were keen, so soon there were three lines on the crag being worked and this included a top rope (shhh).  Seeing my first lead felt so good and the ankle was holding up pretty well I felt the need for another.  So what better line to climb that the crag classic Wheely Things, and I’m afraid I only have a classic bum shot to prove I lead it.  But Kym you’ll be happy to hear I jammed my way most of the way up:

Wiggins was slowly upping his game and decided on one more lead plumping for Twist Until You Lock.  A very aptly named climb with a great start and exciting finish but unfortunately slightly easy mid-section.  He was not put off with my views on the route and showed us how to style a route, making it look way too easy as several people found out to their peril when they tried to follow up:

With the action on rock hotting up Lisa decided that she needed to keep up and went for a fully reclined and sun soaked armchair.  This one felt equal to Wiggins line for style, hence she also managed to bagged a grade 20!  The wind had by now had swung round and was more of a north easterly which was good news as it made it a slight offshore and that meant the sea spray went the other way and the rock was drying up.  In fact the friction was now near perfect as I found out when I followed Wiggins:

The top rope (shhh) that someone had put up (Glen – oops sorry mate I didn’t mean to dob you in) was getting a lot of use.  Being strategically placed over Cornish Nasty it also allowed people to have a bash at a few lines that were not quite so nasty.  This brought even more smiles although this time I think Lou was posing as she accused me of previously taking images when she looked weird.  Hopefully she will not mind this one:

Glen redeemed himself of the sins he had previously committed when he took on the mighty Gothic Streak, ground up style.  Despite having a nervous moment when he had to have a little talk to himself, and we offered lots of supporting encouragement from below, he pushed through and pulled of a good lead.  It is hard to tell in the image but he really was smiling at this point, as he had just gone past the nervous moment and was feeling more confident:

As the sun swung round and start to hit the walls, Rhys decided it was time to show some muscle shirt off style and I plumped on taking on the Cornish Nasty as my last lead.  I too had a little moment and had to have a talk with myself before pushing through, and I have to say I was very happy with the lead.  Steve you’ll notice that I’m fully using my left foot and it didn’t twinge (too bad), although this wasn’t a full on Raging Torrent style high step:

Finally it was time to make a move and Lisa had to leave her armchairs.  After much discussion there was consensus that a follow-up meeting at a local brewery was in order to analyse the mornings events or was it just drink beer and eat burgers.  Unfortunately, Lisa and I couldn’t partake and no Lou I wasn’t being selectively social, as we had to head off to pick Elseya up from her sleepover:

I can safely say that it was another great morning out and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Rock fishing

After my failed attempt to get Lisa and Elseya to join us at the Book Shelf a few weeks back it was attempt number two. We had planned on a cruisey time down at the Playground for some bouldering and easy trad lines, but a howling westerly promising 60km/hr on-shore winds combined with a mid-morning high tide and +5m swell made us think it was not wise to be on that west coast. So there was only one option left and that was Castle Rock, nestled on the east side of the Cape it was sure to be ok:

When we got there Lou had already led up a fine flake, and had felt ok on it. A sure sign that the road to recovery was going well, this line is not in the guide but has been led numerous times. Lisa looked at it and um’d and ah’d but decided not to follow up just yet, after all it has been a very, very, very long time since she has donned climbing shoes and taken on the vertical rocks. Around the corner I found that Steve and Leanne were also there, but had other pursuits in mind:

So I racked up and led an easy line to the right of Minty Freshness, so Lisa could ease back into climbing. It was my first lead in several months, and some my question how when just two weeks back I climb one legged how I could now be back with two legs. Well my trusty physio, Steve, who admits to being a bit of a rouge with his advice has said that I could climb but had to be sensible. Plus he has advised me to lose my duck waddle (as Elseya calls it) and rotate my hips, which I’m fiercely working on and it makes such a difference:

In case you were getting confused no that is not me in the above image, Glen plumped for Cornflakes for his first lead and did it in style. I just happen to have been at a ledge and decided to stop to take some images, like you do. After topping out I set up a top rope and came back down where Lisa was keen and ready for action. As she put on her PPE Alan and Will rocked, Steve and Leanne abandoned the fishing and it was party on:

Like I said it has been an age since Lisa has climbed so I wasn’t my usual pushy self instead being quietly encouraging. After a false start during which she braved wearing my climbing shoes (several sizes too big and no doubt toe fungus infected) she bailed and had to wear her old shoes. Why didn’t she do that to start with – well since she bought them she has had major toe surgery and now as one of her big toes is now pinned together the shoes are a tad uncomfortable.:

With her shoes she was up and away, it took a bit of time to get into the swing of it and remember how to climb but she was soon up and then back down. Will then jumped on the same line just as it seemed we may get a bit wet. We had missed the wild wind and swell but the rain clouds were whizzing past and occasionally one would sprinkle us. It never lasted too long and the rock here is great and with a good breeze soon dries up:

Lou was up for another lead and decided to play on one of the wide cracks at the far right hand end of the crag. These are not listed individually in the guide but mentioned as a whole stating that none are harder than grade 12. One problem with these are that they are often wave washed and Glen duly belayed barefoot as Lou worked out how to start, again and again and again and again:

Now I mentioned that Elseya was also down, and it’s always easiest if we bring a ‘plus one’. Josh her dance mate loves mucking about on rocks as much as she does so he was the natural choice. In an earlier image you may have seen Steve hanging off this line he put up, which leads to the top of a boulder that is regularly used as a fishing platform. So they mucked about and never did ‘climb’ anything as in put a harness on, but bouldered about heaps:

After much struggling Lou finally got off the ground and managed to worm her way up this classic chimney. It really is a trad line full of charisma and charm – if you are not claustrophobic, like being squished in small places, enjoy fighting to get to you gear and then also fighting to work out how to place anything. So I love it, but others tend to think it is not that great. Lou did eventually get up to within 1m of the top and then gave up, a great effort and she was knackered. So Glen topped out and Alan finished it off, and all three of them hated the route:

While all that unpleasantness was going I jumped on Cornflakes and Steve led the route that Lou start on. It felt great to be back on the floppy end of the rope and my ankle held up well, although we shall see tomorrow if it starts to ache. Leanne followed Steve and was smiling all the way up, but whether that was because she was enjoying the route or happy that there was only one piece of gear to take out I am not sure. Howsie it seems that you have been bad influence on Steve:

Then disaster happened, Elseya and Josh found two crabs entangled in fishing line and needed help to free the poor crustaceans and eagle eyed Steve spied a fisher who had inadvertently caught a seagull. Look for the white dot and you’ll see Elseya marking the spot of the six legged creatures in peril and the hooked seagull was not far off. So Lisa and Steve charged off to help out. Not surprisingly they found that Elseya not one to be afraid of getting stuck in rushed over to attempt to catch and calm the seagull:

So with Lisa gone Will decided she would follow me up and did a fine job on this exposed line. Even managing to pull all my gear bar two pieces, one a trusty and well buried tri-nut and the other a perfectly fitting wire that had to come out in exactly the way it came in:

Operation crab and seagull rescue was still going on so after Will had followed me up Lou decided to come up this route for a second time. This time the tri-nut stayed put but the wire came out. Finally the triumphant foursome returned and I am very happy to report the crabs and seagulls were all OK and given a second chance of life. So afterwards Lisa finally followed up the line and once again did herself proud:

Thanks to Will for offering to take an image of the happy couple once again on rock together. The image almost never happened as Lisa was somewhat in pain and wanted to get those little rubber shoes off, but she gritted her teeth for a perfect smile before being lowered back down:

Then it really started to rain and looked like it may have set in, the less hardy or maybe more sensible of the crew retired to the cave while the others kept going and were rewarded as the clouds soon parted to let the sun back out. It really does take only a few moments for the rock to dry out and also for it to seem a bit too toasty (yes Lou I’m a wimp in the sun):

Alan was one who stuck it out and finally the rope I had put up at the start was going to be used for Minty Freshness. I mentioned this line at the start and it was game on Alan, Glen and then Lou all took it on and all agreed it was a challenge with its slopey holds and fairly sustained first 6m’ish. It is probably the last new route I put up before the guide was published and so based on the grade of 17 there was a bit of debate whether I had once again sand bagged people, I felt not it is just a different style of climbing. Back home I looked at the guide and oops I gave it a 16 so maybe it is a bit of sandbag, or you could consider it character building:

While the siege on the top rope occurred Steve was up for another lead and tackled Stepping Up a very fingery and thin start and finish that had everyone holding their breathe hoping he would hold on. Even more impressive was how he climbed past the first bolt to the better holds before using the carrot. It was nervous viewing as that section is supper thin and smeary and we’ve seen many a climber fall from there, but he stuck it and was looking good:

By then it was time to head off, everyone was fished out (well no one caught anything and nor did the reams of other people fishing or so it seemed) and climbed out. I have since found out that the crew went to Occy’s a brewery afterwards, and I would note that neither Lisa nor I was advised of the after fish/climb merriment that was planned! That said I think they all know me too well as the one who wants to get home to see his girls; who just happened to be with me this time. However, we did have to get Josh home so we probably would have had to say no anyway – maybe next time: