The Waiting Game

I have spent four months in Perth with still a month to go before I head back to Squamish to continue my struggle on The Cobra Crack. I planned to train to get as beastly strong as I could so that I could reach a whole new climbing level on this next trip although the intensity of climbing on plastic has left me juggling injuries. My cobra mono finger tendon is a little sore but I hope nothing to worry about, I have pain on the side of my middle finger joint on the other hand (ongoing since smashing it into a boulder last summer), and I have a tear in the cartlidge on the outside of my left wrist for which I delayed an arthroscopy and got an injection instead so I can still climb in the near term. Despite these things I am still climbing really well and am definitely stronger than last year. As long as I manage these pains well it should be a productive trip.

Peaches (28/5.13a), Wilyaberup, Western Australia. Photo: Vaughan Guan.

Apart from spending to much time in the gym I have managed to get out to some local crags I don't visit much anymore. I finished off one of the last climbs I wanted to do at a crag called Wilyaberup in the Margaret River region of Western Australia getting the second ascent of Peaches (28) after almost 15 years since Pat Turner did it. It is just a short boulder roof lip problem which is very powerful and tricky. I also went on a trip to Kalbarri with the City Summit youth team and repeated routes in the Promenade area while shouting beta and putting draws up for the kids. Theres some crushers coming out of City Summit and most of them did their hardest routes to date up to grade 27.

Only a month before I am on the road again. The current plan involves two months in Squamish followed by a three month USA road trip. I would love to be able to do a free route on El Capitan and then head into the desert for some test-piece sandstone cracks. Theres so many places I still want to go. Hopefully this trip Squamish, Skaha, Index, Smith Rock, Tuolomne, Yosemite, Zion, and Indian Creek all get some attention.

Tentative dreams/plans.

Mt Buffalo

I really did need to work and save some money but when one of the strongest climbers in Australia messages you to say he has found a crack that will be the hardest in the country it is hard to refuse a quick trip. After using up all my frequent flyer points I was on my way back to the Blue Mountains where Zac Vertrees and I would start our road trip to Mt Buffalo in the Victorian alps.

Mt Buffalo is a granite dome in an alpine setting and home to climbers during the summer months. It isn’t as popular anymore as more climbers search out steep fully bolted sport routes with nearby café instead of adventurous run out technical granite. The first thing I noticed on arrival was the intensity of the sun. Zac had a massive first day full of sandbagged routes lined up for me and we climbed them in full sun getting sunburnt and bloodied on the coarse crystals. Hard rain (3 pitch 22) was the warm up followed by Ring a ding ding (24 going on 26) then Body Heat (techy arête 24) then the project. The project is an amazing crack, which is unlike the rest of the climbing at Mt Buffalo. It is water polished so you don’t have to worry about losing skin to the crystals. It is also quite short and steep. Only 10m of climbing starting off a ledge is difficult. In total about 14 sustained moves in a 25-30 degree overhanging crack makes it a power endurance test piece.

 

Nearing the top of the brutal Ring-a-ding-ding 24. Photo: Malcolm Matheson.

Days 2 and 3 went by with more time on the project and we managed to get the moves wired on top rope with some linkage. We had also thrown ourselves at a short bouldery 29 called Gondwanaland, which Zac managed to send in a day. I would have to wait for a second day on at the end of the trip to send it.  We wondered about the grade of the project so went off to compare it to the hardest route currently at Mt Buffalo and what is most likely the hardest pure crack in Australia, The Great Shark Hunt (30). Day 4 on the trip was spent Bush bashing up and down gullies to find the line. When we did find it we wondered on how to get to the top to rap in and inspect it. It would have been easier to go ground up as we ended up on a major rappelling mission from high in the gorge to get down to it from above.

I felt broken on days 5 and 6 yet we threw ourselves at The Great Shark Hunt anyway. It was humid and about 32 degrees so not the best conditions. We floundered around sorting out the moves knowing a cold change was coming in the next few days. I only had 3 shots and Zac just 2. We could hardly move and a two-day rest was in order. I don’t think I’ve punished myself for 6 straight days without resting for a while.

It was 15 degrees and windy after our rest break and the route felt a lot easier. Unfortunately for me there is a stand up reach off a good foothold at the end of the route that I had some trouble with. I fell here, frustratingly close, on my 4^th and 5^th attempts. Zac managed to get the route on his 4^th attempt. Another day on and a change of beta utilising some higher, but worse, foot holds and I sent the route too.

 

Stem rest half way up The Great Shark Hunt. Photo: Malcolm Matheson.

We went back to the project. A week and a half of climbing had worn us down and we were definitely tired. I had one more amazing day where I sent Gondwanaland in the morning and then got very close to a clean top rope lap of the crack project in the afternoon. After that I was stuffed. The next morning, which was our last day, I managed to climb 4m up a grade 20 called Sultanz and had to bail. My body and mind were done. Zac and I bailed on the afternoon project session and called it a successful trip beginning the drive home.

Comparing the Great Shark Hunt to the project we decided the project was significantly harder. We both did the Great Shark Hunt relatively quickly but didn’t quite manage a tope rope lap on the project during the whole trip. Leading and placing on the project will be harder again. I am looking forward to our return to finish it off, as I am sure it will become a classic test piece.

Slideshow 30th January at City Summit!

Yangshuo - Fall 2015

I was really excited about a month of sport climbing after a year of jamming my fingers into cracks. I wasn't that excited about my lack of crimp strength though. To make things worse I had done most of the routes that suited me on previous trips and passed over all the ones I found reachy. So no crimp strength and reachy routes I found hard.

Jack Masel from Perth joined Hong Kong Will and I for the month, strong and fit, straight from the gym. It was obvious from the start of the trip he would be the one throwing down on this trip. Jack had never sent 8b/31 and I knew that Lightning at Lei Pi Shan was one of the best I had ever done so that was the target for him. I mentioned before the trip to him to get really fit and learn to rest on a jug in the gym. The moves by themselves wouldn't be a problem.

Its business time. Forget the pump, remember your sequence and pull down on the crimps!
Jack on Lightning 8b at Lei Pi Shan. Photo: Myself.

After climbing Single Life 8a which is the first half of Lightning 8b, being able to recover on the jug is key to sending the full rig. Here Jack executes the relaxed knee bar rest position perfectly. Photo: Myself.

There was a lot of rain during the trip with the cool dry November conditions never really eventuating so we ended up crag hopping to wherever was dry. Sometimes we went to Lei Pi Shan for Lightning even when it was wet so Jack could work the moves and increase linkage anyway. I started out on a 7c+ called Kill the Boss which gave me a lot of trouble. I really wasn't even moving in the right way for sport climbing. Will had decided to start working one of my routes from a previous trip called Silent Snow (Named and bolted by Duncan Brown) with the intention of linking it into an 8a extension (No Garanty) accessed via Papercut (Another route of mine from a previous trip).  These routes had soaking holds in some sections but we worked them with the intention of sending them when things dried up.

Trying hard on Kill the Boss 7c+, Lei Pi Shan. Photo: Jack Masel.

We also hit up White Mountain and Riverside crags which were drier than most and Jack proved his fitness with a flash of Gin and Tonic 8a. I tried Chinaclimb 8c/b+ which I bolted in 2006 but couldn't hold the small crux crimp due to my appalling crimp strength. This was a move I had done without much trouble at the beginning of the year before my crack climbing binge. Will got to work on Axeman 8a which was one of his trip goals.

We spent one day at Moon Hill and I managed to snap this shot of Will being lowered of Moonwalker 7c.

Other than Jack throwing down on everything up to 8a there wasn't a lot of success going around on the wet routes. Jack and I were staying at my friend Abonds Hotel and Abond had mentioned to me he had his drill and 100 bolts ready to go. I got excited and started talking with Abond about a cave you can see on the way to Lei Pi Shan. We had actually both looked at it in 2012 but hadn't managed to find a way to access it. A scooter mission later on Abonds new Vespa we had found a tunnel under the highway that had blocked our access. The cave is awesome and called Field Cave (rough translation). It had a guy living in it who spoke no Mandarin so no one could talk to him. We gave him a packet of cigarettes to win him over and started bolting.

View from the back of the cave. Photo: Karma.

Spying a line while looking at the pockets which would become the crux of Outcast 7c+/8a.
With Raul Sauco. Photo: Karma.

Lots of real estate to bolt here. Photo: Karma.

The outcast returning home for the day. Photo: Karma.

Time flew by during the trip and before we new it there was only a week to go. The last week was definitely the best with slightly dryer cold conditions and that translated into some successful ascents. Jack cruised Lightning seeming more relieved than excited and I managed to find my way up No Garanty. In the following days we both cruised a bunch of 8as and I managed to get the FA of an awesome route I had bolted in the cave. I named it Outcast after the guy living there. Hong Kong Will fought his way up Axeman as well. Success all around.

Setting up for the crux throw of Outcast at The Field Cave. Photo: Lee Sam Sukmoo.

Catching the crux move on Outcast. The grade is up for debate 7c+/8a.
Photo: Lee Sam Sukmoo.

Now i have made it back to Perth and Cobra Crack is at the forefront of my mind. 6 months of work and training and Ill be back hopefully stronger than before.

Little Bastard 8a. Last day bonus send at White Mountain. Photo: Connor Dickinson.