After the hot day on Friday, Saturday
cooled off to about 32 Celsius, and, in the morning and in the shade,
it was tolerable to climb. I picked another long rambling easy route
and planned to lead all the pitches as I am trying to get lots of
leading time in. We started off on Spiral Staircase (8), on the
Pharos relatively early, as the guidebook indicates it has early
morning shade. It was shady right up until the last two pitches,
which go pretty quickly so we didn't feel baked at all. Pitch one is
a long pitch up a buttress and is mostly easy except for a few moves
on steeper terrain. I was wearing my really old and totally worn out
rock shoes that I bought for our climbing trip to El Portero Chico
three years ago. Climbing the crux of the route, I instantly decided
it was time to go look for some new rock shoes - a task I had been
putting off since we arrived at Mount Arapiles. Pitch two is a
scramble, pitch three, I let Doug lead as I had led it before when we
climbed The Shroud (these two routes share the same finish), and, I
led pitch four up to the summit.
We rappelled off down into the cool
gully on the back of The Pharos in time to see a strong European
climber working a hard sport route. There is a peculiar grace about
good climbers that I always try to emulate, never successfully.
Mostly (?always) they are also very strong with good core strength
and body tension.
I have been meaning to climb a few
chimneys at Arapiles as, like most people, I really don't like
chimneys. I'd picked a chimney (grade 6 only) around the back of The
Pharos which the guidebook calls "a good chimney for the grade."
And, it is. I really liked it, but I totally muffed it. I climbed
all the way up to the crux and had lots of good gear, but, when it
came time to seriously chimney I baulked and climbed all the way back
down again. Doug went up and finished the climb, but, I actually
think I, on second, had an easier time than him as I am short and
fitted in better. I'll have to add it to my list of routes to go
back and lead. There seemed no point beating myself up for piking
out, so I didn't (I would have in the past).
Doug crawling through the cave on Eskimo Nell
It was feeling pretty hot by then and I
had decided to go look for rock shoes in Natimuk, so we called it a
day. Doug dropped me off at Natimuk where I found a pair of rock
shoes (pricey!) very similar to my old ones and walked back to the
caravan. The guy in the shop got a bit miffed that I wanted to just
try on shoes and work out which ones felt right as he thought it
imperative that I tell him "what kind of climbing I was doing"
so he could recommend a shoe. I always find that a tough question,
especially in Australia where I'm basically climbing anything that is
climbable. It's not like I'm climbing big splitter cracks (there
aren't many) so, I'm basically doing what 98% of climbers do, and
that's climbing whatever is handy. At this stage of my climbing
career (can it be called a career) I pretty much know what I'm
looking for and will know which shoe is right by how it feels.
Anyway, I came away with a pair of shoes, although when I asked if he
had a climbing wall to try the shoes on or if I could try them on the
blocky building across the road, you'd think I'd asked him if I could
take a dump in the shoes. Just another quirky Australianism - I
mean, really, who would want to see how a particular shoe performs
before buying them.
Doug stepping off "the jetty" on Eskimo Nell
Today was gradually warming, and by
afternoon it was actually feeling pretty warm and enervating although
the thermometer didn't climb that high. The sun is just so intense
in Australia. Doug had psyched himself up to lead all five pitches
of Bard - a classic grade 12 - but, when we arrived two parties were
already on the route, and both were looking agonisingly slow. Pretty
much every party we see climbing at Arapiles is incredibly slow.
Perhaps it is the lack of long climbs so that people never learn to
be efficient, or maybe it is because we are on the lower grade
routes. Doug and I aren't particularly fast, and we are continually
astonished by how slow people are. We waited at the base of Bard for
a while, but, the leader of the second party was taking about 15
minutes to arrange a belay and pull the rope up, so it seemed likely
that, as the third party on the route, we would spend a lot of time
waiting. Years ago, we climbed Diedre at Squamish and spent about 45
minutes waiting at each belay for the party ahead of us. We'd climb
a pitch (all three of us) in about 20 minutes, and then we'd wait
until the hour ticked over before we could climb again. Kind of
boring, really.
Anyway, Doug was a bit flustered as he
had not chosen an alternate route, so we walked back to the car and
he flipped through the guidebook. Pretty quickly he settled on Dune
(grade 13 up Dunes Buttress). However, by the time we walked up to
the base of Dunes, another party was just about to start up.
Luckily, Doug's fourth quick pick, Eskimo Nell was right beside Dunes
so we did that instead.
Doug did a great job leading all the
pitches as I think he was a bit discombobulated that things were not
going as planned. I felt awkward and clumpy in my new climbing shoes
which feel completely different to my old ones and didn't seem to
belong on my feet (that'll get better). Doug strung P1 and P2
together as P2 is a short pitch up a grade six gully. Pitch one
looks not too bad, up a big white flake that leans against the wall,
but, looks are deceiving as the first 10 metres are tricky, delicate,
insecure, awkward, and, it's hard to protect. Everything has been
polished by bicycling shoes so it feels hard to trust much of
anything. I found it all a bit desperate on a top-rope. P3 steps
off the right end of a big fin of rock called the "diving
board", and, will be much harder if you aren't right out on the
end of the fin. This pitch is actually lots of fun up a steep black
wall with good holds, protection and rests. We moved the belay
through the crawl through cave and then Doug strung pitches four and
five together. The chimney start on pitch four was again easier for
shorter people, but, I found a few moves, particularly the exit, on
pitch five entertaining.
Doug heading up Eskimo Nell
The lads on Dune were moving at a snails
pace and seemed to spend about half an hour having a long and
involved discussion at the first belay (just below our first belay),
and by the time we had walked half a kilometre to the road, down the
road to the track and then all the way down the track to the car,
they were only just starting up pitch three. The two parties on Bard
were also still doing battle, so, all in all, it only reinforced what
we have been thinking since we arrived - don't get behind other
parties on a route or you'll grow old waiting.
No comments:
Post a Comment