more b-joey

Well, the sun was out so Serge & I headed back up to the good ol' barrenjoey for our climbing fix... We're all loving the days getting longer now that spring has sprung - we only started climbing at 3pm but still managed 3 climbs with all the mucking about...

Serge led out warm up on 'Mike's Cop-out' (10) for a nice start to the arvo;
(sorry for the dodgy iphone pics!)

Happy at the top!

After that, I felt like stepping up my (rather weak) game and decided to have a crack at Marsupial Smearer (18)... 18 is pretty much my limit (soft i know!) and it pretty much showed. It's nice to have the crux 1m off the ground, so I fiddled around until I thought I had it dialed and shot up! using a totally different sequence to what I was thinking, but hey - it worked. I rushed up, clipped the first bolt and realised I hadn't thought past it, looked around whilst clinging to tiny crimps (tiny for my fat fingers!) and ... slumped onto the draw. It's amazing what 30 seconds of hanging around on a climb can do - I leapt back on and found the right moves and the next thing I knew, I was clipping bolt 2! Happy days... I then moved to the sloping crack, plugging gear like mad, finding the climbing easy - back in my element, chunky! Next thing I knew I was only a mantle and a step-up to the anchors... I was pretty stoked to tell the truth, but now I'm pretty motivated to get back up there and get it clean! So I got to the top and...

"BELAY ON!" (mmmm cheesy!)

...and Serge cleans

I like this shot, looks far steeper than I remember!

We topped out right as the sun set

So, with the sun setting, we thought it'd be a good idea to head up another, this time 'Tropico' (15) for Serge...

At 15, his hardest lead on gear yet, so he was pretty stoked. By the time I followed it was pretty much dark in the undergrowth so I was feeling for holds and hoping not to find any funnelwebs so I powered up and we rapped off stat! After jamming our gear into our packs we scooted off in the dark using Serge's phone for a light... it was pretty bright - it shone bright enough to light up the rock he slipped on, his bag overbalancing him and he rolled his ankle over! This widened my view of german vocabulary! He was not impressed! Hopefully the frozen peas we chucked on it will do the trick and we'll hammer Mt Boyce together next week. Fingers crossed!

Back to Barrenjoey!

I love Barrenjoey! It's location is unbeatable, the rock is great, the climbing is plentiful in my grades, you can surf/swim after climbing and it's only a short drive from Manly! I could go on. And on, but you get my point... So, winter is pretty much over so Barrenjoey is getting warmer to climb at again and dries out nicely now so Dave, Mike & Serge joined me on Friday for a leisurely 11am departure from Manly - much nicer than our recent 6:30am kick-offs for the blueys! With a pie in our bellies we were walking up the beach by about midday - basking in the warm sun, I was surging with anticipation of getting back on rock at my local favourite.

We made the lunch rock our base/lounge room and warmed up on Carrie Bradshaw (14) on which Serge set a top-rope for the rest of us. It felt great to introduce Mike to the magic of climbing outdoors in such a location and after he lowered off CB, it was clear that he was hooked!

Serge on point -Carrie Bradshaw (14)

Dave - all smiles as usual

Serge & I left the others to climb on in that area and set off to scope out something for Serge as he was pretty much frothing at the mouth to lead some more trad - he has definitely got a taste for it now... He chose Orgasmic (11) and dispatched it in great style, grinning the whole way up, I then cleaned it and we left a top-rope for Dave & Mike who had by then joined us.

Serge just about topping out on Orgasmic (11)

me cleaning

"ROPE!"

Dave has a crack

mmmmm thrutchy

Next on the menu was the straight forward arete that goes straight up to the right from the Orgasmic belay, since I'd be staring at it whilst belaying Serge I figured that it'd go quite easily with gear so I launched up with Dave's belay and found it rather poxy for the first few meters then the choss petered out and the protection improved just in time for a fun top out move that thankfully made it worthwhile. Meanwhile, Serge climbed the slab next door - Benign (16). Whilst Mike was attempting this he decided where Dave & I had just climbed looked far easier so he bailed on Benign and headed for our new route which we then decided to call Mike's Cop-out (10) in his honour! And, with Mike being Mike, he was thoroughly stoked.

We then realised that time really does fly when having fun so we had to bail, but not until I climbined Benign to retrieve our gear. It's not a bad climb - and that's saying something as I'm not all that wild about slabs, but I am trying to improve on them so I was quite happy with the climb. Anyway, another bloody great day out with great mates in the sun on the rock!

Mike is clearly not that impressed with his day out...

back to Mt York again!

Well, after hitting Mt York on Wednesday I headed back up into the mountains again on Friday, this time with Maria, Serge & Nadine... I somehow dug Maria out of bed at dark O'clock so we could beat the traffic and we found ourselves scoffing pastries in Katoomba in no time! We made our way out to Mt York again as we needed a mix of easy trad & some sport. We started off on the lovely corner crack 'The Obituary' (14**) which I led & set a top-rope on. It was good to have Maria out on rock again, I think she enjoyed it and it looked like she was in good form too! She must be happy to have her old shoes back with rubber on them...
Serge & I then climbed the large block to the left of the obit - 'CC Rider' (15). Definitely the strange climb of the day (and short), but fun in a strange way with a cool thread for pro above a couple of ordinary bolts.
After lunch we headed down to the Mezzaluna area to chase the sun but this spot was just too exposed to the frigid westerly that was blowing so we retreated back to the top. The girls decided they were done and left for coffee whilst Serge had an urge for more trad so we headed down 'galactic gully' and climbed 'Snap' (12) - not a bad gear route at all, good pro and some fun moves belie the grade of 12. With that done, we raced back to Sydney for a lovely dinner out on the town. A great end to a great week - I'm now back at work and hope to get out on rock again next Friday with the boys then the following week, Serge & I are planning a trad assault on Mt Piddington, then we hope to get our multi-pitch thang on Mt Boyce & maybe Heathcliff too if all goes our way!
I took a camera out this time so there's plenty of pics!

The Obituary (14) **

You need your head in the right place to climb trad... where's mine??

Serge following/cleaning my mess

Maria on belay

Nadine on the obit

Maria's turn

The block CC Rider goes up

Me on CC Rider

and I'm on belay for once!

...whilst Serge dances with shadows

Maria heading up CC Rider

Nadine about to top out

Mt York with some Rockies

As the weather is (supposedly) starting to warm up, I've been getting all excited about getting out climbing again! Managed to convince two strangers that it was a good idea to head out for a day at Mt York in the Blueys... The three of us braved a chilly NW breeze and had a great time! My highlight of the day was a contest between the cherry danish I picked up in Katoomba, finally getting on (& up) Mezzaluna and the wonderful company of other like minded people! Yep, it was a real tough day out...
I forgot my camera but Chelena had the presence of mind to bring hers and was kind enough to let me use her shots :) thanks! (thats why there's lots of shots of me...)

Having a play rope-swinging after lowering off Noodle (15)... it's good to have a relaxed belayer!

This and the following few are of me launching up Mezzaluna (16)**

I like this one!

Yay! A pic of someone else!... Chelena starting out on Mezzaluna.

All in all a great day out and I'm very thankful for the great company, it's always nice to meet new folks to climb with.