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19 December, 2006 Two ropes and too many climbers! Despite 5 of the crew owning top rope gear, it seems we still need more rope. A flood of backpackers (3 crazy German girls and 1 Dutch lad) escaped from Tom’s House of Perversion. Irish, The Duke, Mr Erotica, Big Foot, The Giggler and Gilligan took to climbing GBW (23) and AA (14). The Chad still healing from his spectacular Pulpit Inversion decided not to further injure himself, but showed up to say G’day to all. The Teacher is on holiday’s. GBW was cleaned by me at least 3 times. Gilligan’s first attempt resulted in him peeling off the crux and leaving a pool of blood on the crimp holds. He retired early with bloodied fingers. The Duke hang dogged his way up. Irish went all over the place trying to overcome the tricky parts. The crux also got the better of Mr Erotica. Bigfoot and The Giggler gave GBW a good attempt. The start moves involving different hand grips was good practice for future climbs. AA was cleaned by Irish and The Duke. AA’s start is still Bigfoot’s nemesis, although he made it through to the first ledge. The Giggler had some troubles at the start but overcame this to find her way up to the first overhang – a washing machine size chunk of rock wedged above a dihedral. The rather uncomfortable position and a few head bangs later, caused her to retreat. According to the Keegan Aggregate*, The Giggler made 80%. The crazy german girls all had a go with some success. The Dutch lad reached the first ledge. This is the last climb before Xmas, so a very merry Xmas to all the crew! Next week we will be back on either Wednesday or Thursday – watch this space! *The Keegan Aggregate: Add height climbed for each route. Divide this by the height of the cliff. Add extra half points for Giggles. Times by a 100 for a percentage. Continue reading betrachten Sie die Ansicht A quiet one, after the Inversion: The Teacher & Gilligan set up on GBW & BB and were soon joined by The Duke, Irish and Bigfoot. Gilligan tried to explain the "Madonna manoeuvre" to get past the crux of BB, but The Teacher proved somewhat resistant to being taught. Irish went a little off-course, bypassing the crux on the right (the 3rd bolt made a good toe hold Gilligan climbed GBW a few times, and The Duke was pleased when he managed to reach the top of that climb for the first time. Irish also attempted GBW, but with less success. Bigfoot worked on the start of GBW and managed to meet Gillagan’s challenge of getting more than 6ft off the ground, although just barely. Continue reading The Madonna Manoeuvre 9-10 December, 2006
It’s been a long time since the last Pulpit trip, January 2006. Since then, just weeks before our latest trip, a bushfire swept through the area. The landscape is now black and brown. The ground and trees are black and stained by the ash. The leaves are all brown. The summit is now a dangerous place where the soil is loose and rocks unstable. Our nemesis Billy Bunter (19) lay waiting for us. Little did we know that on the last day Billy would claim a blood sacrifice and an offering. The Inverted One drew the short straw to lead Billy on that black day.
Trav, Chris, Frank, Tom, Fraser and myself met at the Farm and we all rode in Tom’s 4WD Rodeo to setup a basecamp next to the Pulpit. Fraser followed us up on his trail bike. Keen to jump on the rock, I warmed up on Scorpion (15) to setup a top rope for the others to climb too. I then went around to the sunny side to lead Noisy Nuptial Nights (17), a 45m long single pitch ending 5m just below the summit. This was my second lead on Nuptial’s, and found it much easier going this time round. The crux was handled without any hesitation. I setup a belay station to allow Tom, Trav and Frank up to the summit. Meanwhile Chris and Fraser were coming up via Scorpion for the summit rendezvous. The summit is now a barren landscape due the fire that amazingly blazed its way up the pinnacle. Luckily, the summit log book remained intact in its all weather cannister. We signed the book and did the obligatory summit team photo. The descent was via Scorpion. I down climbed 10m to Scorpion’s belay station to setup the abseil rope and life line between the station and the summit. This allowed the rest to join me (one by one) on the station’s ledge. As each crew member met me at the station, they disengaged the life line and attached to the abseil rope to rappel off the Pulpit. This process continued until the last member was left on the summit, Fraser. He removed the summit anchor and tied to the life line rope and I belayed him as he down climbed to the station. This was a tedious process but the safest option at the time. In the past, we descended via Nuptial’s, but due to the fire the 5m down climb was now a very dangerous scree slope. By now it was 2pm and we broke for lunch. Chris and Fraser made sandwiches and a few celebratory drinks for a good morning of climbing were had at the camp site. Despite the relaxation, we soon went back for more climbing. Not Happy Mel
I convinced Tom to do his first lead and Scorpion was a good route for this introduction to leading. Meanwhile, Chris, Trav and Fraser were going to workout on Billy Bunter (19) – a climb known for being very pumpy and claiming lots of whippers from the crew. A nemesis for everyone. Tom had earlier top roped Scorpion with ease but the mind game of leading was now embedded. Despite an easy scramble to the 1st bolt, it lays 10m from the ground. And I was belaying 5m from the ground The Brothers Grimm
While I was belaying Tom, I poked my head around the corner to see an amazing sight: Trav was just topping over to the ledge that marked the end of the Billy Bunter climb and he was on lead! I yelled congratulations to Trav for nailing that bastard climb. Trav setup the climb for top rope and was punching the air with elation as he was lowered off. Good going Trav! Tom and I joined the rest of the crew to watch Fraser and Chris work the route on top rope. Fraser’s height seemed to give him the advantage for the high bomber holds despite them being slopers. The crux (above the 3rd bolt) claimed Chris, but he overcame this obstacle to tick this climb too. Trav still pumped, went up again (on top rope) and I watched his bridging or stemming techniques used as if it were second nature. Meanwhile, Frank seemed happy to be the camp bitch and took care of preparing dinner. Tom and I joined him at base camp. From here we heard a scream, "Fuck! Fuck!". It was Fraser. Looking towards the rock I could just make out Fraser on the cliff. Later, I was told Fraser was working out on The Brothers Grimm (20), a very hard overhung climb. He had just gone for a dead point and was expecting to peel off. The dead point meant he had only one chance to make it stick or you’ll start peeling off the wall. Amazing himself, he stuck and screamed out in pure elation that he pulled it off.
Put another log on the fireDespite the devastating effects of the bushfire that nearly wiped out the Pocknee Farm, we started a big fire. Big is an understatement. After a lovely dinner, Chris stoked the fire with logs. Not satisified, Fraser disappeared into the darkness only to return with a tree trunk. Not a small tree mind you, a 4m long and 60cm trunk of hardwood. He simply just dragged it on top of the fire. This fire would burn for 4 days we reckoned if left unattended. We swapped stories of the days climbing adventures and spoke of Tom’s Thai fantasies (catching Krabi’s, downtown Bangkok and Phuket please I’m a Kiwi). One by one we went to sleep. Fraser being the last person standing (stumbling) decided to jump on his trail bike and rev the shit out of it – sounding the end of the days proceedings. Thanks Fraze, you crazy fucker! The Inverted One
Sunday morning we woke early to see rain in the distance. It seems every time we camp under the stars (ie. no tents), we get rained on. Within five minutes we had secured the camp site with tarps to protect our gear. Rain did come in the form of a 10 minute drizzle. Not enough to damped the rock or our spirits. Breakfast was cooked by Fraser and we were slowly gaining enough enthusiasm to get back on the rock. Today we decided to lead up Billy Bunter. Then use the belay station to second the next climber up and into the cave further left. Here another belay station was available for us to setup another top rope over Rumpelstiltskin (21). That was the plan anyway. We just needed a volunteer to perform the lead up Billy. Trav reluctantly put his hand up. Chris belayed Trav up to the third and last bolt. The next three or four metres to the belay station was the crux. Holds become slopers and the rock slightly overhung. Trav rested a bit before passing his last piece of protection. He easily made the moves to grab the bomber sloper hold and proceeded to go straight up. Down below we all had the thought that Trav was somehow going off route, he should be traversing slightly left aiming for the belay station. He kept going up until he was 3.5m above the last pro, and level with the belay station – but of course he was now off route. Trav realised his dilemma and could not hold on any longer to either traverse left or even attempt an impossible downclimb. He yelled to Chris, "I’m losing it! You got me? I’m going to come off!". I watched Chris as he prepared his stance and readied his braking hand for the imminent fall. We all watched Trav in anticipation. It was going to be a big whipper! Fraser was ready with his camera to capture the action.
Trav let go. Chris quickly fed in rope to reduce the slack and minimise the falling distance. Trav was now falling fast. 1 metre. 2 metres. 3 metres. 3.5 metres. Passes his last (3rd) pro. 5 metres. 6 metres. The 2nd pro flies past. Now the last pro kicks in. Trav’s descent slows momentarily. The dynamic nature of the rope takes the force of the impact and Trav falls an extra metre. He stops abruptly. Chris is now yanked off the ground. Trav lands near a ledge but the sudden stop and the great fall distance means his centre of gravity is too low. He becomes inverted. Surprised, Trav attempts to break the fall with his left hand. Not enough time. His left elbow takes most of the impact and then quickly pulling his arm in he uses his hand to complete the full stop in motion before anything else makes contact. Too late, his head takes some of the impact (thank god for the helmut). His back touches the ledge. All this happened in a matter of seconds. Trav is dangling upside down.
There was silence as Trav quickly realigns himself to be upright. "FUCK! FUCK!", Trav yells clutching his arm. "FUUUCCCKK!", he slams the rock with his good hand. Someone asks Trav if anything is broken. He does a quick check, there is blood seaping from his elbow and hand. He’s seems to be intact. Chris lowers him down. Tom races back to camp to fetch the first aid kit. A quick inspection of Trav reveals a small gash on his elbow and some skin hanging off his palm. Tom returns and administers aid to his wounds. Good work "Doc" Tom! Understandably Trav is a bit shook up and is pumped full of adrenaline. Witnessing this, we did not want to climb anymore. But we still had three pieces of gear on the rock. We had only two real options: Finish leading the climb or replace the last piece of gear with a biner therefore sacrificing this to the Pulpit. No one was prepared to finish the lead. Being Chris’ gear, he was forced to clean the climb to the third bolt and replace it with the disposable biner. Chris did this and then Tom did the climb (to the third bolt) on top rope. Climbing was over for the weekend. Despite this, Trav certainly deserves the Man of the Pulpit award for this season. Strong climbing, gutsy effort, fearless approach and above all taking one for the team! I think we’ll all learn from this: wear a helmet on lead, wear a helmet on belay (at the Pulpit), suss out the route above the next bolt and have a first aid kit handy. For more photos see the gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/meltaxa/ThePulpitInversion Continue reading The Pulpit Inversion 5 December, 2006 Another good turn out by the crew: Red, The Chad, The Duke, Irish, Crazy German Girl, The Teacher, The Giggler, Bigfoot, Gilligan and myself. I lead Love Hurts (23) to setup a TR. Then followed this up with another lead on Surrender (19). Cruised up both with ease. Red was encouraged to do his first lead of Surrender. The wobbles set in just after the 1st bolt and saw him come off. Then some wrong moves on the crux saw him come off again. Still determined Red clipped the last bolt but the exit to the chains was too exhausting and he decided to bail. Some mind games to deal with going forward on his next lead. The Duke was convinced to clean the climb. Passing the last clip he was technically on lead. He hesitated a little on the chimney but cleaned the climb to setup the TR. Gilligan and The Teacher arrived to setup TR on G&M (22) and Olos (15/21RHF/25theSlab). Gilligan cleaned G&Ms with ease. The Teacher conquered the same despite a fall on the crux. They both worked Surrender and Love Hurts on TR with ease. When are you guys going to lead it? The Chad worked Love Hurts and finally found the right moves to conquer the crux: smearing the wall and stemming with the right hand to switch it to the overhang for the final layback pull. The Chad was keen to lead Surrender, but a busted BCC light made it too dark for leading. Instead The Chad cleaned Surrender on TR. Irish went up Olos and bravely did the leap of faith traverse onto the slabs headwall. Irish then attempted Love Hurts and with some effort arrived at the crux. The hard moves here proved too much for Jimeoen the Redskin. The Giggler laybacked her way up Surrender’s start. During her battle there where a few giggles which soon turned into a slapping match with the rock. At this stage, the slap backfired: Rock 1, The Giggler 0. But settled the score eventually to jump onto the ledges and move further up the route. The traverse onto the wall proved too taxing by the time she reached this height. The Giggler then attempted G&M’s. Despite the grade (22), The Giggler got half way up the route. At the end of the night she reasoned that she climbed a full route (1 half route + another half route = 1 full climb up the cliff). My year long promise to conquer the Olos Slab (25) saw a major improvement last night. Finally the start moves to get onto the wall were sussed out. A finger lock, a crucial toe hold and lots of determination and grit saw me stem like mad to reach the 2nd bolt (about half way up the wall). Although I got some assistance from Gilligan my belayer and lots of hang dogging there is 1 more move to work out before comfortably reaching the headwall where I’m sure more problems will present themselves. Odds are now 25-1, but running out of weeks before the Olos Slab falls! I already know what the next promise (2007) will be: to do it clean. Then the obvious promise (2008) after that: just like Brisbane Bitter (24), I will lead it (stick clip that first bolt though). Bigfoot’s break from climbing saw him on the Olos corner learning to smear and layback up the great crack. Then he jumped straight into the deep end and attempted Love Hurts. The 1st bolt move involving a high leg up maneuver coupled with a push away from the wall seemed unnatural at this time. Love Hurts does involve some unorthodox technical moves which goes against natural instincts, especially the crux where the first instinct is to go all arms to try an overcome the overhang. Instead the legs and layback is the key. The Crazy Germain Girl waited patiently for her climb on the Olos corner. With some guidance from Irish she reached the last part of the corner. A good gutsy effort (crazy Germans). During the night we witnessed even crazier stunts: Gollum the free soloist going up several climbs in a row. When he reached the top, he would then down climb a route nearby! "Pfft, but can he do the Olos slab without rope?", said one of the crew. Irish can you send us your piccies of the night please? –Mel Continue reading Gollum the free soloist The Velcro Incident. We finally received our new toys from Canada. Thanks Rachie & Dave! Red is sporting 7 shiny Black Diamond Quicksilver draws. The Giggler bought a Black Diamond Primrose harness package (incl. biner, chalk & bag and a belay device). I told the Giggler on Friday that she must wear in the harness and accessories just like you would shoes. So on the weekend she did just that and experienced a Velcro incident (I’ll let the Giggler explain it in her own words). The Duke has a Gri-Gri which matches his Ducati colour. I also got a (blue) Gri-Gri. Red: As you know you need 8 bolt plates (extra in case you drop one). Get a couple of 90 degree angle brackets too. The Duke does not need a Figure 8 – I have three in my possession. Re-soles: A number of us require resoles. Try and get them done ASAP – takes about 10 days and the Pulpit trip is in a couple of weeks! Take them to K2 or Kathmandu – tell them you want Kenny to do them (he is local). Blisters in the Sun. Tonight we were missing Faz, who is off marking maths exams. Crazy German girl hog tied Irish on a pig spit and baked him in the sun over the weekend. Irish now has 3rd degree burns on his back and front. Stoopid Irish. Probably won’t see ‘em for a few weeks until his skin grows back. See a doctor Irish and get the doc to graft your butt cheeks on your back or chest Ledges of Death. I lead Brickies Butt Crack (17) to setup a top rope. Red topped over but by the end of the night had no energy spare to practice a lead on this route. Nice went up next and nailed the face start and then proceeded to the first ledge (of death). The traverse proved tricky and saw her take her first outdoors fall – a good fright to get the adrenaline pumping, but a textbook fall (if there is such a thing). Nice passed the ledge to arrive at the orange wall. She ran out of juice about three quarters up the orange wall. No fear of ledges, no giggling and hang dogging on the rope will see her surpass the Giggler in 3 weeks (the Gigglers words). The Giggler giggled her way up Brickies, only stopping on the ledge for a good 15 minutes of giggling. During which time, The Chad and I swapped belay duties. Snake Mantle. Eventually Mr Erotica set up on Snakes in the Grass (16/20) only after been told numerous times to do it straight away before it gets taken. Most people did the mantle which is the crux (hence the grade of 20). The rest is not worth doing after conquering the crux. The Giggler stopped just below her Evil Black Ledge of Death. Solo <—> oloS. And I thought no one was listening when I promised that the Olos Slab (25) would fall by the end of 2006. Well guess what we are setting up on til it falls! The Chad is taking 50-1 bets. Its looking like a winner for the bookie at the moment. Gilligan, Mr Erotica, The Chad, The Duke and Red did Olos (15/21). Most cleaned it and others took the variant head wall finish, a much more interesting finish. Crimes & Surrender. Uneventful from my point of view. There was no retreat from Surrender (19). Everyone who climbed it (The Chad, Red, Mr Erotica, Gilligan, the Duke and I), cleaned it. However, the crux of Crimes and Misdemeanors (22) still proved to be my nemesis. Got a little higher, but the one finger dimple hold could not hold me up there long enough to pop my right foot higher to position myself for the next desperate finger hold. Damn you trash talkers! I heard you all bagging me. The Grasshopper is quite proud of my trash talking disciples. However, it wasn’t enough to get me off the crux – my only response was a "Grrr"
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but his perseverance paid off and he managed to reach the top. That seemed like a good place for him to have a conversation on his mobile phone – I don’t know where he got that idea from, Mel! 
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