Was it surprising that Alastair and Eamonn put up a trad climbing trip to the Wolgan Valley, barely a week after our pilgrimage to the hallowed walls of Mt. Arapiles? If you’ve met Alastair McDowell, then no, it isn’t. The one and only crack connoisseur was keen to head back to Newnes (location of the Semester 2 2015 Boree Log) and slaughter some sizzling splitters.
The plan was to leave Sydney at 10PM on Friday night as most of the crew had other engagements. A couple of hours before we were due to depart, Bobby C wasn’t feeling too well and had to bail. This unfortunate turn of events reduced the self-proclaimed Crack Whores to Ewa S, Eamonn C, Alastair M and myself. Alastair was first to be picked up. As he came out of the house with all his gear, I noticed he was bringing his new mountaineering boots as well as his ice axes and crampons. Puzzled, I am asked him what he planned to do with them. With a grin on his face, he said, “We’re going ice climbing in the Wolgan”.
After encountering a more-than-tipsy UNSWOC member on the pick-up rounds, we were on our way to the Wolgan. As psyched as I was to head out and climb, I was not looking forward to the crappy corrugated road that leads to Newnes Campground. We took it nice and slow but still had several close calls with a couple of kangaroos and wombats. If you’re heading out that way in the dark, take care and keep an attentive co-pilot on standby (thanks Eamonn!).
The morning started early, and after smashing a solid brekkie of muesli on oats and tea, we set off down the road to Coke Ovens cliff. We headed up a steep hill to the cliff face. Alastair’s Death Stairs training had evidently paid off – just as the rest of us were stumbling up to the top of the hill, he’d flaked the rope and harnessed up. It was obvious he was going to slay the beautiful splitter that is Sizzler (first pitch, 19) like any self-respecting crack climber should. A striking line, Sizzler is a jamming tour de force that takes you from hand jams to fist jams to an awkward offwidth/comfortable layback.
Sizzler’s crux is just a couple of metres above the ground (as Alastair would say, “a bit stiff off the deck”). Transition from solid holds at the base of the rooflet to a hand jam whilst keeping your feet high. Alastair chucked his crack gloves on, placed a cam in above the overhang and committed to the moves. His jam gave way and he took the trad fall he’d been waiting for. His second attempt at the crux was successful and he started to burn up the crack like a mad dog.
Sizzler is the perfect example of how hand size can make or break a crack for a climber. Ewa found the crack above the crux to be too wide for a solid hand jam, whilst Eamonn and Alastair struggled to fit their whole hand in. On the other hand, that section of crack was a perfect hand jam for me, but I later struggled on the middle section as I had to flare my fist to get a good jam. That being said, Sizzler is a must-do for all wannabe crack climbers out there (Mike Law famously soloed it up and down when he was 15!).
In the meantime, Eamonn and I alternated leads on Grunter (16). Eamonn led it in fine style, making good use of the crack. The last couple of metres are slightly unnerving as the crack flares out and the climb gets quite slabby. Eamonn handled the pressure well.
Ewa and Alastair then moved onto Cactus (18, 86m). A long finger crack corner, Cactus was a sustained climb that required stemming and finger-locks. On the second pitch, Alastair came down with summit fever and couldn’t help himself from linking the last three pitches together into one 60m rope-stretcher to the top of the cliff. Ewa thoroughly enjoyed all sixty metres of finger crack, which for her thinner digits translated into bomber hand jams all the way.
Alastair recommended the first pitch of Mirrorman (16) for Eamonn and I. The lead was a bit intimidating but satisfying. Transition from a layback (crux) to a hand jam crack and make your way up to a pedestal. The last 5 metres required me to climb up a pedestal to a bolt belay. I was already a little bit run out and there was little pro so I opted to chimney up the crack to the pedestal. I found two carrots on the pedestal but realised I’d forgotten to take bolt plates. Whilst I was taking wires off the rack to use on the carrots, I accidentally dropped one of Eamonn’s brand new DMMs into the crack. Whoops! Luckily, Eamonn was able to retrieve the nut and we sacrificed some bolt plates and maillons to rap down.
We then swapped partners. Ewa belayed Eamonn up Organ Grinder (14), which, according to his account, can only be described as a thrutchy, desperate but classic Mikl Law sandbag that involved a lot of stemming and awkward body positions. The crack within the crack made for some interesting positions as you squeeze your body in the first crack and jam your hands and feet inside the smaller one. And despite the sometimes fragile rock quality, it was fairly well protected; no need to run it out like a champion. The route was long and finally overcoming a crack big enough to fit some toes, you reach the belay – a tree with a heap of slings on it
I seconded Alastair on The Knuckle (19), a searing finger crack line that consists of three pitches. The second pitch (crux) was an especially ballsy lead as Alastair moved from the finger crack into an undercling and around a blind corner into the unknown. Thankfully, there were jugs…
With the daylight petering out, my shocker of a day became even worse. After rapping down off The Knuckle, I looked at my gear loop and went limp. I realised I only had my left shoe on me. Damn. I’d left my right shoe on the ledge at the top of The Knuckle. So if anyone wants to climb an awesome finger crack, please do and get my shoe back!
But the day wasn’t quite over! Alastair quickly donned his new Himalayan-worthy La Sportiva boots and went ice climbing in the Wolgan, as promised. Satisfied, we left the beautiful Newnes campground and proceeded to down some well-deserved ice cream and Oak.
Thanks to Alastair and Eamonn for organising the trip, and bigchris for showing us how a trip report should be done.