Beginners Climbing Trip Report 13.05.17
The morning began with Abi and Felix loading up Abi’s eggshell blue ride full of gear. They arrived at the crag first and ventured to the Southwest area of Barrenjoey to start setting up top ropes. Some of us had slightly longer sleep ins, and our punishment was that we had to wade through the rising tide to reach the crag. Finally, wearing sandals as approach shoes paid off.
The day began with Felix leading a supposed two star 14. It was run out but Felix seemed unphased, even when we realised he was not on the 14 and had just climbed a random line. Unfortunately, it was not tope rope-able. This would be the story with several of the climbs – turns out, taking beginners climbing at Barrenjoey is not straightforward.
Luckily, we had eight leaders and soon the crag was full of top ropes. There were some easier trad routes to introduce the newbies to the perverse joy of crack climbing (Pledge a Ledgend (14), Crack of Dawn (15)), and some harder trad (Tangerine Dream (16)), Womb to Tomb (17)) and sport (Mode (16), Benign (19), Sweet Heart (23)) routes to introduce them to the beauty of thin, desperate slab.
There were many heroic leads - Manon placing a BD #6 on a sport route; Felix leading a trad 17 with a "22 start"; Abi climbing and downclimbing 3 times for extra gear; Nicola reaching for the 8m high first bolt on the thinnest 18 known to humankind.
The consensus about Barrenjoey was “sandbagged AF.” Lots of moist, sandy rock, high first bolts and run outs as well. But, if ever the horrifying rock faces became too much, you just had to turn around and enjoy the 10/10 ocean viewz. When you reached the top of climbs you could see poor, unfortunate people staring up at you from their yachts, wishing they could trade places with you.
For many, it was their first day out on real rock. For others, this was a second or third exposure. Everyone quickly picked up the skills of tying in, and top rope belaying. Sunny weather and nice supportive vibes made it a lovely day out for all.
As the sun started to go down, so did the top ropes. Again, not straightforward, due to all the carrot bolts. Luckily, there was always a nice solid tree nearby when you needed one to rap off.
The day ended with an ocean dip in the dark, to wash off all the blood, sweat and sand. Gear was packed, and some of the crew reassembled at the st peteys pub.
Thanks to Abi for herding all us cats, hauling gear around, and being such a good manager! And thanks to all the other trip leaders who made the day easy and super chilled. And finally thanks to the newbies who came along, lost some skin and had a crack at some crack.
Oh and shout out the many folks who were doing some weeding and crag care! We appreciate you!