Texan Limestone (part 1)

The following trip took place on the 9th April, 2000.

G'day everyone!

Well I finally managed to get on some US rock yesterday, out at Reimer's Ranch (the most popular of the sport climbing crags in the Austin region). Although I'd expected an early start, Leonie (an Australian who'd I'd got in touch with before leaving Australia), Bryan (student at the University of Texas) and Charlotte (a visiting Dane also studying at the Uni) didn't arrive until 8:30am or so, so I was expecting a slow day, particularly since between the 4 of us we only had a single rope. I guess I'd forgotton how fast sport climbing can be!

After a fairly cruisy 1 hour trip through the "Texas hill country" (lots of low, rolling limestone hills covered in thick scrub) west of Austin, we arrived at the Reimer's house to pay the US$3 entry fee. Unfortunately Mrs Reimer was asking to see everyone's "buttons" (little plastic buttons that are given out when you sign the required waiver). A bit of fast talking got us through, although if I head back next time I'm going to need a button for sure.

The carpark was relatively empty according to Leonie and gang, although with about 15 cars there already, dogs wandering about and people sitting on their packs in the sun, it looked like being pretty crowded to me.

After the usual ablutions etc. (there are chemical toilets set up in the carpark) we started the "heinous" 10 minute walk in. Just beside the carpark is the access gully, a nice little rectangular gully cut into the limestone. It varies between 2 and 3 metres deep and is about 5 metres wide, with an almost flat bottom (very unlike a Blueys gully!). It almost looked like it had been dug out by some kind of machinery it was so symetrical!

About 50m down this the first climbing appeared, in a big arching overhang on the right, perched above the lip of a huge cave. At this point you climb down some dirty flowstone formations (beside a small waterfall) onto the floor of the cave. At it's biggest, the roof of the cave is about 10m across, dead horizontal and with little stalactites hanging down here and there. Being pretty much dead blank (apart from the stalactites) there are no climbs punching across the roof itself.

At this point the gully opens out as it meets the river, and the climbing is located on the walls on either side of the mouth of the gully. We decided to head right first, to "Dead Cat Wall", a fairly short (~10m) wall offering a variety of routes between 5.9 and 5.11-.

First up was an unnamed 10m 5.9 (which is generally accepted as being 5.8) towards the left hand end of the wall. A hard-ish move off the ground led to easy climbing, although I found it quite difficult to "read" the rock, given the number of small-scale surface features in the limestone (there are _heaps_ of pockets, flakes, flutes, grooves etc., many of which are of no use whatsoever). I'd give it a 14 or 15, probably 15 given the initial hard move. 3FHs to double FH + maillon lower off.

Next up was another unnamed 10m 5.9 (commonly referred to as "Tree") 8m to the right. This one was quite a bit steeper, but not signficantly harder and had more jugs as well. Probably about grade 16, again with 3FHs and a double chain lower off.

From here we headed around to "Prototype Wall" to have a lash at some of the classics of the crag. First up was "8 Flake", a lovely looking 15m 5.8 flake. A tricky little move off the ground and over a bulge gets to the base of the left facing flake, which is delightfully juggy up for another 5m or so (the crack behind the flake is big enough to hand jam in, and would probably take some good gear - of course the entire thing is bolted with FHs!). At this point the flake disappears into the rock, and a rising traverse 2m right and 2m up gains another little right facing flake/crack to the lower off. This bit was delightful, with some smallish holds, some delicate balance moves to get out of the left facing flake and into the right facing flake and some nice cross throughs etc. between the spaced holds. I'd give this one 2 stars and about grade15 or so. 5FHs to double chain lower off.

Leonie then showed us how it was done on "Prototype" (15m 5.10+), a steep looking number about 20m to the right. She cruised it in bare feet (she can't get her toes into some of the pockets if she wears rock shoes), and looked solid the entire way up. I jumped on next, and found the initial steep bulge surprisingly easy (lots of big jugs), but got kind of stuck trying to gain a little "bridge" of rock about half way up. The stance below was pretty restful so I hung around for a while trying to work out the sequence. Finally, with a bit of a grunt, I did the move and pulled through to a good rest on the bridge. Not really a hard technical move, but hard to suss out exactly what to do. Apparently a lot of people just dyno at that point. From here up the climb steepens up somewhat, being just a touch over vertical, with lots of chalky little incuts for the hands. Although each one is basically a jug, I found them quite greasy and thought I might pop out of a few. Thankfully there's a little cave at the end of this sequence which has a pillar in it that you can wrap your arm around and rest. I didn't hang out here long, since the feet weren't great and I was worried about getting pumped (I found this section pretty pumpy). A couple more hard-ish moves gains the lower offs, although the clipping holds suck, and I wasted quite a bit of energy trying to find better holds to clip off (it turns out there aren't any). Another excellent little route, definitely 2 stars and probably about grade 19. 5FHs to a double chain lower off.

We then wandered back towards the access gully, and stopped at "Strawberry Shortcake Wall", a very short (8m) wall with 5 climbs between 5.7 and 5.10- (all unnamed). With a bit of a smirk Leonie pushed me towards the left hand 5.10- saying something like "we'll tell you where the secret crucial hold is after you've taken the obligatory whipper". Thanks Leonie, that did wonders for my confidence! :-)

Anyway, some hard-ish moves at the start led to a prominent little stalactite undercling at about half height, with a smooth blank bulge above. Apparently I did miss the crucial hold, but the undercling was so good that I could just keep on working my feet up until I could reach through to a flat hold way up high. A match on this, a quick mantle and I was standing on the ledge below the lower off. Despite being short, this little route was definitely worth a star; it had some great moves and was sustained pretty much the whole way up. The way I did it I'd give it about grade 18 or so. Leonie then showed us the "right" way to do it, with a hidden sidepull out to the left making the big reach past the blank section look a lot easier. 3FHs to double chain lower off.

I then jumped on the 5.10- 2m to the right, and found it a bit more straight forward (if a little reachy). Probably about grade 17. And again 3FHs to a double chain lower off.

By this stage everyone was beginning to lose interest. Bryan had had a late night the night before and was looking a bit worse the wear because of it. Charlotte's hands were beginning to ache and I was feeling quite tired as well. I suspect Leonie would have liked to keep on cranking! The sun had also hit the crag, and if I'd thought the rock was a little greasy before, it was bloody slippery now!

To finish off the day we wandered back to "Dr Seuss Wall", to finish up on a slippery 8m 5.9 called "Smitten Psycho". This route starts below a tufa formation just below a small roof near the top of the wall, and this means that it has a lot of water running down it. As a result the move off the ground was really slippery and quite daunting. After a bit of mucking about I finally committed to the move and grunted over the initial bulge and onto the wall. From here the climbing eased right up, with some groovy pinch grips up the tufa and then monster jugs through the roof. About grade 17 (but only about 15 after the start), I thought, with 3FHs and (for a change) a double ring bolt lower off.

At this point we headed back to "Dead Cat Wall", which now resembled a gym (virtually every route was occupied with ropes and people in various positions!). We chatted there for a while with some of the people Leonie, Bryan and Charlotte knew and watched a group of buzzards fly over (I could have sworn they were eagles, but apparently not).

On the way out we watched the local hardman, Tu, cruise "Body Wax", a 5.12 that punches straight up the arching overhang above the big cave on stalactites and a thin flake. We also watched an Australian guy and his girlfriend (can't remember their names!) cruise "Spider Grind" (5.11), a juggy heelhook traverse across the lip of the arching overhang (and a route I'd like to have a go at next weekend perhaps). We chatted with them for a bit (they had climbed at Bowen's Creek, Shipley Upper and Wave Wall late last year) and then called it a day and headed back to Austin.

So what have I learnt so far? That limestone offers a far greater variety of moves in a given piece of rock than sandstone. The rock forms so many more features that there are almost always sidepulls, underclings, jugs, crimps etc. even on a short route. A lot of the holds are really hidden, as in you can reach up for a thin edge thinking it might be a crimp, and it turns out to be a 2 finger pocket that you can sink your fingers into right up to your armpits. I also found that the rock is nowhere near as frictional as Blueys sandstone, and requires a lot more contact strength than I'm used to. Funnily enough, I didn't have too many problems with boot friction on the rock, perhaps because you tend to be standing on sharp edges or fins or whatever that bite into the rubber.

Having got up everything on lead first go, and having some idea of what to expect from the routes and grades, I'm now keen to head back and really gve myself a bit of a push. Lets just hope that I get a break from the training course next weekend!