Mt Piddington / Mt Boyce Trip Report, 1st/2nd August 1998
Mt Piddington, 1 August 1998
Despite the heavy snowfalls of the previous week (the road was cut from Blackheath to Lithgow!), Dave, Rob and I were busting for a climb, and we agreed we were going to the Blueys no matter what. Saturday dawned fine and clear (if a little cold!!), so with the assistance of thermals, beanies, a hot thermos, and a car heater which decided to work for once, we soon found ourselves rolling out of the car at the Mt Piddington carpark. Crunching snow under foot was perhaps not the best sign to start the day, but it was only in patches, and the weather turned out to be glorious, neither a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind being encountered for the whole day.*
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The view from the carpark revealed a blanket of snow on the hills in the distance south of Lithgow, but with only the odd patch on the ground we were not to be deterred.
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The view from the carpark, with Corroboree Walls (60m high) in deep shade below.
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Pretty soon we were all down at the crag, like kids in a candy shop, salivating over which route to do out of all the classics on offer.
SSCC1
Dave and Rod started round on Hocus Pocus (*** 50m 8), while I teamed up with Rob to do SSCC1 (** 35m 14), a classic sharp arete 15m left of that ubiquitous Blueys route, Eternity. My lead, and after starting round left, I moved up to the first gear placement on the arete proper, a narrow horizontal break at about 8m offering a small wire, with another opposing to stop it twisting away. Rob, obviously aware of his role as the "human crashmat" until I got gear in, nervously queried the quality of wires in horizontals, but I deflected the question and got on with climbing instead ;-). Some awesome funky layaway moves led up to another horizontal around 12m, bigger this time, and I slotted a sinker cam, just as the opposing wire below fell out..... I think (ie hope) the remaining one was ok!!
The climbing was just too good to be worried about minor things like pro, and by this point I was having a ball, although after every sequence there was some serious hand-warming going on, both on lead and on belay! It's amazing how quickly you work out the warmest parts of your body against which to warm up cold fingers!! (But this being a family website, I'm not giving away any hints! ;-). More lovely moves up the arete, then the route steps R to a splitter crack up the face, starting with fingerlocks, then handjams, and then offering the most bomber fistjam I have ever placed! (and bearing in mind that I have done Scorpion at Araps, that's not to be sneezed at!). From there up the route chimneys over a large wedged block, then up a lovely airy short arete to a convenient belay and rap station. Rob seconded and also had a ball, and the day was off to a good start!
Faith
Rob's lead next, and he opted for a short ramble up the heavily trafficked route Faith (15m 8), in the Flake Crack area. This route is obviously only popular due to the chains at the top, and the absolute trashing it gets by guided groups. The climbing, however, was fairly mediocre, and the bolt near the top entirely unnecessary (though perhaps not so prior to the advent of cams!).
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Once up Faith, I grabbed a few happy snaps of Dave onsighting Flake Crack (*** 34m 17), as another party finished up Tombstone Wall (** 35m 15) behind him.
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Dave onsighting Flake Crack.
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Traverse of the Gods Direct Start
Rob and I rapped off, and as Dave finished up Flake Crack, I decided to get on Traverse of the Gods Direct Start (* 10m 21). Pretty much a sandbag at the grade I have to say, though after putting the first draw on and sussing the sequence, I did manage to pull off the onsight which I was pretty pleased about. Surprisingly enough, it's not just the first moves which are hard either - there's another hard move to gain the traverse line, so this section really packs a punch for a "21".
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As I continued up the pleasant arete section (shared with Traverse of the Gods (** 30m 18)), Rob took a few happy snaps, and apparently Rod also took some from halfway up Flake Crack, which is the ideal angle to photograph this route from. (Rod, I wouldn't mind a look at your pics one day - drop me an email!!). I got to the belay, then Rob pulled a muscle in his hand on the thin start, so I had to wait for Dave to rap off Flake Crack to come and clean my gear. With nothing better to do, I took a power nap on the ledge in the sun!!
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Me hangin' on the arete after onsighting the direct start.
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Judas/Messiah's Exit Link-Up
After Dave seconded, he and Rod did another route (whose name escapes me), while I decided to have a bash at a route I'd been eyeballing for a long time - Judas (** 35m 18).
With a bouldery start up the arete, this route gets you going right from the start, but thankfully it throws in plenty of good pro too! After negotiating the arete, I slotted a perfect #3 hex in a lovely camming position at the start of the finger crack. Pulling up into the finger crack, initially it felt best to have my left hand and foot in the crack, so I got on with it.
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Me working hard on Judas.
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Soon enough though, it proved necessary to swing around to the left side of the crack, and, with absolutely blank faces either side, it's a section of pure crack climbing all the way to the roof. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I was hungry for more, and so made an on the spot decision to step right into Messiah's Exit (** 35m 18). A great #8 hex protected the roof, and with a few gutsy moves pretty soon I was over the lip and continuing up the headwall, absolutely stoked with onsighting a magnificent 3 star link-up.
Getting into position to pull the crux
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On the headwall above the roof
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With Rob's hand still sore, Dave got to second a classic Blueys finger crack. After a great day out at the crag, we decided to head off for burgers and beers, but soon enough Dave and I got the itch again, and started thinking about a climb on Sunday too. By the time we were back to Sydney, there was no two ways about it, we were definitely going climbing again, the only question was where....
Mt Boyce, 2 August 1998
After a few late night phone calls to ring in a few extras, Sunday morning saw Dave, Greg, Nic and I pulling up at the old Boyce carpark, under the Radar tower. Once again it was bloody freezing in the morning, with the odd patch of snow still hiding in shady patches. Nevertheless, by the time we'd jumped the fence, wandered down, scurried across the railway and continued down to the top of Abseil Gully, the sun was swinging around which, combined with the pleasant walk, had us all starting to thaw out. Although it was the first visit to this crag for all of us, we quickly negotiated the access, found the abseil anchors, rapped in and continued to the base of the crag.
Set, Piece, Battle
While Greg led Dave up Another Man's Juliet (* 50m 17), Nic and I started on Set, Piece, Battle (** 50m 14), one of the trade routes of the crag. After gentle climbing for 30m up an expansive slab, the route blasts directly up a gently overhanging 10m section of gorgeous orange Blueys sandstone. Although a little too profusely bolted, this is nevertheless an outstanding section of climbing, and makes this route a real classic snippet of the Blueys experience. With jugs, sidepulls, underclings and even some optional heelhooks (!!), this section is captivating and incredibly satisfying to climb. The route then continues up a pleasant 10m slab in a lovely airy position to the belay.
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Being on one of her earliest outdoors routes, and her first ever Blueys route, I was a little concerned about Nic negotiating a 10m overhanging section 40m off the deck (!!), but she came through it with flying colours, cruising it without ever looking like needing a rest. In fact, the major difficulty she had to overcome was where to put the bolt plates, in the absence of a chalk bag!
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Nic all smiles 45m off the deck.
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Sweet Irish
Nic and I rapped back down, and then decided to do Sweet Irish (50m 10), another popular route following the right hand arete of the large slab. Although somewhat sparse on gear, this route was pleasant enough, with a spicy 15m run-out to the belay. From here, we got some excellent views of Dave's attempt at Kabul Offensive, aborted at 25m due to no gear!! (The described pitons were nowhere to be seen).
The Girl in the Mirror - Mean Streak Link-Up
While Nic and I went to rap off, Dave retreated and started up The Girl in the Mirror - Mean Streak Link-Up (*** 25m 22, followed by *** 30m 21), another route I had been eyeballing for a long time. Greg was happy enough soaking up the rays on belay, and so Dave was in something of a quandary, as he was using only a 50m rope on a 55m route! I was keen for a bash, so he donwclimbed to 25m then lowered off, and I nervously tied in, aware that this would be my one shot at onsighting one of the all time Blueys classics.
After negotiating the short slab below the roof which protects the start of this wonderful 50m by 60m expanse of superb orange sandstone, I latched the holds on the lip, and started cranking. The first move was surprisingly difficult, and it felt like I spent an eternity hanging on the lip of the roof trying different holds so as to reach the undercling flake above. Eventually, I snagged it, but my body position was so low I couldn't undercling and had to just pinch the flake and heave up. More difficult undercling moves led up the flake, and to a horizontal. From here up, the climbing turned into a blur of classic moves, a swiftly oncoming pump and the odd bolt - a mere 5 bolts in 25m makes for some heart-in-your-mouth moves, well above the last bolt! Great stuff! With a sting in the tail, this pitch concludes with a punishing, slightly overhung thin 4m section of grade 22 moves to the belay ledge - no mean feat after 20m of overhung climbing without a rest! Thankfully, I nailed the sequence first shot, and let out a whoop at having bagged the onsight of a brilliant pitch of climbing, right at my limit.
As Dave had done before me, I then moved right 3m to the 2nd pitch of Mean Streak, to try my hand at another truly classic pitch of Blueys face climbing. While the previous pitch had been pumpy and overhung, this pitch turned out to be dead vertical, with no rests and no jugs. Aptly named, this water worn streak has magnificent unrelenting vertical face climbing for 15m, then heads through a bulge to an undercut airy mantle, 45m off the deck. Truly incredible climbing. With the rope running out, and the route easing off, it was time to throw in the towel with about 6m left, but having onsighted 90% of the pitch, and certainly the hardest section of it, I was well pleased with my efforts. In fact, this was quite possibly the best 50m of climbing I have ever done, both in terms of subjective route quality, but also in terms of my own form. It definitely marked the highlight of the best weekend of climbing I can recall. (I even "down-onsighted" the pitch!). After rapping off some booty gear I'd taken along (the wall is 6m overhung in the first 25m!), I returned to earth, totally stoked.
Me pulling the crux of Mean Streak pitch 2.
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Me pulling the final hard moves through the bulge.
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The Eyrie
Finally, with sunset rapidly approaching, and being a "climb-out" crag, we chose to finish up with yet another Blueys classic, though this one was about 10 grades easier! Dave led The Eyrie (*** 50m 12) as a single pitch, just finishing as the sun touched the horizon. While Nic seconded, Greg and I ferried packs up the abseil slab, then finished the day by seconding a very pleasant lower grade route. A marvellous finish to an awesome weekend!
* (Some poetic license used - as shown by the odd cloud in the photos! It was, however, a truly beautiful winter's day!)
© 2000 Will
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