So with about a week's food packed, we made a 5am start from Hobart on Tuesday morning. BOM had said 'Shower or two' but Metvuw was clear so we were hopeful for good weather. However as dawn broke near Ouse on the drive out it didn't look too good:
The weather only got worse as we got closer to the car-park. But we still held out hope nonetheless. Arriving at about 9am, we found the B.A.S.E jumpers from last year there. A year to the day in fact since that trip last year!
The walk was grim as per usual. Saw a whip snake just off the track, which was a bit of a surprise as it was raining! Having a bit of a rest halfway up..
When we reached the top of the hill an hour or so later, the mist monster was there as expected. Luckily, because we missed the proper turn off to the cave, I came prepared with my iPhone, so one quick look at Google Maps and we were at the cave and base camp was established by about 12pm. Garry's I-Tent fits perfectly in one of the bivvy spots in the cave!
That afternoon, however, there was no chance for climbing. The rain and mist had soaked the rock, but instead of drinking tea, we embarked on our first objective, to finish bolting Garry and Jake's route. Their now completed project is on the Main Face rap buttress, following a striking arete, starting off the Monster Terraces. Five pitches had already been bolted and redpointed. There was only now the question of the 30m section that was two pitches off the deck.
I was pretty nervous rapping in, having never been down the Main Face before. However it wasn't too bad and before long we were down at the crux pitch, and whilst Gaz inspected and equipped it, I made the 60m free-hanging rap down to the Monster Terraces. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me at this stage. Being down there was amazing, especially looking over at the awe-inspiring Main Face.
Soon Gaz-man was finished equipping the pitch, which from the top of the 27 pitch, traverses right out onto the arete, and then goes up a finger crack. Jugging out in the rain and mist meant we got back to camp pretty stuffed.
The next morning dawned with the mist clagging in again. Now that the pitch was fully equipped, the main priority was to get that pitch done. However the mist meant we carefully reconsidered our options. A weekend climbing at Coles Bay seemed pretty tempting at that stage...however after a few hot Powerades the psyche levels returned and we went for a walk - and the mist cleared! It was about 3.30pm, too late to rap into Gaz's project, but enough to do Raindancer (22), which is on a closer buttress and about 5-10mins from camp. We split it into three pitches (22,20, easy). Here's Gaz starting up the first pitch:
Garry following the 2nd (20) pitch:
Me on the last easy pitch - this route is rad slabby pebble pulling.
A beautiful moon rises over to the East..
The next day (Thursday) again dawned claggy, and we started packing to go, but soon it was game on as it cleared up and started heating up. The BASE jumpers were preparing to jump as well as the winds and conditions were right. Garry and I racked up and rapped in to his and Jake's route, and just as I reached the first re-belay bolt, the first two jumpers went for it, about 30m away. It's pretty heart-stopping to watch! Here's Merry right underneath their launch spot, with about 250m+ of air below his feet. He is hanging out on the aid line of the Healer, and it looks mega exposed!
Getting down to Garry at the top of the pitch that needed to be climbed, we set up a belay and then heard '20 Seconds!'. I whipped the camera out, and got footage of the most insane thing I've ever seen - one of the jumpers doing a front flip off the top of the Main Face! After that I lowered Garry in and he worked the pitch for a little while. Here he is working the end of the slippery finger crack:
We rapped to the Monster Terraces for a bit of a break:
After chilling the fuck out for a bit, we jugged back up. Garry's psych was infectious - I couldn't help smiling as he worked the sequence on the traverse. Lowering back to the belay, Garry got on with the business. A tricky cross through past a 2 finger pocket led to a couple of balancy, final moves to the belay about 6m away. Struggling on the last couple of moves Gaz fell on the very last move to a jug. Disheartened but sure he could do it, he was soon back at the belay and had another shot straight away - send! Here he is after the redpoint:
After that I belayed him up the finger crack/arete pitch which was pretty wet. All went well and that went down first redpoint. Clipping the belay Garry had done it - the project has been done and the route gone free! Meeting him at the belay, we were both psyched! We jugged and hauled our way to the top of the wall, by which time it was pretty late. We decided to walk out that night, and a few hours of slogging down the hill saw us back at the car. It was a full moon and it provided a wonderful spectacle for the drive home...
So that was our awesome trip to the Tyndalls. Gaz got his and Jake's route done which is sick. I'd like to say thanks to Gaz for a wicked trip where we both had heaps of fun!
I didn't really get around to as much as I wanted to do, but that was because of the weather cutting our time short. During the last few weeks I haven't been climbing heaps but been doing a bit of thinking about what I really what I want to focus on - it's not long 'till I head to Uni so time is an issue. I'm a bit over missions for the immediate future - I'd rather concentrate on sport climbing and "gettingshitdone" as Jakey B says. I'm still psyched for big missions like these, but I feel I want to just go rock climbing for a little while. So that was Round 1 for the Tyndalls this Summer, and I'll probably be back, just after climbing a few rocks.
Cheers,
Will
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