Mission failure due to weather

Well, after one of the most harrowing nights I've ever spent huddled under a tarp, we called off the mission. The schedule would have seen us begin climbing at about 4:30am, and even at 7:30am, the wall was completely wet. It rained all night, until the early hours of the morning.

Even though we walked in in the rain, we thought it was slowing and would stop, giving the wall time to dry enough for an attempt. At about 6pm last night in drizzling rain we thought we had camp fairly well sorted; and then all hell broke loose. The rain started bucketing down and our position next to the base of the wall put us directly in the path of what turned very quickly into a waterfall. Suddenly, four inches of water was gushing through camp. I have this on video.

Of the five of us, Phil had the best spot, curled in the foetal position inside a hollowed out tree. He looked like a big ugly possum. Shaun got the award for most hardcore - sitting on a rock in shorts and not in a sleeping bag until sometime past 1am. Duncan was the water magnet, and attempted to sleep on a sodden thermorest in a two inch deep river. JJ was the most appreciated, boiling up tea for everyone at 1am, and checking everyone was still alive periodically. And me; well I probably got the most sleep (a few hours) due to having a ridgerest (foam) and a semi water-repelling sleeping bag. Though, in the morning, I was wet from the waist down.

We are yet to decide if another attempt will be made; everything depends on the weather. The Aboriginal name for Mt Warning means Cloud Catcher. Now we know why.

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