A Big Day Out (BDO)

Sometimes you can get into a bit of a rut of going out and doing three or four climbs for the day and that's it. Glenn wanted to challenge his perceptions of the possible when it came to volume of climbing in a day. So we decided to have a big day out. Our self-imposed arbitrary challenge was 'Celestial in a day'. Celestial Wall is a sector of multipitch sport climbing on Mt Tibrogargan in the Glasshouse Mountains.

At the leisurely time of 10:12am, we blasted off.

© L Cujes 2009

1. Heliosphere 14, 35 m
2. Vernal Equinox 22, 28 m
3. Zenith 24, 25 m
4. Latitudes 21, 35m

Time check: 1:23pm. Hmm, getting late already!

5. Aphelion p1 / Voyager p1 16, 35 m
6. Voyager p2 22, 12 m
7. Voyager p3 23, 20 m
8. Voyager p4 17, 30 m
9. Aphelion p2 21, 12 m
10. Aphelion p3 22, 30 m
11. Aphelion p4 / Rubicon p3 22, 10 m
12. Rubicon p2 22, 30 m

Time check: 5:23pm. Hmm, not much light left. Grab the headtorches.

13. Rubicon p1 18, 45 m

Time check: 6:06pm. It's pitch black man! The mozzies are feasting!

14. Troposphere p1 15, 30 m
15. Troposphere p2 17, 10 m
16. Troposphere p3 18, 15 m
17. Troposphere p4 15, 25 m
18. Troposphere p5 16, 30 m

Time check: 7:49pm. Stumble back to the car.

9hr 36mins after blasting off, Glenn's still smiling © L Cujes 2009

So, 18 pitches, 318 points, and 457m of climbing. A big day out! For us at least. Doing things like this give you an appreciation of the massive efforts of the likes of Tommy Caldwell linking Half Dome and El Cap in 24 hours. Crazy!

We weren't speed climbing and we didn't rush. We started late and ate lunch. The key was to simply keep moving upwards and try to minimise any downtime where nobody was moving up.

Fun stuff. Go set your own arbitrary challenge!

Climbing guide Brisbane

I've just finished up four days of Upskill guiding over the last couple of weeks. It's been nice to take things down a notch, and simply go out and enjoy a great volume of classic moderates - some of the best SE QLD has on offer. Sharing some of the climbs I love with others is great fun.

We had two half days out at Frog Buttress where we enjoyed Materialistic Prostitution 17, Wizards Back 16, The Stars Look Down 21, Infinity 19, Elastic RURP 18, Micron 16, Devil's Wart 15, Iron Mandible 18 and finished on the mighty Conquistador 21. I hadn't been to Frog for a few years and it was interesting being back.

Me about to launch up Infinity © K Hartley 2009

The third day was on my home mountain, Mt Tibrogargan in the Glasshouses. Familiar territory, and it was brilliant being there and just getting stuck into some volume on Clemency Wall, Celestial Wall and the Carborundum area. We did ** Divergence 19 into Tested Twisticle LHV 17 to get to *** Caritas 21, then down for *** Rubicon p1 18 and ** Rubicon p2 22, then a quick blast up the classic *** Aphelion p3 22 on the way back down, then across for an excursion up ** Remains Of The Day (5 pitch 150m 16) into the Summit Caves. About 350m of quality climbing that day.

Kym looking down at me belaying him up the megaclassic Caritas 21, Mt Tibrogargan. © K Hartley 2009

The final day left us with just a couple of hours, so a quick mission at Kangaroo Point allowed us to bag Bombadil 17, Idiot Wind 21, Pink Berets 21 and Brisbane Bitter 24. There was a friendly guest in one of the trees near Pink Berets too. Check him out...

Python at Kangaroo Point © L Cujes 2009

So if anyone is doing a flying visit to Brisbane and would like to head out for a day, please get in touch. We can tailor a day out to suit exactly what you'd like to do whether that is sport, trad, difficulty, volume, single or multipitch, whatever.

See you out there!

Keywords: climbing guide glasshouse, climbing guide tibrogargan, climbing guiding brisbane, climbing guide brisbane, climbing guide frog buttress, climbing guide queensland, glasshouse mountains

A Gaze Blank and Pitiless as the Sun

Yesterday, amid howling wind and rainstorms, I approached my summit cave project on Mt Tibrogargan. The mountain, usually a rain magnet, seemed to have reversed its polarity and as the squalls approached, they would miraculously swing past, leaving Tibrogargan unscathed.

I'd had a good few weeks leading up to this point. We had the Hawkesbury Trip which left me feeling tired and happy, then three days off, a short, very strong bouldering session and a session on my Pulpit project, then another restful few days with one amazing training session where I felt stronger than ever before. I really felt as though everything was lining up and coming together in a huge peak.

At the belay, I racked up feeling perfectly relaxed. I hadn't got pumped at all on the warm-ups, so I was planning on the first try to simply go up until I got a good pump, then have a rest, continuing on to the top, resting where necessary. There's no pressure on the first try of the day.

I launched out the roof past three bolts to the lip. Next comes a lip traverse for two bolts using kneebars and heelhooks to a semi-rest using a calf hang over a horn. I rested for about a minute here and because the pressure was off, I was even able to talk to Erik and just enjoy the exposure of the situation.

From here there is an awkward section of underclings and bridging up a 40° overhung wall to a huge throw off a cigarette box pinch to "the arrow". This is a really unique hold, which looks like a huge broad head arrow has partially punched out of the rock. It provides a good jug, plus a kneebar. This partial rest (you're nearly upside down at this point) marks the beginning of the crux sequence. I made it to this point feeling surprisingly good. It would all come down to the execution of the crux moves. As chance would have it and to my great surprise, I pulled every move perfectly, and almost came off on the easier crank through into In Between Dreams' corner, just from pure shock.

At this point I'd climbed all of the new route, and simply had the technical crux of In Between Dreams 26 to go. I wrangled a rest in the corner which was lucky, as following the hard climbing below, I'd brought on a debilitating pump. At this point, some bushwalkers walked down onto the NE shoulder and had a great view across to me on the route. Who knows what they were thinking? ("That guy's stuck up there!"). I rested until my calves were burning, and then pushed upwards past two more bolts to stand on top of the Glasshouse Mountains' hardest route - A Gaze Blank and Pitiless as the Sun 30.

Thanks to the various partners who've made the slog up the hill to help me get this done: JJ, Duncan, Neil and Erik.

THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

--William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Firmly engaged in the crux sequence. © Phil Box 2009

Summit cave project progress

It was a bit of a warm one, but I spent Saturday arvo pitted against my Summit Cave project on Tibro. It was my fifth day on the route and I made surprisingly good progress - much better than I would have thought. The last time I was on it was three weeks ago, and that day was the first day I managed to pull the crux move, and had then done all the moves on the route. This time I linked from the ground (such that it is up there in the sky) to the beginning of the crux cleanly. Wasn't expecting that! Especially since I haven't climbed on rock in three weeks due to bad weather and other commitments. But I had been having really great training sessions on the woody with some personal bests in power. In anticipation of trying this route and with the Hawkesbury Trip looming, I recently switched focus back to power endurance to tune up my ability to keep on keeping on.

The crux of this route with its compression moves is not unlike the start crux of Evil Wears No Pants (30), except with Evil, it's right off the deck, and this one comes after about 10m of very powerful climbing. I've realised, to succeed on this route, I'll need to be super efficient on the climbing up to the crux, getting as much back on the rests as I can, so I get there feeling as fresh as possible. When that happens, I'll be in with a chance!

New projects

It's always tough settling back into normality after returning from a great climbing trip.

We've been back a couple of weeks now, and hasn't the weather changed in the month we've been gone? We enjoyed superb weather in Kalymnos, while Queensland got hammered with storms and flooding. And now, summer has pounced and dug in its claws. On the drive up to Tibro yesterday it was 35°C. Thankfully we had a little breeze up in the Summit Cave to keep things slightly sane.

Before we left, you may remember I did the second ascent of The Beast From The East (29) in the Summit Cave and began establishing a new, harder line nearby. Well, I've now been back twice in the last few days to smash myself on it. It climbs out a roof for five bolts, then goes up a radically overhung wall to link in with the top two bolts of an existing 26. It's hard!

The view on this pic is pretty dodgy, so my apologies about that. But it gives you an idea of the terrain.

Me on my new project. Please excuse the view. © N Fewtrell 2008

I'm looking forward to sending this thing, but it's a long way off yet!

Tibro in the spotlight

The Summit Cave on Tibro is getting some serious publicity with 8a.nu publishing its article on the most inspiring pictures of October. Beast From The East is up in lights with thousands of views so far ;)

The Beast Goes Down

Ticked The Beast From The East 29 yesterday for its second ascent. Another great route from Adam Donoghue. It was a great day up in Mt Tibrogargan's Summit Caves; as always - breezy and cool.

I put the gear on, and then fired it off the next try, but I was really gritting my teeth. Nine shots all up - three of those putting gear on the climb. It's a really interesting route in that even though it's not very long (only about 15m) it's a cumulative fatigue issue. None of the moves feel super hard hanging on the rope, but linking them all together really takes it out of you.

JJ and I even started working on a new project there as well. Ohhh!

© Phil Box 2008


Selected topo showing just a handful of the 30+ routes on offer in the Summit Caves.
Photos © Phil Box and Dave Reeve 2008

Beasted

After the fun day we had up there a week ago, I went up for my second day on the Beast From The East 29 with Duncan today. Phil was in the area, so he set up for photos for the afternoon and I think he got some great ones, we'll see. Edit: He's quick with the mobile internet in his truck. These were on flickr mere hours after the shoot. Nice one Phil :)

Long story short - no tick! The actual moves are not the issue, but cumulatively, they really add up and there's a certain move (pictured) that really torches your left hand. After putting the gear on, I had three more shots without success, dang! Good training though.

I'll be back for you, Beast.

QLD climbing: The Search For Shade!

Well, the weather is warming up. We've had a hell of a winter season, it's been fantastic. Cool, even cold conditions for many months, and the rain was largely content to hit the weekdays, leaving weekends in prime condition for weekend warriors such as myself. But now with the temperatures rising into the mid to high twenties, we have to say goodbye to the crags that have sustained us over the winter, and look to locations that offer the two vital components which are vital to sane QLD summer climbing: shade and breeze.

So with that in mind, Aaron and I headed up into the Tibro Summit Caves on Saturday. I'm always impressed with how breezy and exposed the cliff is. Another bonus is that because the east facing cliff goes into shade around lunch time, you can have a lazy start. For aspect, imagine the Coolum cave, perched 150m above the ground. Peregrin falcons check you out as they cruise past with little animals in their talons - it's wild.

I've done a bunch of the routes in the sector but this time I was keen to check out The Beast From The East, a very overhanging 29 established by Adam Donoghue last year. It's currently the hardest route in the Glasshouses, and didn't dissapoint offering some burly climbing, only one rest, as well as a couple of really slick and hard-to-hold grips. I put in three shots and actually came pretty close on the second try. The grade seems about right to me (maybe it's lower end 29) - regardless - it's refreshing to feel the difference in difficulty between this route and Shadenfreude. It's certainly one I'll be popping back to try to nab before we head to Kalymnos in a few weeks for the Upskill Coaching training camp.

Below is a short video of our novel descent from the route - a 10m swing into space off the route's anchor.