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Climbers rescued Margarine Ridge Mt Hay 6.11.11


wallwombat

14-Nov-2011
11:45:16 PM

On 14/11/2011 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>"Once I went bouldering and broke my ankle-"

......and my leg and I dragged my sorry arse back to my car and didn't call 000.

....and another time I badly sprained both ankles, in a slab splashing lead fall, while climbing with Mikl and then completed the pitch and followed him up the second pitch (screaming in pain with each move) and then drove 100kms home and to the hospital.

I'm not trying to say I'm some kind of hardman. I'm not. I'm trying to say, it's amazing what you can do when you grit your teeth and put your mind to it.

And once widewetandslippery and me ran out of beer. That was a REAL epic.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

15-Nov-2011
12:01:42 AM

On 14/11/2011 wallwombat wrote:
>And once widewetandslippery and me ran out of beer. That was a REAL epic.

~> That could have been really bad. Lucky you didn't have to get admitted to outpatients as a result...

patto

15-Nov-2011
12:54:21 AM

On 14/11/2011 hangdog wrote:
>I just spoke with one of the climbers involved in this. She clarified a
>lot of things for me as it looks like most of the comments are misinformed.
>-The 2 climbers concerned were experienced with long trad routes.
>-They had spoken at length with the first ascentionist and gained beta
>from him. They were well aware of the routes difficulties.(route finding
>and finding the route)
>-They started the route early around 8am
>-The temp was not hot less than or around 25deg.
>-Lack of water was not an issue. They had more than 2 ltrs each ( until
>they had to bivvy )
>-The male climber was ok to start the route and became unwell later in
>the day, probably flu.
>- Was unable to continue climbing safely and as a result called for help.
>
>Hopefully that clears up some of the questions.

If anything it raises more questions!

If lack of water wasn't the issue what was the imminent threat to safety?

000 should only be called if there is an emergency. An emergency IS NOT "I am tired and want to go home".


pmonks

15-Nov-2011
9:13:12 AM

On 14/11/2011 benjenga wrote:
>1. Has anyone climbed the cracks up and to the right above pitch 3????
>They look really good.

Agreed! I believe mikl had a go at them back in the late 90s, and found the rock a tad... ...emotionally challenging.

>2. I got off route on the final pitch where the belay bolt Is at the bottom
>of the dirty, loose chimney.

There's a belay bolt there now? That's good actually - that was one of the few unavoidable belays that I thought was sketchy (it used to be a suffering bush perched above the void).

> I with straight up, not recommended.

Did you go up the black wall to the left of the chimney? I thought that looked quite good, although didn't look like many options for pro.


DaCrux

15-Nov-2011
10:14:19 AM

On 15/11/2011 patto wrote:
>On 14/11/2011 hangdog wrote:
>>
>>-The male climber was ok to start the route and became unwell later in
>>the day, probably flu.
>>- Was unable to continue climbing safely and as a result called for help.
>>
>>Hopefully that clears up some of the questions.
>
>If anything it raises more questions!
>
>If lack of water wasn't the issue what was the imminent threat to safety?

It must have been the dreaded man flu...

maxdacat

15-Nov-2011
10:20:45 AM

On 15/11/2011 pmonks wrote:
>On 14/11/2011 benjenga wrote:
>>1. Has anyone climbed the cracks up and to the right above pitch 3????
>>They look really good.

Also if you look over to the other side of butterbox from MR, there are some tasty looking cliffs....i'm guessing access might be an issue.


pmonks

15-Nov-2011
10:28:57 AM

On 15/11/2011 DaCrux wrote:
>It must have been the dreaded man flu...

For those who don't know the reference - a classic!!


hangdog

15-Nov-2011
12:25:34 PM

On 15/11/2011 patto wrote:

>If anything it raises more questions!
>
>If lack of water wasn't the issue what was the imminent threat to safety?
>
>000 should only be called if there is an emergency. An emergency IS NOT
>"I am tired and want to go home".

I guess as nobody posting here was there at the time so we can all only speculate as to the real situation.
However after speaking to the person directly involved it was much more than i am a bit tired and want to go home. It was a case of the other member of the party being incapable of continuing safely. I raised all the relevant concerns and after a heated discussion i believe the only real course of action was ring for help. There were some comments re abseiling to ledges, prussiking etc however the ill climber was totally incapable of doing this. It might seem like an easy option to ring for help but that may well have been the tougher choice.

patto

15-Nov-2011
9:35:34 PM

On 15/11/2011 hangdog wrote:
>On 15/11/2011 patto wrote:
>
>>If anything it raises more questions!
>>
>>If lack of water wasn't the issue what was the imminent threat to safety?
>>
>>000 should only be called if there is an emergency. An emergency IS
>NOT
>>"I am tired and want to go home".
>
>I guess as nobody posting here was there at the time so we can all only
>speculate as to the real situation.
>However after speaking to the person directly involved it was much more
>than i am a bit tired and want to go home. It was a case of the other member
>of the party being incapable of continuing safely. I raised all the relevant
>concerns and after a heated discussion i believe the only real course of
>action was ring for help. There were some comments re abseiling to ledges,
>prussiking etc however the ill climber was totally incapable of doing
>this. It might seem like an easy option to ring for help but that may well
>have been the tougher choice.

Fair point. I don't know the details. As I said It raises more questions. If a climber was incapacitated then it makes sense to call for help.

White Trash

16-Nov-2011
10:10:08 AM

On 15/11/2011 patto wrote:
>Fair point. I don't know the details. As I said It raises more questions.
> If a climber was incapacitated then it makes sense to call for help.
More questions.
Why was the climber incapacitated?
There is only speculation on ths thread buts seems it was not water issue, and if prexisting medical condition then maybe shouldnt have been there or done the route differently like a deliberate longer ascent time?


ecowain

17-Nov-2011
8:55:50 PM

On 14/11/2011 benjenga wrote:
>On 10/11/2011 One Day Hero wrote:
>
>1. Has anyone climbed the cracks up and to the right above pitch 3????
>They look really good.

I think "anthonyk" has climbed them. Ask him about (...the climb with spiders...) Not the best recommendation.

Oldtraddad

6-Dec-2011
1:09:48 PM

The alternative direct pitch 3 has been done heaps, it's about 15 and good :)
Climb direct up the cracks and avoid long traverse to left. At top traverse left a few moves to arete.
PS fastest ascent of Margarine ridge is sub 20 minutes onsight in summer!

Alan Silva

18-Dec-2011
10:03:14 AM

Hi Suzannna,

I was talking to another climber Brett at Piddo yesterday and during the conversation I mentioned that I had been out rope soloing Margarine Ridge a few weekends back and had cleaned up rubbish strewn along the route.

Brett mentioned that there has been a bit of activity recently on the Chockstone forums about left behind gear on this climb.

I picked up a red rope and a length of yellow chord from around the pitch 8 area and carried out (4th Dec 2011).

Drop me an e-mail at aglsilva@hotmail.com.

Alan Silva

18-Dec-2011
10:58:10 AM

Hi Peter,

I've been using the 'Marge' as a great way to get fit for my mountain trips in NZ & Asia over the years.

The last 4 times I've done the route I've climbed the black wall as follows:

From where P7 tops out you can get an easy start onto the black wall from the wind scooped cave 5m to right of the top of P7 (The wind scoop is about 8m left from the guidebook chossy chimney).

The route traverses up & across (right) the wind scoop (the rock is not solid - crust on a sandy core) - but there is a good placement for a large blue cam. Head across 5m on a ledge and then up to flake where you can slot in two small cams; one in a pocket on the black face then the second in the flake itself. Move left on thin moves to a higher ledge then use the bulges to climb up to the iron stone (wafer) holds. Traverse right (8m) easy (one cam in wafers) to the top of chossy (guide book route) chimney and bridge last few metres to the scrubby ledge stance that overlooks down the whole of the ridge.

A few long slings are needed to rig cams due zig-zag of route to reduce rope drag (though when rope soling there is no such thing as rope drag).

There have been plenty of climbing parties do this rising traverse on the black wall in lieu of the chossy chimney - the grade is only around 12 and is well protected on sandy holds.

My only comment about the 'Marge' for aspirants having done the route now around a dozen times (only one with a partner) is that it is "character building". When rope soloing you end up doing the whole route twice - so you get an 'intimacy' for the dodgy rock & doubtful placements...

- Allow plenty of time.
- Take a helmet (due other parties may be above).
- Bring the sunscreen & a shady hat for under the helmet.
- Be prepared for the hot afternoon sun, as there are few shady spots/trees.
- Bring a lightweight headlamp.
- Bring 2 litres of water (I usually have a Nalgen with weak Gatorade, the other neat).
- Be prepared to 'dither' in locating the start of the climb.
- Get into the habit of efficient change overs at the belays to reduce time.
- Can walk-off at P4 to the right (or as some climbers do 'walk-on') & exit the same way you came in from the Butterbox Canyon exit.

I typically bring a mixed rack of nuts and cams Friends 00 to 1.5, Cams 0.5 to 3 with 8 quickdraws, plus a few long slings - Oh & a single bolt bracket for belay at the top of P8.

Good climbing.

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