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Australian Landscape Photography by Michael Boniwell
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Chockstone Forum - Trip Reports

Tells Us About Your Latest Trip!

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 23
Author
OZYMANDIAS ORIGINAL - An intro to aid
Jok
24-Feb-2016
11:09:57 PM
OZYMANDIAS ORIGINAL - An intro to aid

-Darwin, NT, early 2015-
When I decided I want to climb my first big wall I had just started teaching my friend to lead climb, he had climbed a few top rope routes in the past many years ago but other than that was completely new to the sport.

"Hey Georgie, wanna come climb a big wall" I asked, "how big?" he replied "about 300m, should take a few days" I answered, "bloody oath I do" came Georgie's enthusiastic reply.

After some planning we decided to climb Ozymandias Original at Christmas giving us seven months to prepare, seeing as though Georgie had only been lead climbing two days at this stage we had a lot of work ahead of us. The rest of the year was spent reading every bit of information we could find on the internet, trip reports, U-Tube videos, forums, instructionals, and a half dozen books. The two most useful were "How to Bigwall climb" by Chris McNamara and "Me, Myself and I - The dark art of bigwall soloing" by Andy Kirkpatrick. During this I also researched how to make a good movie, I had every scene thought out and written on a checklist. Some of the scenes would involve extra work, such as placing the camera facing down or off to the side, down climbing then re-leading that section on film.

As the nearest crag is a good two hours from home most of our training was at ground level or on 4m chossy quarry faces. We managed to practice hauling and anchor setup/sequence in case we couldn't communicate, this way we could still operate based on which ropes were having all the slack pulled through. When we could get out to the crag our intentions were to free climb for a bit then practice some aid, it never worked out that way. Every time Georgie and I would get carried away free climbing and decide we can train next time, "she'll be right, we'll just cuff it", we would always say.

 photo 1_zpsu6yfta96.jpg
(A surprisingly solid hook placement in rock barely harder than dirt)

The plan was to fly into Melbourne, drive straight to Mt Buffalo and walk down to the base of the North Wall to bivvy Sunday night. From there we will bivvy at Big Grassy Monday, the pitch 8 belay Tuesday, and then top out Wednesday evening. Thursday will be a rest day so we can climb Where Angels Fear to Tread on Friday, and then drive all night to get a plane out Saturday morning. Finally the time had come, our bags were packed, kit double checked and we were excited. One last check of the weather and it was looking perfect; slightly overcast with a min of 15 and a max of 28; we couldn't have been more wrong.

-Mt Buffalo, Vic, 03Jan16-
DAY 1 - SUNDAY:
I pulled the hire car over not too far into Mt Buffalo National Park; this was our first glimpse of The Gorge. As we looked up with awe, the ominous sound of thunder could be heard in the distance, 'damn you Murphy' I thought. Georgie and I look at each other "we got rain jackets" he said, "yeah, it probably won't hit us anyway" I replied while thinking 'even if it does we just come from the NT wet season, we can handle a bit of rain'.
 photo 2_zpsapy4iizi.jpg
(First view of The Gorge)

The sky was darkening as I locked the car and secured the pigs strap around my waist. With no guide book and no idea where the South Side Track is, luck was with us. We met a couple locals at the base of the car park who showed us the track's beginning and gave us good beta for Ozy Direct, 'why not? it's just aid climbing, how hard can it be?' I thought overconfidently. A quick chat with Georgie and our plan has changed slightly, instead of Original we will do direct and spend Tuesday night at Gled Hill Bivvy. The weather here on the mountain was much colder than we had anticipated, the weeks forecast was minimum of 3 to a maximum of 16, a fair way off the 15-28 we had planned for. 'Never mind we can handle the cold, it’s just a bit uncomfortable' I thought.

We started walking down the Gorge at 1400h, coincidentally so did the rain. Our packs weighed in at roughly 35Kgs each and the track was of such quality that even a goat would hesitate to call it a goat track. Never less spirits were high, the muddy ground and wet slippery rock couldn’t bother us, we made it to Ozy; we are about to climb our first wall. After an amazingly, scenic walk and some tricky roped descents we were almost at the bottom.

 photo 3_zpsyuhgf0gb.jpg
(Georgie with the pig and ledge)

 photo 4_zpsxr5aza2c.jpg
(Georgie relaxing at Crystal brook)

I had just navigated down a roped section and turned to my left to descend the last rope which was very steep "ROPE CLEAR" I called to Georgie. I was slowly working through the steepest section of the last rope I hear the scream "ROCK!" a quick glance to my right and I snap my head rearward just a fist sized stone brushes past my head, with the sudden movement I slip, my right hand is through a loop of rope, it manages to stay clenched and catch the fall of myself and my 35Kg pack, with a scream of pain my shoulder takes most of the impact. I expect it to be dislocated but surprisingly its still working, although quite painful, I get my footing back, call out "I'M OK" and continue down the track.

A quick check of the time, 1730h and we are at the base of Ozy, its still raining in that annoying endless drizzle kind of way but morale is still high and the view is beautiful. Georgie and I gather all the empty coke bottles and take them down to Crystal Brook to fill, 28L in total, as we walk back to the base he finds a sandwich bag with four tins of Tuna "hey Jok, look at this" he exclaims "I found dinner".

 photo 5_zpswffifrwe.jpg
(Filling our water from Crystal Brook)

We ate cold tin of stew each, as we stashed the Tuna in the haul bag for harder times when the tasty meal would be more appreciated. The conversation is excited and fast as we eat, tomorrow will be a day to remember. Georgie set his bed under a small tarp on a grassy ledge by the base; I hung my single man ledge off the first bolt of Ozy, put my sleeping bag inside a waterproof bivvy bag and hopped inside for an early nights sleep. The rain was holding steady

 photo 6_zpsfxqeq6od.jpg
(Its still drizzling)


DAY 2 - MONDAY:
I woke lying on my side 'what time is it? why is my hip so cold?' I check my sleeping bag; 'it’s dry, I'm not sure why it is so cold'. The time is 0138h and I fall back asleep.

I wake again this time freezing cold, shivering, my shirt, pants, underwear are all wet. A quick smell of my hand 'well I didn't piss myself, that’s a good thing' I thought. I check the time, its 0150h, 'why am I wet?' I feel around my sleeping bag, its drenched where my hip is pressing into it, the water is wicking up from below. My bivvy bag is leaking, I peek outside and it is still raining steadily, 'its going to be a long night' I resigned as I curled into a ball for more warmth.

 photo 7_zps5jdqr9hp.jpg
(No matter how bad things feel, it is still beautiful)

I woke Georgie at 0600h, I feel terrible, I had an hours fitful sleep since 0200h at best. Time for breakfast, Georgie and I sat in the drizzle on top a rock ledge, a quick sachet of cold muesli each. I am struggling to eat mine, every bite is nauseating, and I have no idea why. As we quietly prepare the racks I think to myself 'what’s wrong? why are you so exhausted?', 'It can’t be the walk, that wasn't even hard' I thought. Questions that I can't answer, I just assume it is lack of sleep and the constant rain getting to me, I will feel better when I'm on the wall. I pay off the first few scenes I planned to record for the movie.

Pitch 1:
I already had my first ladder clipped from last night, so at 0830h I started climbing; the wall is extremely wet and slimy. I try stand on the sloping ledge above the first bolt but my hiking boots can't make purchase on the wet rock, I find a tentative sky hook placement just strong enough to stop my foot sliding off the ledge. Taking my nut tool which is attached to the leaders chest harness by a retractable lanyard I start digging, but find no placements. "Georgie, pass me the stick" "here" he replied, passing it up. I promptly clipped the bolt and used the rope to pull myself through the bare section. Once into the corner there was no crack to be seen through the mud and moss, out comes the nut tool for some exploratory digging. A few more placements and the crack widens, I am feeling much better now, moving faster, my energy is now returning.

Before I know it I am at the belay, one rusty bolt head and two bolt plates with mallions. I pay no notice of the mallions and clip them anyway; putting a hero loop the bolt head I clip a photon locker to it too. Working quickly I build the twin power point anchor that Rod Harding-Robbins taught me. Using a double figure 8 to fix the lead line, I shout "LINE FIXED!" as I reach for the haul system attached to my rear harness loop, "THANK YOU" was the answer I received.

I started hauling using a 2:1 system and the squat haul method; my technique must have been out because it took a ridiculously long time to haul the pig 25m. Meanwhile Georgie was ascending the rope cleaning the gear. By 1030h the bag was docked, backed up and Georgie had joined me at the belay. "so Georgie, we're at pitch 1 of 10 and you're already higher than you've ever climbed, whatcha recon?" I asked "aw, interesting" he replied smiling.

Pitch 2:
Georgie set off on lead though the thin corner using homemade aiders. He was moving quite slowly which we attributed the aiders being half the size of my Metoulius 8 step ladders, he couldn't seem to step high enough in them and maintain balance either. This resulted in each piece being placed too close to the last. I told him next time he is on lead to take mine and see if that helps.

I was resting my head against the wall staring blankly at the belay, feeling miserable again now that I haven’t been moving for an hour. The rain was really getting to me, it has barely stopped in the last 24 hours when it dawned on me, 'mallions, why the hell did I clip to mallions?' A quick inspection and I see that they only have a 250kg SWL. 'Not good' I thought, 'I never make stupid mistakes like this, I must be worse off than I thought'. I clip a draw into each bolt plate above the mallion and though the cordellete below as a backup while thinking 'I've gotta start switching on'.

 photo 8_zpsst5w3mwz.jpg
(250Kg SWL, confidence inspiring)

Meanwhile Georgie is still making his way through pitch 2, he calls out to me "I just found a nut half in with a locker attached" 'Well now the mallions make sense, someone has bailed off the wall' I concluded. More than a few flared placements, a hero loop on a bent and cracked bolt head later and Georgie has found a bomber cam pocket. The only issue is a palm sized spider is already there, adamantly guarding her eggs. He has a decision, squish it with the nut tool or gentle manoeuvre the cam in beside her. Well Georgie decided the latter, the spider took offence and leaped into his lap, ran across it and launched off the other side. Meanwhile I'm still resting my head on the wall daydreaming about warmer places when I hear him shout out "SPIDER!" obviously confused I look up to see that there is large arachnid travelling at terminal velocity on a collision course with my face. Horrified, there is nothing I can do but stare and hope for the best when to my immense relief the spider managed to snag a weed and hold on to not 5 meters above me. With a deep sigh I go back to resting on the wall, trying to ignore the constant rain.

Upon my appearance at the belay for the third pitch Georgie is still hauling. "forget that, lets try a space haul" I instructed whilst preparing my leash, using myself as a counter weight Georgie was easily able to pull up on the haul line and we had the bag docked in no time. As we clean up the belay Georgie describes to me how when he unpacked the anchor kit two Photon lockers fell, 'damn' I thought, 'good thing we got spares'. I'm feeling absolutely terrible at this point, I decide to check the weather report again, non stop rain till Wednesday morning. I know my brains not functioning correctly, thinking is hard and my speech slow. I realise that with all our wet cloths, my already wet, faulty sleeping gear and Georgie's insufficient little tarp and hammock that we have a serious risk of going hypothermic tonight.

It is now 1530h, I explain my concerns to Georgie and after a short discussion we decide that even though we could make it to Big Grassy and setup a bivvy by dark, the risk outweighs the benefit. "Alright it’s settled; we will leave most the gear, rap off and go dry all the equipment tonight. Tomorrow will be a fresh day and we can come back and finish what we started" I concluded. We packed the wet gear and an empty water bottle into the hiking pack we had, Georgie accidentally dropped a plastic bag with 2 bog rolls in it, and we rappelled off at 1600h, still wearing the leader and 2nd racks, in the walk out we collected the dropped toilet paper and karabiners. My plans to make a movie are well and truly forgotten now, I will still try capturing some footage but nothing pre-planned.

The retreat:
Walking down to Crystal Brook in the rain, Georgie with loaded pack on decided now was a good time to practice some acrobatics by conducting a flip and rolling down the hill. It was spectacular and lightened the mood. Both of us completely forgot to fill the water bottle as we crossed the creek and started our uphill journey, swapping the pack every few hundred meters.

 photo 9_zpsteye8cu3.jpg
(The retreat, haul bag almost invisible on the wall)

The second time we got lost I mentioned "I'm glad we did this now, we can barely find the way in daytime, imagine if we had to retreat off the wall after dark" "yeah, no chance" Georgie solemnly replied

Severely dehydrated now, each step laboured we get to the car park, it is getting dark. We dump the pack in the hut where there are still warm coals in the fire place. I walk to the car and bring it down to the hut as I'm not carrying that pack any further. Georgie and I warm by the fire place for a short while before departing to find a drycleaner in Bright.

There is no drycleaner in Bright so we settle for the local Coles to get water and Gatorade, lots of Gatorade. As we step out of the car we both almost fall, our legs feel like jelly, "that’s one hell of a walk" exclaims Georgie. I feel drunk, my mind is playing up, and the world is blurry and moving. 'I'm really not doing well, good thing we retreated' I thought. After drinking our fill Georgie had a feed, I couldn't eat a bite. He took the front seat while I curled up in my soggy sleeping bag, half in the boot, and half on the folded back seat.

DAY 3 - TUESDAY:
I woke at 0700h, it is still raining and I feel terrible, even worse than yesterday. We check Google and can't find a dry cleaner anywhere close, the only reasonable course of action is to find somewhere to stay with a laundry and dry out for the day. The weather should clear by tomorrow morning.

Off we go to Mt Beauty for the night, picking up breakfast along the way, and I can only manage two bites of a chicken and salad roll. While drying our equipment in a motel I discovered the seam lining on my bivvy bag has tore off, that’s why it was leaking; it was easily fixed with some duct tape.

Time for lunch, I still can't eat but manage to force two more bites down. Now we have warmed up I realise I am running a fever, 'ah, now the exhaustion and lack of appetite make sense' I thought. We have been drinking rehydration salts all day, I added a couple Panadol with Codeine to try break the fever and went to bed at 1430h.

 photo 10_zpsx9g9dm2t.jpg
(All the mountains hidden in cloud)

It is almost 1700h when I wake, feeling miles better, absolutely ravenous, I need food. We discuss our new plan over dinner, 1 and 1/2 pizzas each. We decide to leave at 0530h and make Big Grassy by 1200h. An afternoon storm is due between 1300 and 1800h so we can make a shelter at Big Grassy is needed. From there we will finish pitch 5 and 6 of Ozymandias Original by dark, we are moving too slowly to do the direct path we decided, and it will give us something to set our sights on for the next time.
Jok
24-Feb-2016
11:20:15 PM
DAY 4 - WEDNEDSAY:
Halfway up Mt Buffalo the car suddenly burst though the clouds into sunshine, the first we have seen since landing in Melbourne, it was 0630h, and we had left Mt Beauty an hour and fifteen minutes ago. As Georgie and I walked back down the Southside track the view was breathtaking, the endless rolling clouds below, the sun on the North wall, and the blue haul bag glistening at the second belay. I have never seen anything like it before, we hiked quickly, excited to get back on the wall, refreshed and full of energy.

 photo 11_zpses6ixov4.jpg
(A beautiful day for climbing)

 photo 12_zpsceaw5j7s.jpg
(The lonely pig)

With only one set of jumars between us the jugging could have been easier, I had the left and a Gri-Gri, Georgie had the right and a Petzel Microcender. Due to the devices used only one of use could be on the rope at a time, and the pack was tied to the rope end for hauling. Both of us now at the belay we set up a simple 1:1 haul, Georgie was pulling down and I am pulling up using my jumar. The bag is half way up now "how bout a quick drink break?" I ask, Georgie concurs. I reach up and unclip my bottle from the cordellette unscrewing the lid whilst curiously watching my jumar slide rapidly down the rope to collide with the pack. "Damn it, I forgot about that, good thing I locked it with a crab" I said nonchalantly. Drink now break over we finished the haul, secured the pack to the haul cluster and I prepared for my lead.

Pitch 3:
Moving up the thin crack as quickly as possible I am using every dodgy bolt head and old piton I come across without much thought in order to make the next belay on time. As I step up onto a ledge passing a wobbly piton I place my hand in the corner to steady myself, a large Huntsman spider races out of a pocket and runs across my hand. The surprise nearly causes me to loose balance, 'we better not have to deal with them on every pitch' I thought hopefully.

As I close upon where the belay should be, looking about; I fail to find much evidence except for an old sling around a tree base no way I'm using that, might as well keep following the crack then I decided. Another meter up the crack brings me to a suspicious looking flake; I wrap it with my knuckles and am returned with a disconcerting hollow noise. 'It might be ok for a body weight placement' I thought, reaching for a cam hook. I place the hook and gingerly test it, the whole flake moves, 'bugger that, what else is around?' not a lot I realised. With a good piece not far below I decide to run out the remaining few meters to big grassy by reefing on weed clusters and dirt.

"LINE FIXED!" I shout as loud as possible, I hear my own voice echo twice off the far wall of the gorge, yet I hear no reply from Georgie. 'Good thing we practiced for this scenario' I thought as I connected the haul system and started reefing through slack. I began hauling using 2:1 and walking laps up and down the large ledge, I felt the bag swing out, before long it stopped moving. 'Damn, it’s stuck already' I thought. Giving myself more leash and leaning right out over the edge I can see the bag under a roof, and I can see Georgie coming up the crack. There is no way he can get to it from there, so not much to do but wait.

 photo 13_zpsxqxst0lt.jpg
(Georgie arriving at BG)

Georgie arrived quickly and rappelled back down to assist the pig, shortly after we had the bag docked and were eating lunch. "The weather report has gone from storms to possible showers now" I tell Georgie, "we don't need to bother with building a shelter anymore". It is now 1400h and Georgie is ready to lead pitch 5.

Pitch 5:
Georgie started his lead at 1400h, we are 2 hours behind schedule but still have plenty of light left. I was sitting down on a rock, relaxing when I thought I a faint voice quickly accompanied by the thump of something landing off to my right. I walk over to see one of my No.1 nuts laying in the ledge, "stop dropping me gear" I shout up as I clip the nut to the followers rack.

 photo 14_zpsovvn0ook.jpg
(A solid Kong nut placement)

 photo 15_zps5tul2kgk.jpg
(Georgie leading pitch 5)

As I started jumaring the sky was darkening and the wind increasing, I had made it to a sharp rooflet. With the haul bag still a little way below me I had no choice but to wait so I could help it over the roof. As I was waiting, the wind got really strong and we could see a storm front coming our way with speed. The rain started as I got the bag past the roof, I was still wearing my jacket but Georgie had his packed away. Luckily the storm was quick, passing in just 20 minutes. We had finished resetting the racks and were ready for the 6th pitch by 1700h.

 photo 16_zps8kb8v2sh.jpg
(Cleaning the 5th pitch)

After talking over our options we decided even though we can get another pitch in today it is best we don't, the next belay is an unknown and Big Grassy is just below us and a comfortable place to stay the night. We lowered the bags back down to the big ledge, and rappelled down to set up the bivvy. I had the ledge hanging off the left wall and Georgie set up a hammock across the corner above my ledge

 photo 17_zpsduzlvwph.jpg
(The bivvy)

We discussed tomorrows plan over dinner and decided that Georgie should do pitch 6 as it is easier, then I'll do the harder pitches 7 and 8 to make up time, from there he can do 9 and 10 in the chimneys. We will still top out tomorrow but worst case there is enough food and water for another night on the wall.

Jok
24-Feb-2016
11:21:44 PM
DAY 5 - THURSDAY:
I woke at 0700h from the best sleep I had in weeks. After a quick breakfast and cleanup it was time for some team bonding activities. Taking out the garbage bags and toilet paper we some what uncomfortably conducted our morning ablutions, the first time in a harness for both of us. Soon after we had jugged back up, hauled and were ready to climb.

 photo 18_zpsl3xoc88q.jpg
(Nice morning for a sleep in)

Pitch 6
Georgie made his way up the beautiful clean crack uneventfully. He made an anchor using 2 bolts and 2 nuts and I jugged my way up. As I was gearing up to lead pitch 7 I realised that the belay was in the wrong spot, we are meant to be 6m to the left, on the arête. "We have to move the belay, there will be way too much rope drag from here" I told Georgie, and he concurred.

 photo 19_zpsqxxqm3jr.jpg
(The belay for pitch 6)

As I started my unprotected traverse using hooks and the odd micro nut the wind picked up and the temperature dropped significantly. Once I got to the proper belay and slowed down I started to shiver badly, I was just wearing a thin shirt and my jacket was in the haul sack. Trying to move as quickly I told Georgie to release the bag and let it swing out so I could start hauling as soon as possible. The bag swung out, the rope made its way into a crack below me and got jammed instantly. 'Damnit, why wouldn't you I thought angrily'. Waiting for Georgie to re-aid his way to me the shivering was getting worse and my hands were seizing up, I pressed myself as close to the rock as possible to try get out of the wind. Once Georgie arrived he quickly rappelled down and helped the bag up, first thing I did when the bag was docked is take out my jacket, feeling better instantly as I put it on.

Pitch 7
Knowing I had a big pitch ahead of me I ate a few Glucose tablets for energy. Moving fast up the sloping arête I thought 'no way this is M4, its way too easy'. Then I reached the end of the arête, and was greeted with a clean drop all the way to the bottom of the gorge. Looking up there is a bulging overhung corner for 25m until it meets an off width crack passing through a large roof. 'Bloody hell, there's no way I can do this' I thought as my heart starts racing. Looking up and down I start to panic, my mind is telling me you can't do this, you finally bit off more than you can chew, the rope drag by the end will be to much, how can you even haul something like this, you should back down, bail while you can. All these doubts and more flood through my mind, my mouth has dried out and I feel sick with fear, 'your scared of heights, what are you even doing here?' I thought to myself. I called out to Georgie "I don't think I can do this, I'm not even sure where I am meant to go" he replied something but I wasn't listening.

Now staring at the rock right in front of me, 'you can't bail, you need to finish this' I thought, 'this feeling is why you love to climb'. 'Just one piece, lean around and place one nut, Ok' I thought 'Its just one nut'. I grab my medium stack, it feels like my heart is about to explode as I lean around and slot the nut into the crack, 'good, now place your ladder and test it'. I unclipped the ladder from my harness and watched my small cam hook slide off the karabiner, it made a metallic noise as it bounced once on the wall then silently fell for what seemed like forever until it disappeared into the distance. 'God that would be a horrific way to go' I thought, even more scared then before. I proceeded that way for a few meters, convincing myself just one more move, stepping out onto the ladder to bounce test a hook I started thinking 'see this isn't so' BANG! I'm falling, the nut below catches me, It takes me a second to realise I just had my first aid fall. I take a moment to catch my breath and start climbing back up, somehow feeling a lot more confident about the route. My panic now subsided, I start moving quickly up the crack and through the bulges, 'see this routes not hard, you can climb anything' I thought smiling and thoroughly enjoying the pitch now.

Before long I had made the roof, I think this is the right roof I thought there’s some pitons and a fixed cam, it must be the right one. I started up the roof section, using two rusted pitons to make quick progress. I had reached the fixed cam marking the start of the off width area. Standing as high as possible in my ladder I search for my next placement but come up bare, not even a sketchy hook in sight 'damn short people problems' I muttered to myself. With no other option I grasped my yellow hex by the sling in one hand holding it as high as possible while using the other hand to throw the hex head. TING TING as it bounced of the rock, I get ready for another throw TING CLUNK, 'you got to be kidding me' I thought in amazement, the hex seated perfectly I couldn't ask for more. Half aiding and half squirming my way through the off width section I made it out and back onto the face, greeted with the pleasing sight of the three shiny bolt plates marking the pitches end.

 photo 20_zpsczxpqsnl.jpg
(The fixed micro cam)

 photo 21_zpskyaiyffq.jpg
(My thrown bombproof hex placement)

Grinning from ear to ear I set up the haul, that might have been to single most satisfying pitch I have ever climbed and I'm absolutely ecstatic, this feeling is the reason I love to climb there is nothing else like it. The hauling was surprisingly easy, five minutes in I feel the line jerk and look down to see the bag take a massive 25m swing out into the void. It was not long after that I had the bag docked and time to relax. Shortly after Georgie popped up, "epic lead man" he exclaimed "I was packing it even following" "yeah, it was awesome" I replied.

Pitch 8
I had intended to free this pitch but now I'm here I have very little energy left, the excitement of the previous pitch has worn off and I'm feeling quite down and lethargic. I chew a handful of Glucose tabs and I'm feeling better almost straight away. Using all big gear I quickly made the short traverse, climbing over the trees I found the belay hidden up behind a large spire.

The belay was a sorry 2 rusted bolt heads and some kind of bolt or rivet that looks about 1/4in, it inspired about as much confidence as a politicians promise and I knew I would be putting a huge load on it trying to haul over several trees. I decided to back the belay up; taking the free end of the haul line I threw a loop over the large spire and clipped it to both master points, putting the fact that my haul line is ten years old to the very back of my mind. The haul was difficult to say the least, trying to pull the bag over the trees proved very troublesome but in the end we managed to bag docked about 45 minutes before sunset.

 photo 22_zpsvwfnmbjy.jpg
(The big sling)

After a short chat we decided to hell with staying here for the night, its only 45m to the top. We will leave the bag here rather than try haul through the chimneys and we can rap back from the top to retrieve it later. Remembering the tuna tins found on day one spirits were lifted as we quickly munched on a can each, excited to top out. The final two pitches were Georgie's, we geared up and took out the head torches as light was fading fast.

 photo 23_zpsjxklonzu.jpg
(Dinner time)

Pitch 9
Georgie started the grade 15 pitch, aiding more than free climbing, we are both exhausted by this point as we have been climbing for 14 hours today. While he was making his way through the labyrinth of chimneys I was struggling with my head torch, it wouldn't stay on, eventually I gave up on it.

 photo 24_zpszxwyz85j.jpg
(Georgie entering the labyrinth)

“I'm stuck" called Georgie, "what do you mean stuck?" I queried. Georgie had arrived at a boulder, there were five paths to travel but he couldn't make any progress up any of them. "You want to come swap out?" I asked "yeah" he replied dejectedly.

As we were swapping racks and head torches Georgie told me he wasn't sure which path to take and he was shutting down mentally, 'fair enough, I'm not far off myself I thought'. The exhaustion was getting to both of us. As I made the boulder half way up I realised I had left the anchor kit with him oh well, 'I'll just make something up when I get there' I figured. I stood around for a while trying to work out which path to take, fairly sure I have the right one I can see that I have to bridge the chimney and run out it for a good distance to make it to the next placement. The problem is I don't have enough strength left to do that safely, so after much searching I found a bodyweight only placement using my smallest aid nut; it’s only about 1.5mm wide and halfway in a crack. I gingerly used this to help me bridge my way up through this section and it was easy up to the belay from there.

Missing my anchor kit, I fixed the line using a single large Wild Country Helium cam and girth hitched a couple hex’s around a small tree, then equalised the two using a double figure 8 knot with lead rope excess. By the time Georgie had joined I the head torch I had borrowed from him had gone flat, good thing he had some spare batteries in his pocket.

Pitch 10
The final pitch, and another handful of pills to keep me moving. I started up what must have been the wrong path, only 2m off the ledge and I’m struggling to get though this little roof. I’m dangling off an ornamental hex, writhing around and failing to make any progress up. 'God damn bloody hex' I thought 'if you even consider slipping I'm going to end you, I swear, I'll lob you straight into the abyss'. Frustrated and cranky I resort to throwing another hex around by the sling until it catches something, from there I grunt and groan my way up, climbing over the rooflet using off width techniques. This place is like a maze, with no idea which way to go I just choose the path of least resistance and before long I can see the lookout railing.

I squeezed my way through the last section and topped out, giddy from exhaustion and laughing to myself. I quickly made a simple anchor off the railing and shout "LINE FIXED", and then lay down in the dirt, salubrious about completing my first bigwall.

While Georgie was cleaning the final pitch I gave my wife a quick call to let her know we made it safely up, both our missus's were expecting us to top out around 1500h, it was now midnight. When Georgie topped, I gave him a handshake and congratulations and he gave his girlfriend a quick call as I ferried gear into the lookout area.

DAY 6 - FRIDAY:
We shared the last of the Glucose pills, it is 0030h and there is still plenty of work before we can kip out for the night. We set up a rappel over where I believed the haul bag was, Georgie rapped down to collect the haul line and strip the anchor 45m below us as I prepared the pulley system.

Georgie returned to the top with the haul line and I began, but of course the bag got stuck almost instantly. Back down he goes, I felt the line shift and started hauling again but the rope drag is off the charts, I am pulling with everything I got on a 2:1 using both legs, arms and shoulders dragging my way using the boulder to my right. Even then we are making minute progress, inches at a time; I know Georgie is helping push the bag too.

It is 0200h we have finally finished hauling, my hips are swollen and bruised from the effort. "Hey, look at this" I told Georgie, holding up the rappel line figure 8 knot, it’s worn through to the core. "Holy Shit, that’s what you want" exclaims Georgie

 photo 25_zpsplep5akj.jpg
(My rope is worn to the core)

Barely talking we slowly packed the bags, and start walking out. By the last 300m every step was a struggle, I have never felt so fatigued before, we made it to the car at 0330h and collapsed on the ground still wearing our packs.

By the time we managed to lay out our bed rolls we got 3 hours sleep in before the sun and tourists woke us up. We met some friendly Queensland climbers who made us hot coffee over breakfast; it was just about the most wonderful thing I have tasted. Properly awake now it's time to start the long drive back to Melbourne, accompanied by lots of caffeine.

Conclusion
No-one ever came back from an adventure and said everything went smoothly and according to plan". Climbing Ozymandias Original was by far both the hardest and the best thing I have ever done, but I learnt a lot of important lessons such as: pay more respect to the weather and eat regularly to avoid massive fatigue. That said, I do believe it is a brilliant route and would encourage anyone to give it a go. If I had my time again would I do anything differently? Yes there is so much I would change. Do I regret any of it? Not for a second, it's the clusters that teach you the most and make the climb exciting.

 photo 26_zpsyvp21hg2.jpg
dalai
24-Feb-2016
11:34:24 PM
Great report Jok!

Miguel75
24-Feb-2016
11:54:44 PM
Awesome TR mate. As someone who has tried, and failed, climbs in the gorge (thrice) it's awesome to read your stoke worthy report. One of these days I'll get up there:)
Rawpowa!
25-Feb-2016
9:48:21 AM
Great trip report!
gfdonc
25-Feb-2016
1:03:31 PM
Effing fabulous. Thanks for that.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
25-Feb-2016
2:33:39 PM
There is much within your comprehensive trip report that I relate to very strongly.

Many thanks for sharing it and invoking indelible memories..

Given the behind the scenes prep and the ultimate ascent, you say...
> If I had my time again would I do anything differently? Yes there is so much I would change.

Care to elaborate?*
(*Your answer would be of benefit to others...).


Loved the great photos.

Oh, and 'The Keeper of The (2nd) Belay', has been there since at least the mid 1990's ...
I don't know if Huntsmen spiders live that long, but obviously the 'family' has dibs on that place! ... & your TR keeps their awesome reputation going!
;-)

One Day Hero
25-Feb-2016
4:35:00 PM
Nice one, congratulations on the climb and the write up.

Most (all?) mallions have a working load limit on them rather than ultimate strength, I'm pretty sure (without seeing them first hand) that the ones you encountered would be stronger than the carabiner you clipped to it.
kieranl
25-Feb-2016
5:08:18 PM
Good suffering.

As ODH says maillons are generally very strong. I think you're getting confused and equating SWL (safe working load) with MBS (Mean Breaking Strain). The hangers in the photo probably have a 25kn mbs (roughly 2500 Kg). To get the SWL you basically pluck a figure out of the air, call it your safety factor and divide the MBS by it. A lot of people use a safety factor of 10, probably because dividing with it just requires dropping a 0 or moving a decimal point to the left and doesn't require any actual arithmetic. So if we take the unicorn, I mean safety factor of 10, and divide 25Kn by it we get the SWL of the hangers is 2.5Kn or roughly 250 Kg which by a staggering coincidence is the same as that of the maillons.

ajfclark
25-Feb-2016
5:22:00 PM
Yup, and that random safety factor is the reason we should steer clear of marking gear with SWL. Mark MBS and let people work out their own SWL based on their own safety factor.
Jok
25-Feb-2016
8:21:11 PM
Thank you all for the replies, I was worried I went a little overboard with the writing.

On 25/02/2016 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>Care to elaborate?*

Things I would change:
-Practice hauling until it is nailed, even just slightly quicker hauling technique would have shaved a few hours off the total climb.

-Practice jumaring until I'm blue in the face and train weighted squats for endurance instead of strength as that will help with the lactic acid build up in the legs which slowed us down considerately on the long pitches.

-Obtain accurate weather reports and pack for worst case anyway.

-Triple check the serviceability and suitability of wet weather gear.

-Take a small poncho or thermal shirt a size larger and keep it in my pocket at all times, when that wind picks up it gets cold very quick. Some protection is better than none.

-Eat something every time your on belay and every time your waiting for the follower, the last day we worked for 19 hours straight with just a 95g tin of tuna and some glucose tabs each. I believe that was the main contributor to our exhaustion levels. On the other hand I dropped 4kgs of fat on that climb and I started very lean to begin with, so if your looking to shred...

-On the 8th pitch go under the trees not over them, this will mean you need a 15m lower out line but the haul will be much easier and faster.

-Take the extra night on the wall if you need it. Although climbing in the dark was new to me and exciting for a while it becomes a real drag after midnight when your body wants to sleep.

-If it raining wait for clearer sky's, although you can climb in the rain its no where near as fun.

On the topic of mallions:
You are all right and they probably are stronger than most my gear but I still don't trust them. I don't even trust bolts I'll take a nut over a bolt any day and definitely prefer trad anchors. So with that, any bit of steel that doesn't have a UIAA rating (or in this case any type of standards certification) isn't welcome on my rack.

The steel is 5.8mm diameter, the markings are:
MALLION RAPIDE
WLL 250 KGS D6
MADE IN FRANCE

Goshen
26-Feb-2016
10:29:15 AM
http://www.peguet.fr/self-certified-maillon-rapide-quick-links/delta-maillon-rapide

Breaking load is 1250kg; (which is probably more than the breaking load of your wires). Ideally, should have been the next size up at least, which is 2000kg; but in any case looks like they are for rapping, and not for primary anchors... There's plenty worse out there; at least these ones are rated.

shortman
26-Feb-2016
11:48:25 AM
On 25/02/2016 ajfclark wrote:
>Yup, and that random safety factor is the reason we should steer clear
>of marking gear with SWL. Mark MBS and let people work out their own SWL
>based on their own safety factor.

Mallions are more orientated towards being used in fields that require a SWL though. It's just that they are so strong that they are used in recreational climbing, hardly the main source of income for the manufacturers.

shortman
26-Feb-2016
11:59:22 AM
Great read mate. Inspiring me to try a big wall, and thanks for all the effort with the write up.
mikllaw
26-Feb-2016
12:15:26 PM
It's been a few decades since I did it, but this doesn't look like the Ozy Direct roof, is this the Lord Gumtree roof?
kieranl
26-Feb-2016
12:20:13 PM
No it's the original line, out left of the Direct
gfdonc
26-Feb-2016
12:26:16 PM
On 26/02/2016 Goshen wrote:
>primary anchors... There's plenty worse out there; at least these ones
>are rated.

Yeah in particular like the ones encountered here
(old TR has been trunc-ated at some point)

IdratherbeclimbingM9
26-Feb-2016
2:26:17 PM
On 26/02/2016 gfdonc wrote:
>(old TR has been trunc-ated at some point)

Yes, I could dig up Chocky links about it, but the bottom line is that the only way it will be restored is if you do it yourself.

It only happened to extra long TR's and maybe also some of the stories in the Stories Thread...
I've been back and restored all of mine (as far as I know), from originals I kept, but then had some issues with the dis-allowed words in some :-(

Yours was a good Report, so I think it worth restoring...
Jok
26-Feb-2016
3:06:12 PM
On 26/02/2016 Goshen wrote:
>http://www.peguet.fr/self-certified-maillon-rapide-quick-links/delta-maillon-rapide

>primary anchors... There's plenty worse out there; at least these ones
>are rated.

I agree that there is plenty worse out there and these would be fine to rappel off of, but they are not rated. This particular mallion comes from the self certified product range of the manufacture, it is has not been tested by an independent body or manufactured and marked IAW any national/international standards.

However this company does have a rated range and they are found here:
http://www.peguet.fr/ppe-certified-maillon-rapide-quick-links
I understand that both ranges would go through the same manufacturing process and most likely use the same materials therefore these would be acceptable to some people; however, every climber has their own acceptable level of risk that is a completely personal thing. One person’s techniques or gear may be completely fine to them but absolutely unacceptable to someone else, and there is nothing wrong with that. My personal level is quite low; this is because climbing in the NT is wild and secluded. Most of the places I visit are at least 1 to 1.5 hours travel from the nearest help, no phone reception and the nearest Med heli is a couple hundred Kms away. There are no tourists around and I have only ever seen one other climber, if something goes wrong we are completely alone. This is why I don’t trust items like bolts or unrated gear.

Gfdonc, WOW, that hanger is horrendous.

Shortman, Thanks and definitely give one a shot, it’s the best thing I have ever done and Georgie and I are already looking for the next adventure. We are considering doing the 2 day hike to Federation peak in Tas and climbing the Blade Ridge, a 420m grade 18.

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