Monkey life

I've always done a little bit of indoor rockclimbing, mainly as a means of keeping fit, but more recently under the watchful eye of Lane Cove tough guy  Joran I've stepped it up to being a more regular pursuit. Inevitably this led to talk of doing some outdoors climbing (Joran has experience in this realm), and after my usual round of putting off and flaking, the day finally came when excuses could be sustained no longer. Plans were made for a day of adventure in the Blue Mountains, and the multi-pitch adventure of Sweet Dreams was selected as being the ideal introduction.

Naturally I was feeling a little nervous on a number of fronts (exposure, technical difficulty, fitness, general softness on my part), but before I could even roll through these issues we found ourselves at the bottom of a track down off Sublime Point and racking up for a climb. Wonderfully my concerns were completely unfounded, with relatively easy climbing and previous leading practice in the gym making for a controlled sense of adventure. The exposure and beauty of being out on a cliff was really something else, and the simple climbing of Sweet Dreams made this easy to appreciate.

A pair of climbers were tackling another multi-pitch climb on the same section of cliff, and it was great to watch them working their way up what looked like a relatively featureless face (certainly when compared to where we were). I was able to snap off some great photos that give a real sense of the insignificance of a climber when on these walls (which are the photos here). Something to aspire to in the medium term.

We finished the day with some single pitch sport climbing at Shipley Upper. It was good to work through a few more (relatively) challenging climbs, but it wasn't long before my arms were giving out. This has since been addressed through a comprehensive training plan, and I'll absolutely be back for more.

Spring turns (a fitting end to season 2014)

The October long weekend is becoming a bit of an annual event in my calendar. The opening of the road out to Charlotte Pass makes for easy access to the main range, reducing the slog out from Guthega to a much shorter walk up from the Snowy River. It also usually offers nice snow conditions, with enough cover up high for great touring and corn snow that makes for fun turns.

James and I headed out at a moderate hour on Saturday morning, with a few uncovered patches shortly after the river requiring skis off, but then solid cover up to the top of Carruthers. We made camp slightly below the peak, assuming that a small fin of rock would provide enough shelter for a pleasant night. We were completely wrong, and by around 6pm the wind direction had shifted the speed accelerated. We put up a rather poor little snow wall (that blew on top of me during the night), then settled in for some sunset photos followed by dinner. It was possibly the worst nights sleep I have had in a tent, with the nylon constantly flapping across my face. 

We managed some great runs, swapping the splitboard and tele skis regularly. I snowboarded down into club lake via the middle chute, then skied down into Little Austria. We also did a few easy runs on the north east side of Carruthers. On the Sunday we toured out towards Watson's Crags, and although we weren't able to ski any of the great terrain on offer, it has provided plenty of inspiration for future trips.

We ended the weekend sitting in the grass by the snowy river, enjoying a cup of tea and some crisps and soaking up the warmth of the sun.