We started out early hoping to get some climbs in before the stifling heat kicked in, but we lucked out and had a perfect day of climbing. Cloudy skies but a cool wind that kept the worst of the heat away.
It is great to walk down the scree slow and be greeted with beautiful cracks as far as the eye can see. Chris, being a trad / crack junkie, had a few climbs selected so we started up 'Theory' (14) which took us up to a ledge for some more routes.
Once there we climbed 'Moonlighter' (16) and 'Southern Comfort (19). The later had a great lay back start for a few metres, then the crack contracted so that only the to the barest of fingertips would fit. A few metres on some nice holds appeared and it was face climbing the rest of the way. I took a few attempts of top rope before Chris lead the route in style.
We rappelled back down to try some more climbs, with Chris urging me to try some pure crack climbs. I tried to resist the urge to climb the face, relying on jamming my hands, forearms and feet in the vertical crack. It was skin shredding stuff, but didn't seem to work for me. A skill that will only get better with practice, but not something you can learn in a gym. As usual, Chris breezed up, climbing in his element.
Luckily while I was sweating, groaning, swearing and making excuses, he was in a beautiful belay spot. I joined him at the top of Century (16) and relished the late afternoon view.
Wanting to make the most of the day we had just enough time to get in another two climbs. We climbed 'Horse Drawn Zepplin' (16) and 'Electric Mud' (13), finished up for the day just at the sun went down over the Great Dividing Range.
Back to the car park for a quick beer, a quick huge meal of chips at the Dugandan Pub, then back home for a well earned rest.
Frog Buttress is an amazing place, I definitely need to practice my trad leading and crack climbing skills. Always good to have climbing goals, and having a world class crack climbing crag in my backyard makes for perfect motivation.
More photos here
