We left Brisbane for Mt French while it was still dark, the day already hot and humid by the time we arrived at the top of Frog Buttress.
Joe lead 'Piranha' (20) and Tony, Shaoxing and I seconded. The climbing was hard but good, I still struggled at the chimney and a section of crack climbing, but I made the ascent dripping with sweat.
Joe and Tony left to climb a different route while I lead the first pitch of 'Witches Cauldron' (12). A nice easy climb to practice leading on trad. I had climbed that route before, but this was my first time placing my own protection.
That was climbed without any problems, so we decided to end the day on 'Clockwork Orange Climb' (14). I started leading and was going well until the crux, an awkward move up a short crack section. I couldn't commit through this section, so I lowered to the ground in shame while the others easily climbed it.
As penance I lugged all the climbing packs to the top of the cliff, not a very long distance but the combination of the heat, my hike from the previous day, and a bout of insomnia the night before caused it to be a struggle.
We packed up and after a quick stop at Boonah for a cold drink we started back to Brisbane.
It is very frustrating being terrible at crack climbing, hopefully it will click sooner rather than later and I can start to tick off a few more climbs there.
Still, it was a fun, if exhausting day, and placing my own gear felt good. With the onset of cooler weather I'll have no excuse to visit Frog Buttress more often and start climbing better!
More photos here
