Phaedra

It started a few months ago after some friends and I tackled the classic route 'Ruby of India' on Mt Maroon. Rather than hike back down the trail we instead abseiled off a nearby anchor, lowering down a thrilling section of the eastern face. What is this route, and can we climb it?

Detailed information of the route was hard to find, but eventually we came across a decent description of 'Phaedra', a 120m grade 22 M1 climb. A mixture of trad, sport and aid climbing on a very exposed section of rock. It sounded like quite an adventure and the seed was planted to attempt an ascent.

The day arrived, a perfect autumn Saturday. Under clear skies and cool weather, Chris and I left Brisbane and drove south to Mt Maroon. Arriving early morning we hiked to the top the mountain, set up an abseil, and descended the route to determine the where protection was available, and to get an idea of where to create trad anchors for the ascent.

We took our time to inspect the line, knowing that the climbing would be exposed and run out, and gear placement would be sparse in sections. Once on the ground we geared up, and started our attempt. Chris would lead all three pitches, being the stronger climber and having the knowledge and skills for trad climbing that I lack.

The first pitch was grade 19, made harder by the thin ropes twisting upon themselves, making it harder to feed the rope out as Chris was climbing. It was slow going while I tried to remedy this, and eventually I sorted it out without incident. Not a great start to what was already tough climbing.

Chris created a trad anchor using some small nuts and a cam in a thin crack, and it was my turn to climb. Ascending on top rope is less challenging physically and mentally, but the climbing was still tough and enjoyable, I soon met up with Chris at the belay.

The second pitch, grade 20, began with little protection available. A fall here would send Chris crashing into me, to lessen the risk I couldn't stand on the small ledge at the belay, instead hanging off my harness clove hitched to the makeshift anchor. It was my first time on a hanging belay, which could have been terrifying (especially seeing the size of the nuts standing between me, gravity, and the ground a long way below me) but I was enjoying every minute.

With steely determination Chris climbed higher, breathing a sigh of relief when he was able to clip a quickdraw into an old piton wedged under the small roof below the second permanent anchors. Over the roof and Chris was safely attached to the belay station and I was climbing again.

I climbed the corner section, enjoying the crimping, smearing, bridging and jamming moves up and around the arete. I arrived to the roof where some fun moves took me to the top of the second pitch. I was relieved to clip my safety tether to some large stainless steel bolts drilled into the cliff, took in some water and chocolate and began to belay Chris on the third and final pitch.

Again the start offered little protection, to Chris's credit he didn't falter and after more run out climbing he arrived at the bolt ladder. Imagine four bolts drilled into an overhanging featureless wall about 10m high, 100m above the ground. This was the 'aid' section, unclimbable without the use of nylon ladder. Lacking one, we improvised using quickdraws and short pieces of nylon slings. Reaching up to the bolt to clip a quickdraw, then grabbing the newly placed gear, pulling up, standing and reaching as high as possible to clip the next bolt, and repeat. Using slings as foot and hand holds Chris eventually made it over and disappeared from view.

He had reached the crux (grade 22, run out). A steep, featureless headwall, with three bolts very spaced out which would require climbing on impossibly thin holds, 110m about the ground. Any mistake here would send him falling far below the overhanging bolt ladder section he had just ascended.

Slowly I fed rope out, further and further as he continued to climb. Suddenly a yell and a scream, it took me a moment to realize it was in joy rather than anguish, he had made it!

It was my turn, and I started up another steep corner. The climbing was precarious and thrilling, and I eventually arrived at the bolt ladder. This was conquered with a lot of sweat and hard work, one handed pull ups while trying to get my feet on any holds I could find, while reaching to try and grab the next bolt. Lots of fun, with a pretty incredible view below.

Past the last bolt I found a nice jug just at arms reach, I pulled up and a few moves later I found myself on the headwall we had abseiled over six hours earlier in the day. With the end in view I started the final section. Fingertips searching for any leverage available, the thinnest of holds for hands and feet. Slowly, with a few false starts, I climbed. The last few metres gave way to some better holds, and a few moves later I was standing at the top!

Phaedra had been conquered! Chris and I were ecstatic to have ascended such a challenging and amazing route. We sat down, ate some well deserved chocolate, drank some water, and took in the phenomenal view in the late afternoon golden sun.

With light starting to fade we packed our bags and made our way back down the mountain with rubbery legs but feeling elated. The blood red sunset eventually gave way to dark, we arrived back at my car and cracked a cold beer to celebrate our achievement.

It was extremely satisfying to tick off 'Phaedra', easily one of the top climbing highlights in my life. Now to find another project!

More photos here

Climbing Mt Greville

Time for more exploring! On a gorgeous Autumn morning Marie and I took a trip out towards the Cunningham Gap to check out some rock walls we hadn't climbed before. There is nothing better than journeying to a new crag and discovering great new climbs in a gorgeous location.


We arrived at a car park at the base of Mt Greville, geared up, followed the hiking track to Waterfall Gorge before descending into the ravine through a cloud of butterflies.

After checking out the crystal clear rock pools nearby we followed the dry riverbed upstream, through narrow sections flanked by high shear rock walls, under tall palms, over dead and decaying trees until we glimpsed our destination high above the canopy.


Towering over the tree tops stood a narrow rock spire, marking the beginning of the 'Wizard's Sector' wall. Veering off the hiking track we scrambled up the bank, through too many spider webs and lantana bushes, until we arrived at the base of the wall.

After trying without much luck to orientate ourselves (the guide wasn't very specific) we decided to jump on the nearest climb for a warm up, accidentally selected the hardest route on the wall, 'The Capitalist' (30m, grade 21). It was a great climb, every move felt technical, hard and committing, but the view from the top was fantastic and well worth the effort.

It was getting late in the day but we decided we couldn't leave without climbing the iconic spire so we set off up 'The Imperial Wizard - Left' (40m, grade 19). The climb started up a ledgey wall, before rearing up to a vertical face with thin ledges and big committing moves. Climbing higher the rock condensed into the rock column visible from below, and it was exhilarating to climb up the exposed face. Reaching the top was incredible, standing on top of the spire high above the gorge, the golden afternoon sun shining over the valley below. Simply amazing.

After Marie had climbed we made our way back down the gorge, stopping at the rock pools for a quick splash of water on the face, and back to the car. We took the scenic route home around Moogerah Dam and returned home to Brisbane.


A fantastic day of climbing in a beautiful location, hard to beat!

More photos here

Bouldering at White Rock Reserve

Taking a break from outdoor climbing, I spent a Saturday morning bouldering at White Rock reserve in Browns Plains.

Damien and I set out looking for some decent spots, and we settled on climbing at 'The Underground', a great sandstone cave that offered shelter from the sun.

Fun and pumpy bouldering, with the majority of the problems being mostly horizontal with featureless mantling to finish. Definitely a good workout, I'll be back to work more problems soon.

More photos here

Tradventure on Mt Maroon

Ever since I heard there was rock climbing on Mount Maroon I wanted to tackle a route. I have done the hike to the 966m summit before, but very few multi-pitch bolted routes exist on the rock so going trad was my only option.

Only one problem, I don't have the experience or skills to properly lead a trad climb. But I know someone who does!

Chris, Evangeline and I set off to Mt Maroon before dawn on a gorgeous Saturday morning, driving through farm lands shrouded in mist, until we arrived at the start of the hike.

Gearing up for the climb, we set off around 7:30 AM on the trail which would lead us to the east face, and the route we had selected to climb.

An hour later we arrived at the gully, we left the track at this point and scrambled around rocks and boulders until we found the start of the Ruby of India route.

 

I must admit my resolve was briefly tested when I saw the east face wall loom high above the ground, knowing that in an hour or so I would be placing my life in the hands of small cams and nuts placed in the many cracks on the wall. But fear is the mind killer, and I was with experienced trad climbers so rationality quickly overcame any doubts I had.

The described route had five pitches at grade 16, but with no bolts or anchors to follow we were able to choose our own adventure. Chris was leading all the pitches, and using his judgement he set the first belay station with only a few metres of rope left on belay. We climbed the harder variant pitch, roughly a grade 18, but nothing out of our range.

After Evangeline and I had joined Chris at the top of the first pitch, he set off again, setting another belay station over 60m above our ledge. The climb of the second pitch was even better, with lots of exposure and different types of climbing, and the higher we got, the more amazing the view became. It was such a thrill to look far below and see the ground through the haze.

One more pitch of about 30m took us to the summit, we climbed up and over the edge feeling exhilarated, it was a tremendous thrill to finally tick Ruby of India off my list!

After a brief rest we decided to abseil instead of making the hike down in climbing shoes. We searched for a set of ring bolts set into the rock and set about abseiling down. We tied our two 70m ropes together, and I set off over the edge, down the vertical, featureless cliff face. After untangling the ropes I scrambled along the cliff face until I found the next set of anchors, attached my safety cord and settled in for Chis and Evangeline to come down.

Once they joined me on the ledge we started pulling one end of the rope through the rings above. The aim was to pull both ropes down, feed a length through the second set of anchors, retie the ropes and abseil the last 60m to the ground. Halfway through pulling the ropes through we realised we had forgotten to until the safety knot (so we couldn't abseil off the end of the rope), which then proceeded to get stuck in the anchor rings above. We were unable to climb up the cliff (using the second rope for safety) as the cliff face was featureless.

We decided to abandon the stuck rope, fix the remaining rope to the current anchor and abseil down using a single rope. It was getting late in the day, too far gone to hike back to the top to recover both ropes, so we headed back to the car for an ice cold beer and returned to Brisbane, planning to return the next day.

Another early start on Sunday took us back to Mt Maroon where we set off at a fast pace to hike to the summit. I carried another 70m rope, we reached the top, freed the stuck rope and abseiled back down to the next fixed rope. Checking for any knots we pulled the ropes through, retied and abseiled back to the ground with all three ropes. Back to the car for another beer, then home.

After a weekend full of adventure I returned home on Sunday sweaty, sore and exhausted. I'll be back to lead and find my own way up Mount Maroon, but for now I'm content.

More photos here

Double Island Point Camping

After a rainy weekend of being stuck indoors courtesy of some cyclones bearing down on South East Queensland, I needed to get out and spend some time in the great outdoors. Luckily a friend of mine had just bought a 4wd and was keen to take it off road for the first time. The timing couldn't be better.

Needing no additional urging I threw a few things in the back of my Patrol and we took off north to Double Island Point for some beach camping. We arrived on Friday night, set up a small camp, had a celebratory beer and retired to our tents to the sounds of the crashing waves.

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning, it is hard to sleep in when the morning sun comes streaming into your tent. We fired up the kettle and sat down on the dunes with a hot cup of fresh coffee.

The skies were clear and the sun hot even in the early hours of the day. Naz was keen to get put some sandy kilometres onto his Pajero so after lunch we drive to the north shore while the tide was low. I went for a swim in the beautiful clear cool water, while Naz walked up the beach to do some fishing.

Twenty minutes later he pulls in a 58cm flathead, caught on soft plastics, which went straight into the esky for lunch.

We made our way back to camp, for another coffee and toasted hot cross buns and relaxed in the heat of the day. After cooking and devouring the huge flathead fillets for lunch, I took Naz for a drive into Rainbow Beach for supplies (ice and beer). We were back to camp in the late afternoon, and after a session of beach fishing catching nothing but small dart, we settled in for the night with some ice cold beers.

Shifting our chairs to the dunes we ate dinner in the dark, under clear skies, watching the lights of the trawlers out at see and listening to the crash of the waves.

Another early morning start as the sun came streaming in the tent, we took one more drive to the northern side of Double Island Point for a swim and some more fishing. Once again there were only small fish around, so we drove back to camp for breakfast and more coffee. Feeling the sting of the sun even in the early morning we decided to pack up camp and head home before the heat got too oppressive.

We made short work of the camp site, and were heading back to Brisbane while the tide was low.

A fantastic weekend, perfect weather to relax on the beach. Apart from the horse flies at plague proportions I couldn't have asked for a better weekend getaway.

More photos here