Solo Madness

Weekend of the 15th May 1999

We stuffed four climbers into Poul's slowly disintegrating Falcon wagon and did the long haul to Arapiles. The cars front tyres are so bald they are practically slicks so when it started raining we all got a little worried. Luckily we made it up without mishap and got the tents up before the heavy rain started.

The campsite was overflowing with climbers and at least three school groups. It was a long weekend in South Australia which accounted for the huge influx in the Pines. It was one of the busiest days I have ever seen, by mid morning every classic route had climbers on it and the Organ Pipes were a squirming mass of coloured ropes and climbers. I had a burning urge all week to tick some nice long solos at Arapiles before the weather turned into the unpredictable mess that winter usually makes it. Before anyone else from our group had woken I was hiking up to Muldoon for an early morning ascent. I was rather annoyed to see a group of three guys already struggling up the first pitch. I went and investigated my second option - Agamemnon 40m 11. This is one of the classic easy routes of Arapiles, a fine juggy wall to start then a massively exposed chimney which widens near the top giving delightful face climbing. I had never been on it before but decided it was worth a shot anyway. The climbing was great and the chimneying was superb, nothing like that horror show Carborundum Chimney on Tibrogargon. The final move is a wide step from one wall onto the opposing side. Without ropes this was a fairly scary proposition but I managed to pull it together and do the move. With adrenaline flowing I scrambled back down the chimney and hiked back over to Muldoon. The group had only just made it to the top of the first pitch and there was still two people to second it. Frustrated I started bouldering on the wall left of Muldoon. I scrambled up onto the ledge and checked out Surface to Air 30m 17. I had done this route onsight with Marty in '96 and it looked easy. With no real intention of soloing the climb I bouldered up the first moves. They felt really easy so I kept on cranking upwards. Before long I arrived on the halfway break feeling very calm and collected. Soloing is a bit of a meditative experience. At no time do I ever feel like I am exposed or that the ground feels far below. The only reality is the moves in front and the upwards direction I am travelling. There is no sense of panic or fear - its a very addictive feeling. I continued up the jugs surmounting a few bulges and finally topped out on my equal hardest solo. I quickly scrambled down Agamemnon again and lined up at the base of Muldoon to wait for the final guy to finish seconding the first pitch.

You have to take care when soloing around people climbing. If they slip off and fall there is a great chance that they can knock you off also. I made sure I kept at least five metres below anyone who was climbing above me. I slunk along behind the last guy in this fashion and was soon at the crux bulging mantle. I pulled it off easily and positioned myself on the small stance above. The next moves required a long reach to some okay holds. I was just short of these holds when I was standing on the ledge so after numerous attempts I finally committed to standing on some little slopers and grabbed the holds. It was a little tense there for a moment! I scrambled up to the ledge that the three guys were belaying from. They looked a little worried when I asked if I could overtake. They had just watched me solo the other two routes so urged me to go ahead. I finished the second pitch without problems and again descended down the chimney.

Abandoning any thoughts of roped climbing for the day I moved down to the bustling Organ Pipes. A few people had watched me on the other solos so cheered me on as I started up Fiddle 30m 15. The crux was in the middle and involved a trickery laway on a sloping sidecling. I forced myself to slow down as I was beginning to really speed solo, lunging for jugs and not checking for loose rock. From the ledge above this route I choose a good second pitch, the continuation of Conifer Crack 40m 9. This was a fine jug haul up a small corner which led to a bladed sharks fin pillar. The last pitch went straight up this fin to a precarious summit. I soaked up the sun on this little perch for a few minutes then downclimbed the fin and scrambled back to the base. The crowds in the area were getting rather annoying so I headed right and quickly soloed the delightful Pedro 36m 10 before a bumbling Swiss climber and her guide could get on it. It was still only early morning but I felt I had done a good solid days worth of climbing. I retreated back to camp and stocked up on water and ate my breakfeast. It was quite an early morning warmup.

The other guys had already left so I headed over to the Watchtower face and lined up on Arachnas 123m 10. I soloed slowly behind a guy seconding the first pitch. It was nice and relaxing as I sat down on the various ledges waiting for him to get the gear out. I eventually passed this group on the first belay and cranked upwards. I got slightly offroute around the third pitch and had to climb a blank face on little sloping nubbins. It felt like about grade 14 and was fairly freaky considering the immense exposure. I completed the route in about twenty minutes and was down on the ground before the roped group had even gotten onto the third pitch. I met up with Poul and his Danish friend who were climbing a really sweet little 18 called Heuy. Poul had just go the onsight and his friend took a few falls on second. I was keen to have a go at this great little finger crack so I constructed a harness from a few slings and got Poul to throw the rope back down. I seconded very easily, finding the climbing delightful. I quickly ran way from the area as it was almost a climb I would feel comfortable soloing. I didn't think I should be pushing my limits that far.

My next route was Siren 166m 9, again on the left side of the Watchtower Face. This route gets three stars in the guide but I found it fairly average. The climbs goes up a juggy Tiptoe Ridge style wall for about seventy metres to a large ledge. On the ledge I discovered a young Italian climber girl attempting to remove a wire. I sat down on the ledge a few metres from her and waited patiently. She had her back to me and obviously had not noticed my arrival. When you solo you don't have any of those tell tale loud gear rattling noises and belaying calls so its very easy to go unnoticed. She struggled for several minutes with the wire and finally I called out a suggestion to use a rock to bang it out. She jumped and spun around, amazed that I was sitting just behind her. Luckily she didn't go nutso and push me off! We got the wire out and I followed just behind her up the rest of the pitch. I passed them at the belay and climbed the fantastic wide layback corner at the top. The crux was fairly hard smearing and leaning right out against the flake. The fronts of my rockboots had torn open revealing my inside toe so were rather crap for smearing. It was okay for climbs like this though. Rather than walking down the closet gully I decided to downclimb Tiptoe Ridge 130m 3. I found the top rather scary especially when you start with the most exposure. It looked a long way down to the ground and for once I had to look at the height the whole way down. I re-energized with some drinks and food and made my way quickly to the last big climb of the day, Eskimo Nell 114m 10. The weather had soured by this time with large grey clouds billowing over the ridge above. I didn't have a guidebook so guessed the direction of the climbs upper section. The first pitch was delicate wide crack climbing up a polished slab. I found the moves fairly hard and committing for the grade. Next was a short chimney then a really committing step across a void from one wall to another. I grabbed the jugs on the other side and swung up with no feet. I was now poised at the start of a superb grey slab with some intricate little holds. This was delicate slabbing, very different from the jug fests that I had been cranking for most of the day. As I was halfway up this slab the wind picked up, bringing with it the stinging cold of rain. I climbed as fast as I could until I reached the safety of a little cave. I couldn't work out the moves from this stance and soloed back down twenty metres and traversed across to the right. The rock started to get really crappy and lichen covered so I guessed I was off route. I reversed my traverse and reclimbed back up to the cave. I traversed left from the cave and found some chalked up holds through a bulge. I took the chance and climbed upwards as the rain started once more. I was practically sprinting now heading for the far off summit. The climb had really turned on an evil appearance with the lack of sun. The dark grey and black rock loomed around me and kept tricking me into thinking the top was just out of reach. After what seemed like a good one hundred metres of easy wall I finally reached the top ledge. The sun burst through the clouds as I made my way back towards the summit road and the descent track. The temperature had dropped to the low tens so I packed it in for the day and did some light bouldering then retired to camp.

The night was spent in a light drunken mood sharing tales with about twenty international climbers. I got heaps of beta for our US trip and met some very cool climbers. Eventually the days activities took their toll and I escaped to the tent and the much needed sleep.

The next morning Nick was the first awake and bristling to go. I was feeling strong once again so we headed up to a climb I have always wanted to do, the three star Orestes 20m 24. It is the classic well chalked stemming corner and wild hand traverse located on Flight Wall just above the camp. Gareth had saved this route and gotten the onsight and I very much wanted to repeat his effort. The crux is the thin stemming section near the start then it relentes to steep laybacking and finally the infamous hand traverse. I cranked the lower crux without much problem and found a great no hands stem half way up. I de-pumped and kept on going. The protection fell into place without me even trying and the two cams I placed were the right size first go. I rested on a good hand jam below the final traverse and swung out across on big holds clipping the crappy upside down piton halfway along. The traverse was seriously juggy and quite easy so I cranked onwards and topped out on my onsight!!! A grade 24 onsight is not my normal style but I was mega happy with this effort. With a big grin across my face I belayed Nick on second and he got up cleanly.

Nick had a project on his mind, the very infamous hand crack Wizard of Ice 40m 20. The route description said 'good training for Buffalo' so we both taped up. It climbs a slick overhung groove on the left side of the Agamemnon chimney. It has a reputation as being a very big sandbag and gnarly. Nick did us proud with a controlled and precise onsight of this terrifying looking line. The bumbly instruction group doing Agamemnon next to us looked petrified as Nick swore the whole way up. I think they might have been some Christian Youth Group or something. I bit the bullet and started up extracting Nick's gear as I jammed like a madman. The jamming was fantastic and felt really secure until suddenly all the footholds blanked out. I fought and fought trying to get some friction on the ultra slick bulging wall but gravity eventually got the better of me and I whipped off. After a couple of more falls I eventually worked out the high step sequence and continued up the line. The climbing is really technical stemming and jamming. You have to make sure you have the right hand in the right jam or it doesn't work at all. Nick loved the route and I thought it was also great. It is very different for Arapiles as it is basically all jamming with no face moves or jugs.

I then decided to do the line right of Agamemnon, Electra 45m 19. From the ground it looked like a great handcrack and an exposed arete. I jokingly racked my new size #6 cam and set off up the bouldery start. The initial moves were horrendously hard and I only just managed to jam up the slimy crack. Above this I was horrified to see that my 'hand crack' was a solid ten metres of overhanging offwidth with scant holds on either wall. I wrestled my way up this evil feature, leap frogging my big cam up. At one stage I got a great no hands, no feet rest by squeezing into the offwidth and exhaling. It wasn't the most comfortable rest position, and it was rather hard to breath! The offwidth finally thinned down to a spectacular handcrack up an arete. It was another great 'traditional' style climb for the day. Nick led a groovy little climb called Necrophilliac 25m 16 which I seconded in my new aid climbing hiking boots. They edge really well but are not very good for subtle smearing!

We then headed over to another old style route, Reaper 65m 22. I got the lead of the first pitch, a grade 21 technical pocket fest. I struggled with the very thin holds and shallow pockets and almost pumped off before discovering a hidden pocket just to my left which made the move easy. I setup a hanging belay off wires and Nick cranked into the second pitch. It follows a huge sickle crack which is obvious from ages away. He struggled on some slopers and eventually fell off. He got back on, battled through the first crux and met the second shortly after. He disappeared out of sight and all I could hear was loud huffing and puffing and not much rope progress. After another fall he climbed quickly, did some grovelling and emerged in the belay cave. It looked like a really sustained climb and I quickly pumped whilst seconding. With lots of effort and skating feet I managed to do the pitch cleanly. The end is desperate sloping without jugs. This climb only gets one star in the guide but deserves far more. Nick and I vowed to return.