Canberra Climbers’ Association Introductory Sports and Top Rope Climbing at Kambah Rocks

The CCA held an “Introductory Sports and Top Rope Climbing at Kambah Rocks” afternoon on the 4th of December 2007. Huey the weather god was smiling on us with sun and warmth, which was a change from the rain and thunderstorms that we’d had for the previous week. I turned up at the Kambah Pools carpark at about a quarter to five, and chanced on Gavin (a.k.a. Iceman) getting his gear out of his car boot. We slogged up the path that follows the river to the crag together – it always seems so much quicker when you’re with someone who’ll walk the same pace and talk climbing crap.

We arrived at the tourist lookout over the Kambah Rocks crag to find evidence of climbing activity all over the place. There were slings and ropes tied off on anything that would hold them and plenty of people at the bottom of the crag. I peered over the safety railing of the lookout at the small crowd below and yelled “rock!”, just to see who would look up. (Yeah, OK, small things… ). A quick hop down the access track and we were at the bottom of the crag with the troops. There must have been at least ten people there, in various stages of climbing, belaying, or just hanging out and talking. Kambah Rocks had been transformed into a climbing gym!

I checked out the scene for a bit and thought that the ‘sports’ idea had been a bit ambitious. Even though there are some bolted climbs on the cliff, the bolt plates looked like there were home made from galvanised angle iron about twenty years ago, and the bolts looked less trustable than a junkie in a drug deal. Needless to say, everyone was top roping. I had a chat with Chip, a Canadian guy who is on sabatical at the ANU, who was belaying on The Bummer (14). I had done the climb a couple of times, so I started to give some beta to the guy on the climb, who was having a little trouble on the crux. This just prompted Chip to hand me the rope when it was free to “show us how it’s done”. No problem, I got up and through it. Gavin then had a go, and climbed it with much better style. Chip then had a go, and I realised we had all climbed it differently each time. So much for beta on that one.

Gavin then suggested we have a go at Vandalism Behaviour (17), the climb to the right of The Bummer. I asked him to go up first while I belayed, so I could see how it was done. Another stylish climb by Gavin, who came down saying how crimpy the top was and that you had to move through the crux quickly. I tied in and had a go. I was pleased to move up and through the crux without too much problem. A little crimpy, but plenty to hold onto.

I then took a break for a bit, and watched the guys having a go at the climbs in the centre of the crag - Standing Room Only (21), Scrofula (22), Closed Circuit (20) and Charlotte Sometimes (19). Gavin wanted a go at Closed Circuit, so I belayed him with my new GriGri. I warned him that it was the first time I had used a GriGri (I’m old school figure of eight or stitch plate), but I was assured there was nothing to it. A quick double check of how I had rigged it, and he was off. The climb starts with a small overhang, then follows a rounded arete with a series of small blocky holds and not much for your feet in places. Without much trouble Gavin banged the top and asked to be lowered. I was initially shocked when I looked down at the GriGri – the fricken thing’s pulled apart! I then realised that was what it was meant to do as part of the camming action. I pulled up the small handle and worked out how to lower with it – Gavin had to endure a bit of bouncing until I got the action smooth. I then had a go at the route, cheating a bit by dynoing over the overhang at the start, then making it halfway up to where the crux was, but started to loose forearm and hand strength as I searched for somewhere to put my left foot. Flagging fast, I asked Gavin to take me on the rope, I then had a couple more goes at the crux from a hanging start, but my strength had gone. I was lowered to the bottom, rested a bit, then had a couple more goes at the start of the route, but my energy was spent. At least I have some training goals now for strength improvement.

We sat down for a while and watched the others, a few people turned up and a few left, but there was still plenty of climbing happening. One of the ladies was having a go at Prosthetics (18), but the start was a bit slippery due to the recent rain, and the actively growing Blackberry bush at the base of the crag made the start a bit more interesting. We were joking that the climb should have two gradings – with and without Blackberry bush, and that is was there to make sure you didn’t fall off on the start. The others finished having a go at the route, and Gavin roped up and went for it. The route zig zags a bit, following a corner with an overhang in the middle. Again no problems for Gavin as he moved left of the overhang and up and over the top to the finish. My turn then. I faltered a bit on the start until I tried a different approach. I got to the overhang and couldn’t quite make the move to the left, everytime I stepped left and tried to smear on a sloper it would slip due to the dampness, which required a lot more armwork to get across. Again my forearms began to flag. I rested and had a go a couple more times but it was time to call it a day. I could see weeks of forearm curls ahead of me. Next time this climb would be mine.

The light was starting to fade and everyone had done everything they wanted to do, so we started to pack up. There were eight of us left in the end, so I figure there must have been 15-20 people there over the course of the afternoon. At the top of the crag we discussed getting some new anchor bolts put in place, while some of the lucky ones sipped beers (note to self – don’t forget beer or camera next time). We headed back to the cars, talking more climbing crap (sorry, everyone agreed that Melbourne was a crap place for climbing, and that Sydney was the best, but I reckon Canberra has a lot going for it). Half of the group headed off up through the cow paddocks, which is the shortcut to a closer parking spot, while the rest of us head back along the track to the car park. We all agreed that it had been a top afternoon and that we should have more – well done CCA.