Space Bolts Trip Report - Mt Greville
It’s 5:30am and we're standing in
the car park of Mt Greville National Park in darkness in the middle
of winter. A common theme being out this early amongst our climbing
crew. We fumble for our head lamps and start sorting gear.
Who has the drill, the drill bits?
How big should our rack be? Do we have spare batteries? Have we got
the cameras? We meticulously check our gear and feel confident
that we will remember what we forgot when we are too far from the car
to turn back. “Oh well” I say to myself. Onwards we go as we
regret leaving our jackets in the car on this blistery cold winter
morning.
Sorting gear on the first day
DAY 1
About 8 weeks earlier we were in the
same situation except we didn’t have a clue where we were going. However, we were hoping to put up a new adventure route on the North
face of Mt Greville. We followed the semi-accurate access
directions given to us by one of the local climbing fossil and as morning
broke we had bashed through lantana, walked passed a long-abandoned
bush toilet and passed through four or so property gates on the assumption that we
were on the right track. We took a sharp left after the assumed final
gate and as we trudged up a not so obvious ridge we were now sweating
like hell and hi-fiving our decision to leave the jackets behind when
the huge north face came in to view. “Holy Shit, this thing is
fucking huge” I said to myself. A monster overhanging orange wall
appeared to the left and our excitement hit overdrive. But reality
kicked in and we instead aimed towards the north face proper, hoping
to find a more moderate route to climb, one within our not so
talented climbing abilities. We literally bashed our way to the base
of the mountain in awe of just how wild this place was.
According to ‘the crag’ there
was hardly a route on the north face. The wall was first climbed by
the legendary Rick White and his partner Chris Meadows in 1968. At grade 16 X it was no doubt a climb well ahead of its time. As we try
to find that original route, we commend the abilities of the giants who climbed
here before us. But a question loomed………why has this wall
barely been touched since? Maybe it’s the longish approach with no
formal access trail to the base. Maybe the hardman ethics of the area
repelled any thoughts or attempts to grid bolt the mountain.
Rumour has it that Greville does not take much natural gear but who
knows? Whatever the reason, this partly inspired our decision to have
a look here in the first place. So you can imagine our surprise when
we hit the wall, looked up and saw about 15 sport climbs, one after
the other! All short routes and bolted very close together. It didn’t
seem befitting for such a wall in such a wild place, and certainly
didn’t fit with the hardman ethics of the area. A waste of time in
my eyes, people aren’t going to trudge all that way to do a couple
of sport routes.
After surveying the wall from a
pillar to the right we decided we weren’t inspired enough by any of the lines that we could see to
start blasting up the wall. We would walk along the base and see if
something else caught our eye.
We found a line! It was a line of
weakness to the left-hand side of the north wall, just in front of a
prominent pillar and it looked like it would provide access to a major
ledge on the wall. To my dismay, Hamish racked up after winning a
game of rock, paper, scissors and took off. In typical fashion,
his first 2 pieces of gear were at the first and second anchors
respectively! Easy climbing other than the stiff 10m Chimney that
would break your legs if it spat you out! Turns out these 2 pitches
were in vain as you can access Space Bolts from the right hand side of
the large orange overhanging wall we had spotted earlier.
This took us to where we would start
our climb at the top of a gully. In the spirit of climbing ethics I
racked up before anyone had the chance to put their hand up. I badly
wanted the first pitch! Off I took up the obvious line of weakness
between the middle of the 2 huge prominent orange walls of the mighty
north Face. A dicey move off the deck, some drilling from an awkward position and I
had the first hanger in about 8m up. We had heard this place didn’t take trad gear
so I was stoked when the first pitch went mixed with bomber gear and
3 hangers. Job done! It was now Hamish’s turn on point. Alex
came up behind me to belay Hamish and give me a break. With the
adrenaline subsiding, I rapped to the ground. I’d shat myself
enough for one day and didn’t feel like hanging around in the fall
line of potential rock bombs accidentally launched by Hamish.
Hamish is the boldest in our
climbing team and with time getting away from us, I wasn’t
surprised when he put all of 2 bolts in the next 45m pitch. 2 pitches done. We were
having problems with the tru-bolts and after installing the 4th
spinner we made the decision to retreat and return with flush
heads. Homeward bound we vowed to return to finish the route. 3-4
pitches to go!
Alex Climbs the 2nd pitch. Run-outs mandatory!
DAY 2
As we walk towards the cliff I get
the usual pangs of anxiousness and wonder why on earth we do this.
With a wife and 3 kids it seems ludicrous to most but I remind myself
why I love it. It’s the process, the adventure, the unknown and
pushing through your limits. It’s the thrill of living to the full!
Our team is buzzing with excitement
as we discuss the pairings, the objectives, the gear and everything
else for our 3rd Yosemite trip next year. Another common theme when
we get together.
Fast forward through the approach and we’re 2 pitches
up. Alex has negotiated a death block at the pitch 2 anchors and
worked his way passed a head wall. A fine piece of climbing mastery!
Hamish and another friend Tony have decided to avoid being missile
targets and have decided to film our ascent from an adjacent ridge.
Matt and I are hanging at the belay when suddenly we hear “ROOCCCK”.
I look over to the ridge and see a massive rock trundle towards the
ground. Tony has dislodged a precariously placed boulder. “Thank fuck
we are in the middle of nowhere’ I say to Matt as the rock
obliterates itself on the way down.
“OI CU%*S. YOU BUNCH OF FUCKING
ROOKIES. DON’T FUCKING ASSUME NO-ONE IS AROUND. YOU ALMOST HIT ME
YOU FUCKING CU%*S”
“Oh fuck
this is bad!” I say to Matt. I look over to the bottom of the ridge
and see a man running up the ridge towards Hamish and Tony. “This
is really, really bad” I repeat. Then it was on – Hamish, Tony
and the unknown man about to punch on in the middle of Mt Greville,
on a knife ridge! The man was repeatedly threatening to “take it to
the car park”. Hamish finally settled the man down after about half an hour. It was clear that he did not hear the rock call but his
response was completely unwarranted. It was unnerving for sure. If
you’ve ever done a first ascent you will understand the process and
how dangerous it can be as you tread new ground. Runouts, loose rock,
heavy racks and awkward climbing. I turn to Matt and say, “forget
about what just happened, let’s just focus on what we are doing
cause this is the sort of distraction that will get us fucked up”.
Excitement firmly over we get back to business.
Alex's pitch continues up over slippery
walls and then left up a stunning ramp. He finally sets an anchor on a
cracking ledge and calls me up. As I work my way up on delicate moves
I marvel at his bold lead and congratulate him when I get to the
anchor. I’m in awe at how our team steps up when called upon. He
has paved the way for the summit push!
Matt joins us at Pitch 3 anchors and
prepares to take the lead. That means we will all have lead a pitch.
As part of this journey we all wanted to contribute to what we hope
will be a classic line up the stunning north face. I’m moderately
concerned at this stage of getting benighted. It’s 2pm so we'd
better check the essentials. “Head torch – Check. Phone –
Check. Lifesaving Jacket – DAMN IT!” Shit happens, we can always
cuddle if shit goes down. With this in mind, Matt takes off and
follows the line of weakness around the obvious lip we are under.
Some delicate slab moves and 2 bolts later he’s found a bomber tree
belay on a wandery route that adds to the character of this adventure
climb. It’s now getting really late in the day and I’m ready to
get off this mountain. That’s enough fun for one day!
Matt Leading pitch 4 – the wandery pitch
I grab the gear and take off before
Alex gets to the pitch 4 belay. I have difficulties due to the
sloping nature of the rock and I bang in a couple of bolts. A hard
move or two later and I’m on easier ground. Another 50m runout and
I’m there! As the sun drifts low in the sky and the temp starts to
drop I reflect on a sensational day out with the team. Hamish and
Tony have come to meet me at the top as I belay Alex and Matt to
victory. What a day!!!
An inspired adventure by a team of
very amateur but committed climbers. Mt Greville is a fantastically
wild and crazy place and I hope our climb will inspire people to get
out there, push your limits and have some fun.
Jay MacGechan 2017
The summit proper. What a day!
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