Ascents: Ascent of Corner Route by Drew Fenton

	Grade	Route	Gear style
Mon 5th Jan 1998 - Fortescue Bay
The Candlestick
	18	★★★ Corner Route - with Brad Miller	Trad 110m
This climb was intended to be the original normal route further around the scramble and past the tote. Along the way the directions got muddied, and when Brad and I saw this wonderful corner feature, we figured it would be an easy climb. How wrong we were. Back in 1998 there were no signs of previous activity, no bolts, no nuts, no tat, and we were feeling anxious. We abseiled off into the unknown off natural anchors, wearing a life jacket of all things, wondering what rock features might help us down at sea level. We got lucky in that there was a sloping stance about 4m off the water with a crack suitable for a BD hex. I set anchors and Brad followed. We left the hex in the crack so that Brad could tyrolean across and stay dry. I often wonder about my hex. Did it last days or months in the salt spray before disintegrating? The swim across was a bit freaky while on belay, and getting onto the slope was a struggle due to the 3 m swell. The key was to grab the seaweed stalks which were as big as your arm while at the top of the wave, and then climb on the stalks above as the water receded and get clear of the swell. The climb itself was thought provoking and awesome, apart from halfway through the second pitch, when I pulled a loose block which was teetering and moved. I used anchored quickdraws to ensure the rope was clear, even in the event of a fall further up. When Brad seconded and was clear, of the block, he helped it fall. It hit the belay ledge smack bang and shattered into what seemed like hundreds of bombs which set the sea alight. I figure it was about 30 kg, which would have taken out the belayer if it had fallen accidently. This took us all day as we were very slow. A kind hiker that we had spoken to at about 2pm across the chasm in the afternoon had unknowingly alerted the SES about our location and when we were not back by dark they started the callout to get a rescue party activated. Yes, we got back close to midnight, but at least we made it before they set off to save us. Yes, this was a mega.

This climb was intended to be the original normal route further around the scramble and past the tote. Along the way the directions got muddied, and when Brad and I saw this wonderful corner feature, we figured it would be an easy climb. How wrong we were. Back in 1998 there were no signs of previous activity, no bolts, no nuts, no tat, and we were feeling anxious. We abseiled off into the unknown off natural anchors, wearing a life jacket of all things, wondering what rock features might help us down at sea level. We got lucky in that there was a sloping stance about 4m off the water with a crack suitable for a BD hex. I set anchors and Brad followed. We left the hex in the crack so that Brad could tyrolean across and stay dry. I often wonder about my hex. Did it last days or months in the salt spray before disintegrating? The swim across was a bit freaky while on belay, and getting onto the slope was a struggle due to the 3 m swell. The key was to grab the seaweed stalks which were as big as your arm while at the top of the wave, and then climb on the stalks above as the water receded and get clear of the swell. The climb itself was thought provoking and awesome, apart from halfway through the second pitch, when I pulled a loose block which was teetering and moved. I used anchored quickdraws to ensure the rope was clear, even in the event of a fall further up. When Brad seconded and was clear, of the block, he helped it fall. It hit the belay ledge smack bang and shattered into what seemed like hundreds of bombs which set the sea alight. I figure it was about 30 kg, which would have taken out the belayer if it had fallen accidently. This took us all day as we were very slow. A kind hiker that we had spoken to at about 2pm across the chasm in the afternoon had unknowingly alerted the SES about our location and when we were not back by dark they started the callout to get a rescue party activated. Yes, we got back close to midnight, but at least we made it before they set off to save us. Yes, this was a mega.

Ascent of Corner Route by Drew Fenton

Ascent filters:

Route filters:

Climber filters: