Ascents in Caves Area by Kurt Doherty

Fine to the crux. Then no clue. Hard tensiony positions. Couldn't really piece a viable sequence together so had to dog through. End would definitely be pumpy.

Easy done this time. Great wall climbing. I take back what I previously said about the anchor placement...it's fine, I just wasn't using a good sequence to equip/clip them. With the anchor clip sorted, this feels on par with some of the vert 24s I’ve done recently. [5]

Gear on. Ended up going for the send as I felt really comfortable at the fourth. Punted at the anchors. Spent some time looking at alternative clipping positions and found a really solid, game changing sequence that makes so much more sense than what I've been trying.

Heartbroken. Whipped from the second last hold before you step onto the ledge. Short sit on the rope, pulled back on and fired it off easily. Still lacking power endurance today. Could have been a send with a little more try-hard. Really good wall climbing but those anchors are still stressful haha

Six years since I first tried it Casually up to the hard part. Sat at 5th and 6th bolts to double check sequences and brush holds. Climbed poorly through the last section and was quickly reminded that I hate the anchors on this. Equipping them should not be the crux lol. After taking the whip and having a whinge, I got the anchor draws on, sorted out a better sequence past the last bolt and came down. -1 star for the anchor placement but otherwise really good climbing.

Warm up and TR setup for Mum. She did outstanding on this. Smashed out the slab start in good style, then proceeded to crank through the steep terrain to the start of the cracked face. She had to sit here and at the next two bolts, but once through the step-over, she cruised to the anchors! So good!

After Matt's send. Dad did really well on TR too. This really is an excellent route. Was pouring rain when Matt got down, so I just went up on TR to get the gear off fast.

Felt 23 the way I did it. Was well flamed by the time I got established in the short upper corner section. Proved a bit much for the neck/shoulder so called it a day after this one, but glad to clean up a very old dog.

Felt tentative on this with a bad neck/shoulder, but got through okay. Still a classic.

Filling in time while Jack rested before giving one final shot on Screaming Rage. Probably should have done something new...

Warming up after Jack got the draws on. My left foot slipped as I went for the hidden hold. I then proceeded to break the left footer as I tried again. Ended up using quite different beta than Jack to get through to the jugs. Worked moves to top without too much drama. Really quite good and a shame I slipped.

Stuck the hidden hold and punched through to glory. Stoked to get this second go when I wasn't very confident I'd stick the crux without refining beta, but it all worked. Great climbing.

Warming up. Really great climbing.

Warming up

Cleaning gear on anchors after Matt top-roped Hangover Overhang.

TR setup for Matt. He only just missed the crux. Doing pretty well for his first time here.

Neo Nasi Goreng was a bit tough for Matt, so we walked round to do this. He did well on second, only taking a quick sit at the crux after getting out of sequence.

Cleaning gear after Matt.

Good little route. End of day mileage. Felt tired.

Jug life, thug life. Very good value. First bolt is epic to stick clip...rock holding the gate open got caught against the hanger. 9kN is plenty for a top rope fall right? Haha! Couldn't believe our chances.

Storm missed us, so more climbing! Bolt to bolt to remember sequences. Really enjoyable climbing, but definitely a pumper! Left hand finger didn't enjoy the crux though, so decided not to push it. Will have to do some proper burns next time.

Great climbing! Made me think quick once I rounded the lip. Got on this to get another route in before the massive storm hit, and very glad I did. Not bad for 22.

Warm up

Climbs much better than it looks (like a lot of routes here). Flash attempt came undone when a footer broke off in the upper corner section and sent me flying. Such a bummer! After 2 days of hard climbing I only just made it through the crux by knee barring onto my left hand. Getting my hand out without falling proved difficult to say the least. Haha!

Went for a proper attempt. Climbed to the crux well, but messed up sequence getting into the crux, wasting energy and making one of the moves a lot harder than it should be. Dogged to chains checking beta. This route definitely saps you!

Very cool climbing with a great bouldery crux. Dogged to anchors but got some decent linkage of moves in and out of the crux. Really happy to pull the crux moves first try and just generally sort out the moves pretty quickly. Exciting to realise this is definitely in my ability.

Not as interesting as it's harder neighbour, but served pretty well as a warm up.

Pretty stellar line. Feels like a good entry at the grade with no move too hard. It certainly builds the pump and the finish is a heartbreaker! Took a whipper two moves from the anchors on the flash.

Definitely a classic. Great variety of rock, just wish the headwall was longer.

Great little number. Short but probably worth at least one star.

Decent warm up. Some nice climbing on rock that seems more solid than it looks.