Ascents in Queensland by Kurt Doherty

Decent climbing. First pitch was pretty straightforward for the grade, everything else was pretty casual scrambling. So good to get outdoors and top out Tibro. Was pretty hot, but cloud cover and a good wind kept things sane. We simul-climbed from the midway rap anchor of pitch 2 to the top. About an hour on the wall. Descended via caves route to cave 1 then rapped down Zeitgeist.

Clean to shield but not enough endurance. Happy to remember all the beta though.

"Warm up" dog.

Left foot pinged at jug below crux. Bummed, but unlikely that I’d have made it through.

Gear on. Super humid, no breeze, hard crux. It’s really good though.

Gear back on for Matt. Tough little crux on this one; I used hard beta but worked out something better on the way down that Matt used to send.

TR up for Mum and Dad. Mum sat once on her first go, Dad flashed it on lead, then mum sent it on TR.

End of day send. Almost came off turning the lip, then again above the second last bolt. Blew another big chunk underfoot that almost hit Jack. Much pump, many screams, lots of choss. Great movement, but never again. [3]

Back on after Jack worked out alternate beta sans the useful blob. Was pretty scared the other blobs you crank on through the start were going to blow unexpectedly too

Flash attempt abruptly ended when the massive blob I was kneebar-ing exploded. Big, back-first whip into a small tree Was maybe 1.5m off the deck and only just to the side of the slab you belay from. Too close, not fun.

Second bolt to the lip of the cave was great. Spacing between first and second was a bit yuck and some chossy rock at the start. Anchor bolts are too close together too. Probably not the worst route here, but definitely not the best.

Okay chimney-ing to a steep little crux.

Just enough in the tank to pull through. Had to climb fast though. Great punchy climbing! I really rate this and Waterline. Thanks Ross! [2]

Onsight attempt ended at the second crux. Got suckered into bad tick marks and only just made it to the jug below the fourth; by that time I had the lactic glasses on and couldn't see where I was meant to be going. Sat there, then worked out the rest pretty easily.

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!

Only just. Was working pretty hard from the fourth on. Thought the broken hold was going to make it more awkward/difficult, but didn’t seem to make too much difference.

Warm up. Pretty tired and low on power today, despite not having done much this week.

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.

P1 only. Failed to read the route description properly and thought there was a midway belay that Mum and Dad could top-rope on. No bueno! Went up after Matt to clean the gear. In hindsight, I should have given P2 an attempt, but I wasn't warm at all and I wanted to get the others on different routes.

Cleaning gear after Matt's onsight.

After Matt. Dad had one sit on this on TR.

Warming up after Matt. Dad sent this on TR after warming up on Snake Charmer.

No clue on how to pull off the ground on this either. After trying this and Figurehead a bunch, I called it quits to save skin.

Struggled to pull of the ground... same deal for Cannon et al

Best of the three that I did. Fun movement through the undercling to the lip.

Good, but a bit awkward having to avoid the obvious blocks at the base.

Short but fun. Rock is coarse.

Linked to the start of first traverse but using too much energy to get there. Pulled through okay after a sit and sorted out most of the movement from there to the last kneebar before the main crux traverse. That traverse will need a bit of work...not sure Rick or Jack’s beta will work for me. Touched the first dyno but couldn’t stick it. Was pretty smoked by that point. Such fun climbing.

Warm up and gear on for Matt. He sent!

Was pretty low on energy and psych today but jumped on this anyway; definitely boosted my psych a bit. Super fun even though I only went about halfway. Everything up to there seems pretty doable for me; will be interesting to see how I find the upper half next time. Looks well hard but really good.

Fell moving to the good kneebar at the last bolt. Was a bit scrappy through the crux too.

Warm up and gear on for Matt. Was inefficient and had to sit at the crux to avoid flash pumping.

Flash attempt failed trying beta that made no climbing sense. My fault for following what I was told. Found a more straightforward sequence. Great consistent climbing on this; keen to come back for a send attempt. Great line Jack Kilsby!

Had lunch and a long break after Jack's send to make sure I felt good enough to go again. Cruised all of it and got to the anchors feeling nicely warmed up... Overall, I think this is 24; lots of jugs and kneebars and overall quite short. Initial roof may be hard for shorties though. [3]

Worked out a much simpler sequence for the initial roof section. The rest felt good; refreshed sequences between kneebars etc. Finish felt quite awkward this time; couldn't remember what I did last time I was on it. Quite hot today and came down feeling pretty fatigued.

Came out late afternoon to get out of the house. Matt and co had been here all day and were finishing up so I had a quick lap on this. Conditions were very wintery today and the route felt completely different. Found a workable sequence to and past the last bolt to the ledge. Confirms that this probably needs good conditions for me, so I think I'll leave it for next winter. It's actually pretty cool climbing for three/four bolts.

Happy with my beta up the middle of the route. Still struggled to piece together a viable sequence to and past the last bolt before the ledge. Dogged past and scoped out the finish. Think this may need winter conditions.

Bolt to bolt from start to crux. Sorted out a reasonable sequence to start the hard part off, but had no chance after that. Well hard and definitely not my style. Gets quite thin.

Gear on and warm up. Tired today; had to grab the anchor draw after placing it. Clipped across to Staring Down The Line on the way down and put gear on it.

TR up for Dad. He managed a clean ascent! Super good to see after being off rock for a while.

TR up for Dad. He did well; found moving above the first bolt a touch hard, but worked a sequence out then went from there to the chains.

Some interesting movement in sections. Holds I used felt surprisingly solid despite looking like dried mud. Definitely some recent breaks, so I wonder if it's harder now. The way I climbed the start, I'd suggest 17, but I didn't bother looking for an easier sequence when I lowered off, so could just be due to poor choices during the onsight. Will be interesting to see how this route evolves...

Was blowing up on this. Combination of the route being much more consistent than I expected and reading things a bit poorly. Should be pretty good when it cleans up more. 21 felt right for my onsight, but could be 20 if climb more intelligently

Warm up. Gear on Darklight for Matt on the way down.

Climbed the start really well, but forgot to take draws (sigh), so had to come down. Climbing back up with draws, I pulled off decent chunk of rock that almost hit Matt Managed to stay on and had no issues getting through to the anchors. Fun climbing, but not as nice as others round here. On the soft side [3]

Warm up and cleaning gear.

Cleaning gear.

Dropped the start like a muppet. Went from first bolt to anchors. Should have been a send.