Ascents in Waitaha / Canterbury by David Jefferson having sport-cpr or ascent-date

Repeat to equip Big Red.

Good connies and slight beta refinements were the winning combination for the send. A bit of an anti-style for me, requiring some serious power endurance. Feeling ready for some of the more stout Cave objectives now!

Felt a bit goey at the top today with all the damp lichen.

Felt better than last week.

Bit of a one move wonder, but straightens out the line.

Wet.

Had to fight to stay on at the top, pumpy!

Took two goes to repeat this one today. A fun pumper.

This thing wanders all over the shop, featuring some cool moves and positions. Had to work for the frictionless mantle at the top!

Warm up and warm down.

Warm up and warm down.

Finally dry at the start. Soft for the grade, but fun and juggy.

Climbed past the crux on the third go, only to ping off on easy ground when I got lost. Got it done without too much drama in the end. Chuffed to send my first 28 since moving to NZ, and quickly finish off one of the routes on my 2022 tick list.

Warm up.

A contender for the worst route I’ve ever done. Wet, dirty, minging hard crux right off the ground, then an awkward ramble. Had to do it though, as it’s one of the few grade 24+ routes at Britten than remained to be ticked. Not recommended for any other purpose!

Almost finished with all the low hanging fruit at the cave, will need to start on harder objectives soon.

Warm up.

Repeat, hanging draws.

Warm up.

Warm up.

Warm up.

Warm up.

Warm up.

Warm up.

Another day, another lap.

Warm up.

FFA. Hardly remarkable, but the holes were drilled and I’m running out of hard routes at Britten. Actually a fun little V6ish boulder problem.

Warm down lap.

Second go of the day, fourth day trying the route. Easily the most tie-ins I’ve ever had on a 25, and still barely managed to clip the anchor. Surely something has broken since the FA, it’s well hard.

Always fun.

The last of the McCallum Elvis routes goes down. Fun and quite continuous from the 2nd bolt to the chains.

Training day for the Bluies this weekend!

First go, but had tried it once before. Fun and a fair bit easier than the standard version.

The crux crimp came off in my hand but managed to stay on and send. Dirty, but decently fun, especially in the upper crack.

Felt chill today.

Probably 22 the way I did it, going left at the finish. Rather contrived not to though, as the ledges naturally lead left. Once and done!

This link up has possibly been done before, but if so I can find no record of it. Worth a lap in any case, sustained and good the whole way. The start of Raj still goes easily without the glued hold, it should be left off.

Easy repeat today. Fun boulder at the bottom but the top is rambly and needs an independent finish.

Finally took the time to figure out how to climb and protect this one. Could probably use its own first bolt now that this wall has been thoroughly retrobolted.

For Britten, I reckon this route is a classic at the grade. Consistently interesting and good rock quality. Only problem was the profligate ticking of holds. Since I only used 25% of them, I’m still claiming the onsight. Buy a brush people, and bloody use it!

Always a pleasure, though a bit wet.

Good to repeat this one, fun, powerful climbing.

Still like this one, still not sure about the grade.

Hard to believe that this line was just lying in wait, smack in the middle of one of the most popular cliffs in Chch. It required minimal cleaning, and it climbs surprisingly well. A worthy addition to the crag IMO, but I am biased! Hard to grade, could be anywhere from 23 to 25, so will need more traffic to confirm. Get on it!

Lap 4.

Running laps today, 2x2 back to back.

Lap 5.

Warm up.

Warm down.

Done on pre-placed gear, so could have been better style and maybe I’ll return for a proper red point one day. Gear would be finicky to place on lead, but possible. I climbed to the right of the topo line, not sure how most do it. It’s easier this way, but also protectable without top roping half the route or soloing. Happy to subtract a point or two, as it’s still a cracker of a line.