Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Non-climbing applications of climbing strength 30-Jul-2010 At 1:19:41 PM kg

Message

My climbing strength (and ability) just got me into trouble during a recent trip to Bali.

I used to body board quite a lot when I was younger so I decided to go out at Uluwatu when I got the chance. I pulled into a big left hand barrel but didn't make it out the other side. Thanks to my improved grip from climbing I was able to hold onto my board very tightly and hurt my shoulder. I then lost both of my fins while getting tumbled around.

Now the story gets interesting. Uluwatu as a very strong rip and if you miss the entry and exit point you are faced with a very hard paddle to get back to it. Faced with a busted shoulder and missing fins I watched the point rapidly fade from view with no hope of being able to fight the rip.

Most people in my situation would have simply gone with the rip until they get to Padang Padang. Unfortunately, as I was floating along I noticed a section of cliff that looked like it was about grade 3 scramble for about 20 metres. Using my climbing abilities I managed to get within 5 metres of the top, which is way higher than I would have dared if I wasn't used to climbing. The rock looked pretty chossy so I was being careful and didn't have any problems until I got within about 5 metres of the top. At this point a large handhold snapped and I almost fell. Considering the consequences of continuing, I decided that my climbing abilities were not helping me at all and down climbed off the cliff to get back in the rip.

A fair way down the coast I managed to find another place where there were some rocks that led to a disused temple I could scramble up. Many lessons learned on this day....