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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Grampians	Halls Gap	Halls Gap Area	(General)	[ Grampians Guide \| Images ]

Topic Date User

Advice sought - climbing around HG 18-Nov-2013 At 11:47:43 AM Will_P

Message

On 15/11/2013 jrc wrote:
>How serious are you about climbing i wonder? The first thing is to give
>yourself a full weekend rather than 2 half day trips. You leave Melbourne
>at 7 on Saturday morning, its light at 5 or soon after. That's when you
>should be pulling into the car park (or rolling out of the pit having driven
>there the night before).
>
>Hence:
>
>Tip 1. Forget Booze nite Friday
>Tip 2: Camp in the open that way you'll wake with the birdies
>Tip 3: Get up & Climb
>Tip 4: Go to a crag
>
>Climb as much as you can Saturday and get back to camp at dusk. You can
>cook in the dark can't you ? It doesnt have to be gourmet. Keep off the
>coffee Sat night it'll stop you sleeping.
>
>Sunday wake at 5 & climb as late as you can whilst still beign able to
>drive home safely. At least you have the sun setting behind you when you
>are going east.
>
>Tip 4: wash face & hands & feet before driving
>Tip 5: ensure you can both drive & swing the sharp end
>Tip 6: dont stop for a 2 h dinner have a burger somewhere
>Tip 7: get a car with lights
>Tip 8: make sure the lights work & you;ve got a spare
>
>This all worked in the 70s, dont knwo why its so hard to work out today.
>
>
>Drive ho
>

JRC – geez bro, I didn’t realise I had to justify everything I wrote, but now that I know:
1) I’m leaving Melbourne 7am Saturday because that’s when my climbing partner can get away. He’s working late Friday, doesn’t trust himself to drive after 12+ hours building houses, and lives in Geelong. I trust his judgement in this.
2) I’d find cooking in the dark pretty hard actually. I usually cheat and use a headtorch. Soft, I know.
3) Coffee at night might keep me awake? Far out. Thanks, that’s helpful.
4) Hygiene tips also appreciated.

I could cover every point, but I’d be wasting both your time and mine. Point is, I understand your post. I really do. I’ve been there. I’ve seen stuff posted that makes me want to write a response that makes ODH’s ‘Everest Pants’ comeback look like a helpful, friendly tip.

So I know just what you were going through when you responded. Maybe you haven’t climbed in a while, maybe you’re injured, maybe you’re just not making the progress you want, maybe you worry that your best days of climbing are behind you, maybe you’re just having a bad day.
Then you see a stupid question on a climbing forum (the OP even practically admitted it was a stupid question! What a tosser!) and you see your chance. By making this idiot look like a soft wannabe, a convenience-and-comfort seeking poser, you can make yourself look and feel like an old-school hardman again, a real disciple of the Stone Masters; Jim Donini, Mark Twight, and HB all rolled into one.
So BLAM! You give this newbie what they deserve.

But you know what dude? It’s a bit like when you were going through a religious phase as an adolescent, but, as an adolescent, jacked off every now and then. Momentary relief, but then, the guilt… have I erred? Was it worth it? Or am I just a wanker?