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Echo crack 4-Dec-2011 At 10:14:07 PM vwills

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After a recent trip up Samarkand went well Neil and I decided we should get on the other 5 star, grade 25, multipitch trad classic in the mountains- Echo crack. I didn’t know much about this except vague recollections of people aiding it. A name with “crack” in it, and the description in the guide of sustained hand jamming should have had me reconsidering. Well it did- but I figured I could always prussic and I added a Tibloc to my harness. My hand jamming avoidance behaviour has drawn laughter from many climbing partners. I have lay backed up Kaladan. I have monoed up Windjammer, I have crimped up the Rack. I had a bad feeling that a grade 25 hand crack was not going to be so forgiving.

Although we checked the weather we kind of missed the bit about storms, and rain. We stopped at Echo Point in lovely sunny weather only to realise it cost over $4 an hour to park so drove about 500m away and walked back to the Giant Staircase to begin the descent into the valley. We had 3x #2 cams, 3x #3 , 1x #3.5 and 2x #4, singles in smaller sizes and a large hex. A second #1, another #3 and a couple more large hexes would have helped. About 5 bolt plates are needed and wires aren’t necessary, or any microcams. Tape hands well.

Walking towards the scenic railway, you can see the crack up through the trees. Leaving the trail we headed up towards it. Rubbish soon appeared. Firstly a golf ball, then beer cans, then beer kegs, shopping trolleys, street signs, chairs, park benches, wheelie bins, icecream placards and bus stops complete with timetable to Katoomba. Is it really that boring to live in Katoomba?

We had decided to do the original route rather than Silent Echo, an alternative start.
Pitch one is a chossy ramble (13) to the base of the corner and my sole contribution to leading for the day. As I pulled above the trees the lovely hot blue day had turned into thunderheads and rain in the distance.

Pitch 2 (18) was a pleasant crack/ corner with the odd bit of choss and lots of vegetation. It actually climbed quite well and had enough areas dug out to get ample gear. This is where the smaller cams are most useful. There are ringbolts at the top of this pitch so escape could be possible. However a few drops of rain did not deter Neil, though he may have had second thoughts a few minutes later as he tried to establish himself in the crack on Pitch 3 (25).

The lower section below the crack was seeping and ferns were obscuring some of the holds. A fixed wire at the base of the crack didn’t look good on close scrutiny and pulling into the crack was tricky and made much worse by the damp ooze that marred much of this pitch. A bit of sitting on gear after a heroic effort (mainly because he thought the placement was going to blow) and then shuffling the #1 and yellow link cam for 5 metres with associated moaning and whimpering suddenly saw Neil high enough to use some of our ample #3s and #4s he finished the rest of the pitch in style, wishing he had even more large cams as he ran out the last 8 metres to the belay (carrots). The degree of overhang was evident as our little haul bag for shoes and water swung out into space.

Shortly after I did a good imitation of the haul bag. After removing the first 2 cams and before getting into the crack I greased off and with rope stretch ended up nearly at the ledge. Keeping up the swing I regained tenuous contact, then repeated the process about 5 times. Eventually I managed to stick a cam back in and aid up only to slip off again. A four letter expletive may have sounded more like “slack” at the belay and I found myself getting lowered. I’m not sure how many kiddies were at Echo Point or what their parents said about the echoing swear words. However I had now given up on climbing and lunged for the next cam and then fixed wire and at least managed to pull into the crack. Did I mention I don’t like jamming? I lay back the next 5 metres and then morphed into Vanessa cam hand. With a #3 in my right hand I made good progress. A bit more air time was had after an old sling that Neil had clipped popped off. This may have made good viewing for the tourists, but by now the cloud was rising up from the valley and we were engulfed in white.

Tired from my aerial efforts, demoralised about my poor crack technique and with loud thunder claps around us I surrendered my planned lead as I could see a slow and protracted struggle. Neil did a lovely job on the top pitch (22), again shuffling cams around and pulling some moves around wet and slimy bands of vegetation. This pitch was really good, involving major stemming and invoking major calf pump. Very rusty carrots and an anchor circa 1965 completed the awesome climb.
A bit of a vegetation bash on a ledge, we got to the footpath just as it started to rain. Visibility was about 20 metres at this stage and taking a wrong turn, we completed the climb by mantling over the fence right into the tourist enclosure. For some reason it was fairly deserted.

Good fun all round.
Maybe wait for a prolonged dry spell.
I am sure Neil can add some photos and further advice....