Kalymnos 2010 - Trip Report 12 (Ghost Kitchen)

Group discussion this morning was on the mental game. What are those self limiting beliefs that are floating around in your noggin which are stopping you progressing your climbing? How might they be serving you? How can you change them? Fear of falling may be in there, but often it's only a part. What about expectations? What about worrying what others think? So we discussed the importance of training mental toughness, why falls are a non-avoidable ingredient in climbing progression and some strategies we can use to reduce anxiety and truly enjoy the act of climbing on lead. This is the good stuff! Love it. [If this is stuff you're interested in, there's a couple of good books (like this and this) or you could join us sometime and get hands on.]

So, after me scrounging builders rubbish to build a bosun's chair (pic of field testing below), we jumped in the car and blitzed to Ghost Kitchen. GK offers some quality vert walls, gently overhung tufa madness, and the best warm down slabs on the island.

This would also be the crag we would test out our new CU belay glasses. Guaranteed to make you look like a Professor of Belaying (PBe) and a complete dork, these unusual prism-based glasses allow you to see directly upwards without tilting your head. This allows you to watch your climber while maintaining a relaxed stance. It's a tradeoff of fashion sense versus neck pain. Verdict: crystal clear and pretty awesome. Bloody expensive though (about $120 AUD). If you buy three it's free shipping and no tax which brings the price down some.

Dave and Ruth reaquainted themselves with Joy In The Garden 6a after Andy's onsight while Lena and Ronsley did Achilles 5c+. Warm ups over, I belted up the main wall and commenced hanging from my fencepost with the camera. Andy was up on the sweet Remember Wadi Rum 6c which just has the most crazy tufas and blobs.

It was a valiant onsight attempt, foiled with a slip of the foot on the finale, resulting on Andy wizzing down the tufa curtain. Second shot there were no such mistakes. Tick tick for Andy "I'm a delicate flower" Lightfoot! Dave got inspired by that effort, and girding himself in his Upskill kneepads, he proceeded to knee his way up the route. It was rediculous the amount of solid kneebars he found! He was however overcome by the unusual outtro sequence and took flight. By this time the sun was on the wall and a second try was off the cards.

Dave, Ruth and Lena enjoyed the nearby Delta 6a+, and my vantage point out in space on my fencepost afforded me some unexpectedly good angles and I snapped some great shots like this one of Lena. Perhaps my fave shot of this trip so far?

We then headed down to the "skateboard slab" which hosts some great very slabby, smooth and pocketed slabs. One day I'll bring a skateboard and see if it's possible to drop in and ride it out on abseil. I slammed the draws up on Persephone 6b in my sneakers (my new hobby; 7a is my best so far), and nearly everyone climbed it clean I think. Lena absolutely killed it on the slabs, with first try clean topropes of Parasitos 6a+ and Zyklop 6a+. Sam flashed Zyklop which was notable for it's un-Kalymnian-runout-ness.

And then came Serena. "6b? I'm calling bullshit on that!" Dave had been spat off the top section of this awkward number on the last camp. Rematch time. Using good tactics ("Nah mate, I won't ruin your onsight!"), he sent Andy up to put the draws on. With his reach like a sick dog, Andy grunted his way through the overhang and with difficulty, got himself into a position to clip the anchor. Draw on. Pull rope. Go for clip. Fumble. Draw swinging. Try again. Fumble. Swear. Draw swinging in a mocking, "you can't catch me" manner. More swearing. Final scathing stare at the anchor. Fall. Noooooooooo! It was in the bag!

Suitably padded up, Dave jumped on, cruised the slab and engaged the steepness, finding some no-hander kneebars. Up in the business, Andy passed on the crucial beta "Stick your arm up there like you're helping a cow give birth!" Dave had clipped the final bolt then started to gibber. ("I only had about five seconds left!"). He then somehow wrangled double kneebars which gave him enough juice to clip the tricksy anchor. Yeah boy! What will you be doing at 60? :)

Today's fun fact:

To the belayer of a top-roping climber, a red upturned helmet on the ground broadcasts thusly: Dave has initiated a game of pebble basketball. Would you like to play? You have selected...yes.

Kalymnos 2010 - Trip Report 4 (Grande Grotta)

It's THE most famous area on the island. A truly world class cave, possibly the most heavily stalactite-laden climbing cave in the world. You call it the Grande Grotta. We call it today's playground :) Seriously, the Grande Grotta is spectacular. You've never seen such rock architecture, absolute chock-covered with dripping stalactites. It's crazy. And the routes are crazy.

We had a sprinkle of rain in the morning. That was all it took to ensure we'd have a crowd up in the cave sector, where you can be guaranteed dry rock. Because of this, Owen wasn't taking any chances. No warm up, his rope was placed directly underneath Trella 7a, the mind boggling 40m pitch of uber proportions. (Trella translates to 'madness'). He laced himself to the nines with a veritable hula-skirt of quickdraws, and set to work. Like most of the insanely steep routes here, Trella does have rest positions, and the key to climbing it is to find the rests and use them well. Whether it's riding a stalactite, copping a kneebar, or bridging between your feet and back like a chimney. Owen used them all and came to within two metres of the top of the giant beast. It was then we saw him start to shake and the cry echoed out "You've got to be kidding me!". As if sensing his plight, everyone in the Grotta stopped, paused, and then erupted into encouragement in all languages. "Allez Allez!" "Venga!" "Come on!" With his last ounce of strength, he held it together, made the final move and clipped the anchor. Cheers!

Susy's fave pitch from the last camp was Trella and she'd pitched off the finale. So there's no doubt it was going down on this trip. Not today though! It's a tough unit and commands respect every time, as Glenn found out at about the 2/3 point on his flash attempt when he climbed high, yet could not get into a stable position to clip. The resulting fall was a biggie. Maybe 8-10m? Later in the day for some extra training, he toproped the line to clean the quickdraws only to fall on the final hold! Well, we know the route won't be getting underestimated at the next rematch (stay tuned).

The route DNA 7a+ is in the guts of the Grotta and is steeeeep. Perhaps 40 degrees overhung for its entire 20m length. Huge holds for sure, but you better be able to find those rests, otherwise your forearms may explode. We asked Matt if he'd try for the onsight. "Nah, I can't onsight it - I'll try for the flash." Huh? You haven't been here before!? "Well, I watched the video on YouTube." Ahh - climbing in the modern age! After he somehow talked Susy into putting the quickdraws up for him, he didn't disappoint, with a very smooth flash of the route, finding two upside down hands off double kneebars, amongst a multitude of other rests. So, a 'hardest flash' PB for the Slab King.

Speaking of kneebars, Sam managed to wrangle her first hands free kneebar on her ascent of Monahiki Elia 6a+. This pumpy steep route had been a nemesis for the Slab Queen on previous trips, so she did really well to fire it off first try. Sheree did likewise.

And me? Well I had a ripper day running around shooting video, taking photos, avoiding doing much belaying, and I even managed to do some climbing. In fact, one of my best onsighting days I've had. It was "Attack of the Long Routes". Packed away safe and sound were Aeolia Extension 40m 7a+, Tufantastic 40m 7b+, and Super Carpe Diem 40m 7c. The 7c (my best OS grade) was a funny one, as Sam had already walked down with most of the group and as I was getting ready to climb, I realised she had my climbing shoes. So the only option was to wear hers! Thank goodness 1) my wife and I have the same size climbing shoes, 2) it's a steep Kalymnos route and footwork is optional and 3) I'm comfortable wearing ladies shoes.

Oh, and on the walk-out, I touched a goat. I am now the goat whisperer.