- Wilfred.S
Rock week: Wanaka
For our first rock climbing week at TPP, we made the pilgrimage to Wanaka, a 7-8 hour drive from Greymouth. We stayed in the beautiful Glendu Bay and were blessed by the weather gods, giving us warm bluebird days the whole week.
Wanaka is where I have lived my whole life, previous to moving to Greymouth, so this trip was a welcome home trip for me. I have already done a lot of climbing in Wanaka so I was able to share some local knowlege and tips on the different climbs.
Climbing day 1
Date: Tuesday 19th March 2019
Location: Riverside - Wanaka
Weather Conditions: Sunny with light winds, hot
Duration: 8:30 till 5
Climbs/Grade:
Dog leg- 12
Zoftig- 12
Generation x - 16
Right Ascution - 14
Supersize me - 15
Terrain spotting - 17
Narrative: our first session climbing, everyone was getting warmed up and getting a feel for the Wanaka rock, hence we didn't do anything too hard, we had a nice lunch break down at the river and we went for a swim. I showed the rest of the crew the gorge with the rocks to jump off into the river. Towards the end of the day I tried a climb called Terrain Spotting which I had tried during the summer holidays but I couldn't get up it, this time, I got up it clean.
Day 2
Date: 20/03/19
Location: Bakehouse - Wanaka
Weather Conditions: Sunny with light winds, hot
Duration: 8:30 till 5
Climbs/Grade:
Stealing candy from a baby - 17
Curiously sheepish - 14
Groover - 17
Get off that cow - 16
Where the hell is little river - barefoot 12
Narrative: At the start of the day everyone jumped on the easy climbs to warm up, which just left Tim and I to try a 17 for first climb of the day. The climb was "Stealing candy from a baby", it started with a crux move going up and around this funny overhang. This involved some funky side pulls and a wee bust of power and I was up it in a flash. This felt good to get a hard grade done early in the day and got me amped for what was to come. I ended up climbing most of the day with Tim, we did a couple more 16/17s then attempted an 18. This was not successful for either of us however, Dave, our tutor was telling us he reckons that climb feels more like a 20, which made us feel a little better. All in all it was an awesome day.
Date: 21/03/19
Location:Main cliff and Kai Whaka Pai memorial wall - Wanaka
Weather conditions: hot and sunny with light wind
Duration: 8:30 till 5
Participants:COE TWO
Climbs/grade:
The Big Corner - 14
Mainly tramping -12
Climb into the unknown -17
Kai Time - 18
Unknown name -17
Unknown name -17
Incidents: Tim was trying to climb an 18 but fell at first bolt while I was belaying. He swung into the wall and his shin grazed/smacked an overhang resulting in a graze and a small puncture wound. He required a bit of first aid to clean it up but was fine to climb the next day.
Narrative: Had a great day today, started off at main cliff and did a nice climb up a crack in a corner. Later in the day we went to upper Kai where I did Multiple 17s and an 18.
Date:22/03/19
Location:Roadside- Wanaka
Weather conditions: sunny and hot
Duration: 8 till 12
Climbs/grade:
Slightly english -18
Ara Tuatahi- 16
Unknown name -15
Participants: all of COE 2
Incidents: dad dislocated his shoulder.
Narrative: this was our last day of climbing in Wanaka, we got up early and packed up camp and got to roadside by 8:00. Dad gave me a surprise and turned up at about 9:30 to do some climbs with me. Unfortunately it didn't go to plan and on his first climb pulled on a weird angle and dislocated his shoulder. He popped it back in and tried to keep going but ended up popping it out on the very next move. This was quite devastating because it means that he's not able to go climbing or do some activities until he gets surgery.
Climbing was all over by about 12:30 so that the group could drive back to Greymouth, I however stayed in Wanaka for the weekend and ended up going mountain biking with some mates that afternoon.