was whipped…. Words Jenny Cossey, photos Jessica Thorn Climbers in action on Cathedral Wall, Pohara …by the ‘Red Viper’ rope that hurtled down ‘Pussy Dancing’ at great speed and displaced the contents of the freshly brewed coffee in Paul’s hand all over him, there was a small pause in the conversation. The second whip by Red Viper soon followed and the sandwich in Eric’s hand was dispensed to the bushes. The third and final whip by ‘Dominatrix’ Rosie’s Red Viper knocked the apple core out of Dion’s hand. Her belayers and men folk were now in order. After his whipping, Eric returned with his old beloved rope friend ‘Caterpillar’ (of Paynes 2017 fame) to his project on Bo Peep Slab, Red Tape(25). Paul’s cheers of encouragement were in vain as the stiff, sluggish and unbending rope failed to help Eric in his quest. Defeated, but not despondent, Eric summoned the next rope to appear and a new belayer with rope in hand rose up to the challenge. Jess brought forth the smoky blue rope named ‘Stella Blue’ to help Eric with his project. It seemed it was the duo he needed to finally succeed. As he humbly enjoyed his victory, Jess claimed MVP and the rest of the team played in the sun on the high, flat sea facing walls of Cathedral Rocks. In the evening sun we relaxed with beach strolls, hot showers, vegan dinners and wine, followed by a deep slumber while pukekos conversed all night in the neighbouring paddocks. Meanwhile Doug, Alexis and their partners were face to face with the night demons at Paynes 24 Hours of Pain, having to “not spoon” in the graveyard hours while curled up at Upper Tenuite without a sleeping bag or mat. Doug (NZAC Victoria) emerged the next morning victorious (46 routes) with his buddy Matthias (43 routes). Their names on the new hanging rock trophy at Hangdog Campground are there for history. The team at Rhinoceros Wall watching Marie work out the beta on ‘Rhinoceros’ [19] before attempting it themselves Stacey pushing her boundaries on ‘Stella Blue’ [19] late in the afternoon. A very vertical and long single pitch climb at Cathedral Wall Rosie returned to her Dominatrix role on Sunday, surmounted Paul’s muscular shoulders to reach the first hold on R for Ranger, D for Danger, but failed to reach her goal once she was out of arms reach of his arms. Sun lizard Jenny quietly slithered up Temples of Stone in style with MVP Jess putting her top notch belays skills to good use. Margotthe dark horse boulderer - applied her level headed approach to bouldering to the vertically challenging sea cliffs of Cathedral Rocks before surprising herself by summiting Temples of Stone. Marie decided to start projecting. Her first project being Rhinoceros, a mini 24 hour project with Stacey. Numerous new possible data combinations were compiled and her vocabulary related to failure was greatly extended. On her final climb of the trip Marie completed her project, planning to return next month and commence on a real project. Matt had other conquests on his mind in between climbing, and disappeared off on a 30km training run for the upcoming Molesworth Marathon. Jane enjoyed much of the sun and scenery but was very much fascinated by the 24hours of Pain happening over in Paynes Ford, thus joining the late night trip to cheer on the few climbers still pushing on. Barnaby showed great enthusiasm and bravery as he had a crack at Eric’s project. Many were pleased that there was another that was willing to tackle such tough climbs with him. Although our last morning had him hastily cleaning his coffee pot explosion that covered the entire table and floor in coffee grinds, just before Tina arrived to her laid breakfast table. Tina was a wonderful climbing companion for Barnaby. Always seen with a great big smile and showed so much enthusiasm as she climbed on through the weekend. With tired and tender fingers, egos bruised and boosted, and summer tans started, we returned to Nelson to fly home. Plans for the return trip to the new shelter at Hangdog in a month were discussed in great detail. Top left - Jenny and Margot climbing into the morning sun Bottom left - Eric smashing out ‘The Great New Zealand Clobbering Machine’ [22] before the end of the day Top right - Doug and Matthias, our 2018 winners of 24 Hours of Pain at Hangdog Camgrounds (Photo Stacey Wong) Powered by volunteers We’re always thankful for volunteers and members stepping forward to help the section run smoothly. A lot goes on to keep our club going, virtually all powered by volunteers. On the back page is our “Club on a page” summary. It gives an at a glance description of all the things we do, how and why. Feel free to print a copy and pass it on to anyone who might be interested in becoming a member or volunteer. And if you’d like to learn more about how you could get involved, please email us at wellington@alpineclub.org.nz. Role Name
