Howdy howdy, sorry for the lack of updates, its just that I’ve been away a lot recently having fun and what not. In any event, here we go. Last weekend, I finally made it out to Castle Hill with the climbing club here at UC. We left Saturday morning, and pretty much had an incredible incredible wonderful amazing oh-my-god-this-is-awesome good time. The following is my trip report along with some pictures, some of which (notably most of the ones of myself) were taken by my buddy Dan, who’s a great photographer. Check out some of his other stuff on his Flickr page, it’s quite good. I’ll also note that this post utilises a great amount of climbing lingo, so if you’re not a climber, don’t worry about all the technicalities…

The first day, we went out to Quantum Field, a large area in the main section of Castle Hill to wrestle some pebbles out there. The place is really amazing, with just so many rocks everywhere. It’s beyond your wildest dreams.

So we started out at the Submarine boulder, which is actually at Spittle Hill, but after that we headed over into Quantum Field. The first thing we jumped onto was Ode To Joy, a highball V1 ultra classic problem, well within my ability. I was given the chance to onsight, and feeling good about my climbing after having flashed a V4 on the submarine boulder, I went for it and got the onsight. Quite exhilarating, and a wonderful problem too.

After that, we headed further into quantum field to check out this hidden super cool V7 arete, The Phoenix. I wasn’t really expecting much, as I hadn’t ever even sent a 6, but some of my strong buddies had been projecting that arete for a while, and I wanted to check it out. Don’t have any pictures of that, alas, however, I think it could totally go within the next few weeks if I keep climbing consistently – I felt pretty damn good on it, and I’m just stuck at the crux. My one kiwi buddy did send, so that was awesome for him, especially as it was a long standing project for him, and it was his first V7.

So I played on The Phoenix for a bit, and then did some fun V1’s and a very Castle Hill style V4 called Curvature, given a 3 star rating (which I’d totally agree with). That was a great little problem, climbing much like some of the stuff I’ve climbed before at Horse Pens 40 (in Alabama), really necessitating trusting of the feet and of course a tricky mantle. Good fun though.

After hanging around for a bit, my couple buddies told me they were checking out a sweet V5 and V6, so I went over with them to check it out. This is when I went into the Cauldron. It’s literally a huge cauldron, with a few lines going through it. We were working the V6 there for quite a while, and after a lot of refining of beta, I finally managed to send! I was so stoked, as it’s a great problem, and of course, that was my first V6 ever! Couldn’t think of a better place to climb my first V6 also. Here are some pics of myself sending The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, V6. These are some of the ones that my buddy Dan took.

After that, we headed out to climb on the headlight boulders. I flashed a V4 out there right before we all left the field for that day, but alas, no pictures…

That night we stayed at a field research station in the nearby outpost of Cass owned by UC. By outpost, I really mean outpost, there are no shops or anything, and maybe 3 or 4 houses there. So yea, pretty far out there. It’s a really nice place, and the club provided us with a (very foamy) keg, so that was enjoyable. The pictures are of and around the research station.

The next day, after breaking into someone’s car using a coat hanger, only to find the keys on the counter inside, we headed out to Flock Hill. This area is another, and apparently even larger area that’s all part of the Castle Hill Basin. The rock is still limestone, but tends to be a bit more featured than the stuff down at Spittle Hill or Quantum Field. The really special thing about Flock Hill is that you can’t just go there any given day – you need to receive permission from the farm manager, as the land is on an active farm. Our club was able to receive permission, and we headed out there. Parking along the road, and then walking for about 30-45 minutes, we finally made it to the top of the hill were the Flock Hill boulders were.

Initially when we got there, I helped a buddy set up a slackline, but after a failed venture which included tipping over a huge ass rock (the wonders of physics!), I got to some wicked cool climbing. Being that there’s much less traffic at Flock Hill due to the access restrictions, there’s no real guide book (at least to my knowledge), so it’s kind of an area that you can just run around and think to yourself, “Ooh, this looks neat, I’ll climb it!” which is always fun. The first climb I got on was this really cool V4 ish, with some neat-o pockets and really cool movements going for it. I think one of the coolest things about it was that everyone that sent was able to do so with different beta – super cool when that happens (and especially when it’s not the short person beta versus tall person beta… I’m looking at Red Arrow down at Horse Pens…). Worked that for a bit, and finally figured out my own way to go about it, and sent.

After sending that problem, I wandered around and found the most gorgeous climb I think I’ve ever seen. I think it’s called the Classic Runnel, and it’s a V4. It’s simply a singular runnel (a water groove) going up the side of the boulder. So gorgeous. The first time I did it I used the bucket jug at the top, but I just had to get on it again and send it clean. Such an awesome climb.

After that I played on the Hundred Times Slab, and got really close to sending, but not quite there. I suppose I haven’t tried it a hundred times, so yes, that will be one to come back to at some point or another. After playing on that slab for a while, we headed home, as it was getting late in the day. Unfortunately, weekends end and reality is something that, as much as I don’t want to, has to be dealt with.

Here are some more pictures of the area just around Flock Hill, it’s really quite incredible.

This next picture shows just how far Flock Hill is… See those boulders all up on the top of the hill? That’s the Flock Hill Boulder. And this picture was taken probably about 2-3km from the car park along the road…

And of course, the Canterbury valley stayed filled in with clouds all day long…

All in all, it was an incredible incredible trip to an even more incredible and magical place, and I’m hoping to make it out there numerous times again before I come back to the states. And please, no comments on how dangerous some of this stuff is that I’m doing – I only do it if I feel comfortable. (This comment goes out to you know who…)

Lastly, we just had our Easter break, which was awesome, and I’ll try to post something up about that semi soon, but yea, it takes time, which I don’t always have…  In brief, and to whet your appetite, I went to Abel Tasman National Park and the Golden Bay, which includes Paynes Ford.  Until then, cheers!