The Onsight Chronicles

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This is the old blog.

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After some years it is time to kiss the Textpattern blog platform good by. We will leave this old blog running as a kind of archive.

Hope you like the new site!

Today I’m starting work on a whole new web site. The new interface will make it a lot easier for me to update this blog and the gallery and that, surely, will be a good thing.

It’ll take me a while to get everything sorted out so in the meantime expect a lit of broken links. My apologies for that. I will leave this old blog up and running until I can transfer all the old blog posts across to the new database.

Fingers crossed… now where to start…

Busy times! Almost too much going on right now to stop and write about it but I’ll try to start playing catch up. Firstly, some big news!

Over Easter Aussie climber Lee Cossey made the first ascent of what I think is one of the last great lines on one of the world’s greatest cliffs — the immaculate glowing orange Taipan Wall in the Grampians (of course). The route takes a very cool line joining a series of pockets, scoops and edges up the proudest part of the wall — between Naja (30) and Groove Train (33) — all the way from the bottom to the top of the wall in one cleverly conceived 55 metre pitch. Lee named the route Sneaky Snake and graded it 33 (8c or 14b).

Lee first bolted the line some ten years ago but since he lives in the Blue Mountains, some 13 hours drive away, attempts were few and far between. Originally he bolted the route as a fully independant line but a few years ago Lee worked out the current route which climbs the first seven metres of Naja before traversing in. The direct start is still awaiting an ascent; if your name is Chris Sharma or Adam Ondra, then that could be for you.

Sneaky Snake’s crux comes high on the route; it’s hard and it proved to be a real heart-breaker — which also dealt out some serious air-time due to the clips that Lee was skipping on his redpoint attempts. Ben Cossey (Lee’s brother) who had made the first ascent of the neightbouring Groove Train commented that Sneaky Snake may well be the harderst route in Victoria. Lee of course is no stranger to establishing classic hard routes at the cutting edge in Australia, such as his Saturation Point which I reported last year. Personally I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Sneaky Snake in time turns out to be harder than the 33 that Lee has proposed.

I knew Lee was getting close on the route and Easter was his only chance to try it for a while, so I took the opportunity, packed the car, and blasted out the long drive to the Grampains so I could get some shots. On my third day there Lee was getting close but no cigar. On day four Lee came insanely close to sticking the crux on his first shot but split a tip. Things weren’t looking too good. Lee taped up his tip, had a long rest, then gave it a final shot. This was his do or die attempt, perhaps his last real shot for the trip. But this time he stuck the crux and pulled it off in style. A great piece of climbing and an amazing route for sure.

The following shots were taken on the actual ascent, you’ll soon be able to see some of my other shots from this shoot as they are published.

Great job Lee!

My lovely wife, Monique Forestier, has been getting some good press for her climbing lately — hard-earned and thoroughly deserved as it is. This time she has put in an appearance on the cover of Australia’s Rock magazine, pulling off a hard and rather (not sure if this is the right word for it but what the heck…) “ballsy” deep-water solo out – and down – to the end of a stalactite 10 metres above the South China Sea, at Turtle Cave, in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. I don’t know about you but I was pretty damn impressed by my “old lady’s” (just kidding honey!) efforts on this one.

I believe the route is about grade 26 or 27 for starters but height wise it also goes way above my comfort zone for deep-water soloing. In our group only Monique and Lee Cujes (from Upskill Climbing fame) stepped up to the challenge. They both fell off from high on the route on their first attempts when holds broke, but then after a bit of ummming and arrring they both decided to give it another shot — and they both succeeded. I was stoked to have witnessed a very cool bit of climbing — from them both — and also to have captured the moment with my camera. The elements (especially the boat in the background) came together a bit better in the shots of Monique and I’m really pleased that Rock Magazine decided to use it on their cover.

Monique’s article about our fabulous Vietnam trip appears inside the magazine — alongside a bunch more of my photos from this really stunning destination. Be sure to check it out!

And here’s one of the shots that I got of Lee.

Blue Mountains climbers please note: there is a change in the access situation to the Cosmic Country and Freezer climbing areas. Access is no longer allowed past the Dargan Spring Resort and an alternative, longer, approach from near the Dam Cliffs is now required. There is information on the guidebook update page here. Yeah, I know this is not good but at least access to these primo areas is still possible.

Hmmm, speaking of which, here are a couple of recent shots that I took at the Freezer for the new guidebook...

Allie Pepper walking the SWALK (22). Incidentally Allie is currently in Nepal about to attempt the “Big E” without bottled O2, you can follow her progress on her blog.

Julie McVie leading Old Blobby (20).

I’m stoked to have scored the cover photo on Rock and Ice Magazine’s 2011 Photo Annual. The photo is of Monique Forestier (my lovely wife) on Superstyling, a fun and rather exposed roof climb at Point Perpendicular.

As you can see on the cover graphics, I’ve also got a little feature inside the magazine where I give away some of my climbing photography tips — and even a few secrets! I wrote almost a thesis on the stuff I’d learnt shooting climbing over the years and then the editors at Rock and Ice eliminated the waffle and turned it into something far more readable. I like their edit and hope you’ll enjoy the article if your interested in that sort of thing.

There are several other images of mine inside the magazine as well, including this one of Adam Ondra flashing Jaws (8c), at Kalymnos in Greece, as a nice double-page spread.

Thanks Rock and Ice, it’s a great issue and I’m delighted to be a part of it.

We’ve got our new Blue Mountains climbers guidebook back from the printers and it looks sweet, damn sweet! It’s always good to see a project completed but I’m very happy about this little book and nailing the reproduction is the icing on the cake.

Selected Sport Climbs is a trim little 112 page book which is perfect for sport climbing fanatics and short-term visitors to the area. It covers over 500 routes at the 11 best sport climbing crags: Diamond Falls, Medlow Bath, Shipley Upper, Centennial Glen, Porters Pass, Logan Brae, Boronia, Bardens, Bowens, Dam Cliffs and The Freezer.

Selected Sport Climbs is a fun book, barely weighting the equivalent of two quickdraws, lot of new photos, a different design and “tick lists” so that you can track all your sends. But if you are looking for more areas or trad or mixed-gear climbing then I’d still recommend the more comprehensive Blue Mountains Climbing guidebook which covers 2700 routes at 45 areas.

Check it out, preview the design and order Selected Sport Climbs here, or from our online shop here. And it will be in shops this week.

Once again I’d like to thank the amazing contributors to this and the previous guidebooks for their incredibly generous and invaluable help and input, most especially Mike Law, Glenn Short, John Smoothy and Niall Doherty. And I’d also like to thank the climbing community generally for the overwhelming awesome support and feedback that I have received regarding the 2010 book. I’m really encouraged and fully intent to continue work to accurately document the Blue Mountains climbs and produce top-quality publications. Cheers!