Ascents in World as Onsight by Lee Cujes

Quite the minefield of lookout-launched trash to navigate on the way. Could be a good Clean Up Australia Day site.

Scary and hard, I thought. Felt at least 22.

Pitch was wet and slimy. Mega effort from Aaron to get it done with no crack gloves or tape, sliding out of the crack with bloodied hands. I somehow stayed on, all credit to the crack gloves. A few odd pieces, then 4x #2 camalots in a row, then all #3's to the belay.

The hardest I've worked for a pitch of climbing in a long time. I was peaking. Admittedly it was wet, but even in the dry I would have struggled. Cracks are not my thing, and there's no escape on this pitch. For me personally, this was only slightly easier (1 grade?) than the crux pitch. I used 6x #3 camalots, 2x equivalent-sized hexes, 2x #4 camalots and this was only just enough for my level of comfort (4m+ runouts). You need all the big gear to adequately protect the pitch - you cannot supplement with anything smaller anywhere on the pitch. If I did it again (I never will) I would take 10-12 #3 camalots.

A little safety note on the top-out: After clipping some carrots to stand on a ledge with a final 5m headwall to finish. This is protected by one carrot. If you only clipped this carrot (like me) and then fell on last moves topping out, the rope wouldn't even have a chance to take up before you broke both legs on the flat ledge below. Instead, there is a cam slot that is hard to see as it's in your handhold above your head. Roughly #1 camalot size. Use it! (I would strongly advocate the addition of a final bolt to mitigate a potential future catastrophe - you have just clipped 4 or 5 in a row, after all)