Castle Hill 2009(5300 problems and counting....)

Springfield Burgering

Top Heavy (V3**)

Twin Aretes (V3 sit start V5)

Spittle Hill

Slapmaster Owen (V3)

Thrust (V6***)

Beautiful Edges (V4***)

Castle Hill Fiday 10 July to Sunday 12 July 2009 Kerry, Owen and Roman

When the opportunity of a panel discussion on the representation of history in graphic art presented itself at Victoria University in Wellington, it was time to ring up my old mate Kerry in Tauronga and ask him if he had time for a few days climbing in New Zealand. Of course he jumped at the opportunity and it was just a matter of deciding the best climbing crag for a short but hard session on some of New Zealand’s prime rock. Winter was not exactly the time of the year for a climbing trip but with a vast variety of rock to choose from we eventually settled on Castle Hill in Christchurch where arguably one of the world’s most interesting bouldering areas is located. This was going to be my second trip to Castle Hill following a three day visit in 2007 which left me stunned by the incredible quality of the limestone sculptures as well as bruised from the burly physical quality of the rock. Every problem was unique and topped out with a hideous mantle to get to the top of an enormous free-standing monolithic structure. It really did feel great to get up one of those glacial limestone structures but often it does not come easily and how to get down is another story.

I left Wellington on Thursday afternoon and after a short one hour flight landed in Christchurch where Kerry and Owen met me with food and car ready to head into the hills. There was no time to waste so we left town straight away and headed to Springfield the last human outpost before the mountain ranges started. A quick meal and we were on our way up to Arthur’s Pass National Park and the isolated Castle Hill village. There are no shops just a couple of lodges which are usually shared between boulderers and skiers. Kerry found a nice lodge called Hurleys with the following address:　

Home: 03-343 2824 Rick-Cell 027-432 5101
e-mail: hurleymanagers@gmail.com, Download Brochure  HERE.

  The place has a nice fireplace whose flute warms the second level with 6 bunk beds. There were only three of us but the place could have accommodated eight people easily and would be quite cheap for a large group of boulderers. After arriving at Hurley's we realised that the snow was quite deep around the house and we were beginning to worry about the conditions around the large boulder fields at Spittle Hill and Quantum fields. Flock Hill was also on our mind but with 40 minutes of approach the snow conditions meant that this was not an option. Thursday night we psyched ourselves up by watching First Ascent and a Bouldering Movie where Chris Sharma climbs at Caste Hill. Only one short sleep to go before touching some rock.

   Friday morning dawned bright and clear – there was not a cloud in the sky and temperatures soared. A quick breakfast and lots of black coffee from Kerry's surreal pump action coffee plunger and we loaded two huge bouldering pads, two massive chalk buckets and lots of food into the rental car and drove the short distance to Spittle Hill. As usual it was the submarine boulder that greeted us with its huge size and perfect resemblance. There was snow all-around us and the sun was still low on the horizon so it was a real pleasure to feel the warmth of the sun-soaked limestone. The usual couple of V1s (Amazing Holds) and V2s (Monster Huechos) here are the perfect warm up for better things to come. Looking up at Spittle Hill from the Submarine boulder the position of the rock was perfect to collect maximum sunlight throughout the day and thankfully most boulders had only marginal amounts of snow on top of them. Yet, we would have to be creative to avoid some wet spots for the inevitable mantle top out.

From the submarine boulder we walked straight across to the Michell Angello Boulder a sharp looking spire with a glassy V7 as its signature problem. Problem number 45 called Twin Areas and is a classic V3 with a V5 thrown in for good measures. Just around the corner Owen styled up a V3 slab called that gave Kerry and I a really hard time. The sun was now glaring at us in full power in we were throwing ourselves at the boulders in T-shirts which made a nice contrast to the snow covered landscape. It was time to look at the conditions at Quantum fields just a short distance across from Spittle Hill.

Unfortunately, or rather luckily, some of the classics at Quantum – Unrepeatable (V6) Snake Eyes (V7) and Seppuku (V7) had snowy tops which began to seap thourgh some of the key holds. However the Classic crack line Top Heavy V3 (77) was just possible without touching the snow (Down climb on Biggles V0). Right next to it Let Loose (V4) is a huge span from a side pull to a tricky hold. And then Owen discovered a possible new extension to Traffic Arete (V1) which we through ourselves at for most of the morning. From a sit-start crimper you move into a double handed undercling and reach for a sharp crimper with your right hand, past your foot against a couple of slopers and throw as hard as you can to a jug. With christened the new problem Underbelly (V5) three-stars. We all had a quick go at Rocket Pants (V7) at the Project Wall with its huge dyno from a bad shallow pocket and then it was time to head back to Spittle Hill for better afternoon conditions.

The first thing we came across back in the warm sun at Spittle was an awesome looking arête with a single huge hold at the beginning as its primary feature. We renamed the Rock Over Arete (V5) as Grappler (no.17) and getting past the tricky mantle move was one of the highlights of the day. This was followed by Sit-Start Nose (V3) in hiking boots after which it was time to try one of the all time classics of Spittle Hill: Beautiful Edges at three-star V4 highball. This kept us busy for most of the afternoon with some advanced flying time of the crux last move. (Down-climb the problem on Ledges V1) It was just after 16:00PM when the sun disappeared behind the ranges and the temperature started plummeting. We were still keen and on the way out of Spittle discovered Gogo Magic Fingers (V3) and Devious Corner (V3) finishing the day with a mantle on Sonar (V2). Needless to say it was pitch black by the time we arrived back at the car and we were frozen solid. Owen’s fantastic pasta and the stiff red put some fire back into our cheeks and we finished the day watching First Ascent.

DAY2: Forthcoming

V3 Rock over on Vaseline Boulder V7 The Prophet ** V6 Mantra ** V6 The bigger they are ** (hard slab with horizontal crack) V7 Flashpoint ** With Roland the Castle Hill Master (not sure of the name of the V4 but it was in the secret garden area) V7 Happy go lucky, (the large jump thing Owen and I were trying) V5 The final cut stand start (your one) V5 Upict (rolands’ new problem with the SHARP crimp) V5 Let there be malt *** High ball...

Roman 15 July 2009

Kerry - Too Far

Between Spittle and Quantum

Kerry on the Grappler(V5)