Crumbly was a real shock to the system: I had been there once before – a long time ago. Not really sure how long, but more than twenty years perhaps thirty. It is kind of scary thinking about it that way. Now I returned with twin boys in step to check out the place again like a trip down memory lane but with the focus of reliving that memory one more. Trying to remember what the place was like I formed an imperfect picture of the cave in my mind, enhanced by watching youtube videos of many of the classic boulder problems there: Anorexic (V5***) the warm up, Sushitrain (V8***) and White Magic (V8***). My inscape had been lulled into a sense of inner peace, I would just warm up on the solitary V3** and then try to onsight Anorexic. Both of my sons had done them already so how hard could it be?

Anorexic with extension (V5-V7)

The approach description is somewhat vague and I had to consult Peter Palint’s Sydney Bouldering Guide – another blast from the past published in 2001 - to find that you park your car at 107 Killarney Dr and then just follow down the obvious gully to the Bantry Bay track. Marvel about the ring bolted climbs on your way down but remember that you have come here to boulder not climb.

Then you glance upward from the track and all of a sudden your field of vision is subsumed by the sheer enormity of the cave size. I remembered it much smaller but I was dwarfed by the scale of the rock surrounded by majestic gumtrees. The dusty ground had not changed, I remembered it distinctly and found Sushitrain right away, it was a right-of-passage for me so many years ago, being humbled as a budding rock climber. Bouldering had not been invented back then and crash mats were old carpets and good spotters. The holds were still pristine and were my skin had weathered over the years, somewhat bleached perhaps by the relentless exposure to the Aussie sun, the rock had barely weathered. The massive overhanging roof had protected the stone of this cave for thousands of years, not letting a single rain drop pass for eons. Time stands still when we venture under its penumbra as if nothing could change within this sacred grounds were mittens only testify to the passage of time. The cold sensation of the wintery rock was perfect every tiny fracture and pebble felt unrelenting and rock solid.

We had the place all to ourselves and I decided to warm-up on the Anorexic moves straight away since there was nothing easy anyway. The first heel hock leads to the weirdest pocket in the universe. Your hand and fingers struggle to stay on and no grip every feels the same. I skipped that one!
Moving along to the second good hold with your feet horizontally pushing in opposition. A classic power pose followed by several jugs that somehow fail to prove helpful. Another heal hook to grab two rails and set yourself up to the final lunge for the mega jug. The third heel hock is key here – lock it in hard and go for the long reach to the jug, then hold the swing. I broke the problem down into four section – yes its long – and worked each in sequence independently, they are each amazing, and I was bedazzled at how hard V5 could feel. At a different time and place I might have been able to onsight this but not here not today.

Crumbly was a start of sorts, with time turning out to be the cruelest of companions, always by your side but never letting you step outside her grasp. A magic moment where the old and new merge into the present just for an instance to reveal a faint glimmer of possibilities – to return one more time: this time sooner, better prepared, stronger and ready to play one more time.

Christmas day 24 December 25, 2018 just after we returned from the Grampians after a week of bouldering and climbing, it was hot and the boys where pushing for another Crumbly session. I reluctantly agreed knowing that I would have to get on Anorexia again. Andrew and Camron also had not yet sent it so everybody was keen to slay the dragon and finally move out of the beginner zone at one of Australia’s hardest boulder caves.

Bardens Lookout Crag

Roman 28 April 2016