Back in my slightly younger days the Brother in law and I where mad keen on
rock climbing. One of the areas we occasionally visited was the Camels Hump at the back of Mt Macedon.
The routes up there are pretty easy, with the exception of one that requires a mad leap of faith to start the climb, and this is what had us coming back.
On the walk down we decided to have a look at the main climbing area first and have a bit of lunch amongst the bracken.
Hadn't been there all that long when we heard a call for help. As some of you will know it can take a bit of time in the bush to figure out where a call is coming from.
We eventually sighted him on the
cliff face and climbed up to see what the fuss was about. On the way up I was thinking there must have been an accident.
He was standing on a ledge with a climbing rope but nothing else. Totally alone and didn't have a clue what he was doing.
After a bit of time he was on safe ground, then given a terse lecture on safe climbing. Must say I took a bit of pity on the poor buggar and invited to join us on a weekend climb up in the
Grampians to learn what it was all about...... big mistake.
Murphy's Law kicked in that weekend and the wife and I didn't arrive at the
camp site until early afternoon (rather than early morning).
It was stinking hot, around 40c. We rightly assumed the fella's had gone off for a climb. However by 4pm I was starting to get a bit concerned they hadn't returned and said to the missus 'I'll take my climbing gear, water and head up there'.
Its a fair walk up to the base of the
cliff and I'd have to say I was getting a bit worried about their safety at this stage. Eventually came across them walking down the track hanging on to a bloodied Greek.
Apparently these so called experience idiot climbers had allowed the Greek to 'lead' the third pitch an he came off, inverted during the fall and miraculously survived a head first dive on to a ledge.
To say I was spitting chips at this stage is an understatement. I felt like thrashing the be Jesus out of the brother in law (not to mention the other clown). Once we arrived at the
camp site the missus gave them a fair mouth full also.
To cut a long story short, he suffered a bit of concussion, but was ok in the end with medical help.
Having said all that,
rock climbing is a great pass time, and I'm prepared to give all my gear free of charge to a kid interested in taking up the sport providing the parent is supportive.
The gear has a bit of age, but chocks, wedges, slings and climbing ropes haven't changed all that much over time. Harnesses, such as the 'Williams Nugget Compactors' have thankfully gone. LOL.
So if you want the gear for your kid, give me a call on (03) 97055467 during business hours.
Regards
Kim
Regards
Kim McFarland
Phone/fax (03) 97821702
Mobile 0409213403
e-mail kimmc@satlink.com.au
Bus Phone 97055467
Bus e-mail kmcfarland@casey.vic.gov.au