Oskar Wolff Reports From Castle Hill
After quitting my job in November, it’s been long trip after long trip to many awesome outdoor climbing spots. Castle Hill in particular I only managed to get a taste of, a mere three days at the beginning of November. This trip was successful, but I’d say about two weeks too short. So, just after my 20th birthday in Queenstown, Emma and I set off north for a good wee while to get some mileage in. Most of my goals were up at Flock Hill, but the first few days were spent at Quantum Field with some friends from Dunedin. Angus had told me about a hard campus project which looked to be a V6 from the map, but turned out to be much harder. After some hectic falls I made the first ascent of Hello? (V10), named after the Lionel Richie song. Angus Kirk followed suit soon after.
The first days at Flock inevitably involved scorching temperatures or being prematurely rained out. During these days I got back on King Line Hunter, which was my goal for the trip. Unfortunately, after a key foothold was broken off, the second move had become much harder, so I decided against trying it for the rest of the trip. My focus then turned to first ascents and other possible V14s I could do, such as Biotronic. We went back to Quantum Field so that I could give it a good go, but after some roping and measuring, I figured out that my super positive ape index wasn’t positive enough.
After being shut down for a few days, trying some ‘easier’ problems that were new to me seemed like a good idea. For this, we headed up to Flock with Alec McCallum, who had just come back from the Fyfe. We went to the left side of the field, where Matt Jones, Joe Dravitzki and Tom Fraser were warming up. Fortunately, I hadn’t done much on this side of the field and after some convincing and getting psyched, Matt and I got on Horsemen of the Apocalypse (V10). After some roping and lots of pads, it seemed more than achievable, and I managed to do it first rip from the ground. Just to the left, Joe was roping Acapulco (V11), which I had spotted Alec on a half year prior, but hadn’t tried as I had other projects in mind. This seemed like a great opportunity to get on it, as the new top out was quite committing and needed ‘a few’ pads. Roping the topout multiple times made me comfortable with the height, and I figured out the hard bit quickly. This meant I also sent this first go from the ground.
A much needed rest day came after this, and when we returned to Flock the psych was high. I finally felt we had enough pads for The Rad Dyno (V12), and after some big falls I just managed to hold on. After this I went back to trying some other projects I had on the go. The sit start to Tramping seemed like a fun one to get back to, and after three sessions I made the first ascent of Spelunking (V13). Vendetta (V12) was also a project I had been meaning to get back to after learning of a new beta from Alec. I had broken off a crucial foothold a year earlier and thought it was impossible, but this new method made the first move much easier for me. After punting the topout a few times, I tried it on a rope again to learn the subtle body positioning for the high foot. Figuring this out was the key to sending this rad boulder. We were approaching the end of the trip, but there were still some boulders left to do. A couple of V11s on the right side of Flock had been on my to-do list for a while, and over two days I did them both: Ronnie Coleman (V11) and The Dark Side (V11).
A day at Quantum was well needed after so much walking up to Flock. Usually, climbing at Quantum involves lying in the grass, eating snacks, looking at rocks and not much actual climbing. That day, however, was different. We encountered a big crew including Zac Orme who was trying Peak Lime (V11), a new Matt Corbishley FA. The crew came prepared with stacks of Mondos, and I just couldn’t resist. After much discussion about beta, I decided to give it a flash burn, which turned out successful.
By this point I was completely wrecked. I was four days on and with the weather packing in soon, it wasn’t looking good. Still, I had some hope, as I had had some promising attempts on The Anarchy Project just a few days before. It seemed like an absolute mission to get ourselves up to the Teapot again, but after convincing Emma by promising I would carry all of the pads, she agreed to come and spot me. After warming up on some lovely slabs I jumped straight into figuring out the second move on the project. My last session I had been trying to campus it, which I eventually figured out was not the way. The sharp right hand drag was not helping the skin situation at all. However, spending a good 40 minutes trying the second move was necessary to figure out all of the subtleties. Once I had it all figured out I started giving it send burns. The crux ended up being neither the first nor the second move, but the transition in between. I was able to stick the first move most of the time. However, hitting the hold perfectly, shifting the left hand to the side, and getting the foot in proved to be a challenge. After about 15 tries of hitting the hold wrong, dry-fires and bad falls off the precarious rock stack, I made the first ascent of Disorder (V14). Two sessions is by far the shortest hard project I have ever had, but this did not take away from how much it meant to me. The Anarchy Project was one of the first boulders I saw from Castle Hill. I distinctly remember watching this absolute mad-man, Isaac Buckley, trying this project in an old video of his. I was around 11 years-old, watching his video on a rented chromebook from my old primary school, and all I could think was how rad and absolutely outrageous this boulder problem looked. It felt pretty special standing on top of it almost a decade later.
-Oskar Wolff