Blowing Smoke

The very first time I ever saw Lee Cujes he handed me an Orange Alien.
I was procrastinating at the crux of a bolted sport route.
Desperation Prow 22. Redcliffs, Queensland Australia.
He was working an unthinkably hard trad project parallel to me.
I called for gear to plug a break, he provided, I pulled the move, I pulled the cam, I handed it right back, without weighting the rope and flashed the route.
An enduring trad partnership was never born.

 Lee Cujes - Blowing Smoke 23  Vesuvius Crag. NSW Australia.

Lee has a trad history. I don't know it.

In the ten years that we have been climbing together I don't think I've seen him lead trad.

So this was different.

Lee had been instrumental in developing Vesuvius crag. Accessing, cleaning, bolting, sending.

He left this one striking crack system for last. So after a can of WD was emptied onto his rack, and I got into position with my iPhone camera he took off.

At about half height he had bugger all protection of any use. He kept calmer than me.

The pre-cleaning wasn't as thorough as a usual Cujes route.

Up to his elbows in it.

The top half got a bit saner and an awesome new route was added to an otherwise sport crag.

Blowing Smoke 30M 23 trad.

That's a sight you don't see every day.

Climbers, you already know my thoughts on trad.

But I'll reiterate.

I don't trust it.

Call me half a climber, but it's a discipline that I have never pursued.

Trad climbers, I salute you.

All photos: jjobrien - iPhone shoot and process.

jj

Suddenly Bali

Lying in bed making weekend plans via Facebook Messenger.

Lee: Do you want to go to the new crag this weekend?

Me: I don't know, I've got work stuff and family stuff.

Pause.

Lee: Do you want go to Bali?

Me: Yes.

Half hour later we were booked and packing.

Club - Ku De Ta  Photo: Sam Cujes.

I sent him this photo.

Dress like this. Exactly like this.

That's me on the left on top of the Mt. Agung circa 1995 in peacock and puce Gortex by Lowe Alpine. 

Bali, why Gortex?

It's not all palm trees and cocktails.

Gunung Agung is a massive 10,300ft volcano lying at the geographical and spiritual centre of Bali.

I estimate this is my 13th Agung ascent, stretching back over 25 years, amongst other volcano treks in other parts of Indonesia.

I can't help it, I keep going back.

First ascent for Lee.

Photo: Selfie

We huddled for an hour at the summit waiting for dawn.

It was too long.

The ascent had been quite difficult. Dark, slippery, wet, very cold, very windy, misty, doubtful and almost no visibility.

Route finding was hit or miss.

By the time dawn arrived we were running out of heat and options.

My hands were useless and unfeeling. I couldn't work my jacket zipper.

I didn't have a jacket zipper. Broken years ago. I only sort of had a bit of Velcro left on my vintage Lowe.

Can anyone else see a ghost in those clouds?

Sunrise. Within half an hour the world was a beautiful place again.

Warming up and drying out. Photo op time.

iPhone photo: Lee Cujes

We smashed my previous ascent times.

Under 3 & 1/2 hours from Pasar Pura Agung Temple to the top.

iphone photo: Lee Cujes

iPhone photo: Lee Cujes

The accom was bearable I spose.

canon photo: Lee Cujes

It wasn't all rugged.

 

Sandra is never more at peace than with a rose petal cocktail in hand at the uber cool "Ku De Ta" in Seminyak.

New tassel necklaces. She ninja shops, negotiating at 20 paces, past the iron ring of post Bali bombing security, with the beach hawkers via commando hand signals. Without missing a sip.

Skillz.

Sandra, Sam and Lee.

Equatorial sunset in progress. House beats oozing from the big rig. Pretty happy.

Here's to sudden weekend getaways.

Good work team.

jj

Sophie Prior - "The Ricoh Destruction Test"

Sophie Prior came to visit.

So did Logan Barber.

The jjobrien climbing and relaxation ranch on Australia's Sunshine Coast hinterland has been graced with a long list of climbing legends and little-knowns. 

The staff were excited about the arrival of Logan Barber and gave little thought to his plus-one a Sophie Proir.

Turns out she has talent, grace and presence.

 A quick climbing tour of the Sunny Coast starts with the obligatory thrash on Coolum Cave's icons.

 How do you like this guy? He puts all the moves together in one session. Sadly, didn't get to go back and send it. No doubt he can and will.

Then for a "rest" day they get stuck into "The Ricoh Destruction Test" 100m 23 (M1)
I have to work that day but I wag a couple of hours and rap in over the fourth pitch.
They ran into some problems on the second pitch and I whipped out the long lens just as they were feeling the joy of getting established at the second hanging belay.

 Logan knocks off the tricky third pitch, blocky overlaps and lack of feet.

 Sophie follows and picks her way through the overlaps.

 Funny story. I moved to Tinbeerwah in 2000. There were just a couple of routes there but rarely any climbers. I hatched a plan to create a climbing scene close to my home.
So I spent weeks bolting the longest, hardest route I could conceive of thinking it would draw climbers from everywhere.
Nothing.
The route has probably had about three repeats in over ten years.
A year later I bolted some 14s. That got 'em in.

Gareth Llewellyn and Adam Donoghue did the route on their epic "Tinny in a day"
There's been a couple of hundred metres of hard climbing added since then.

Sophie gets the stand-out pitch 4.
Slabby, columns, run outs,  big air below, carrots, it's got it all.

The Ricoh in question failed the 100M drop test by the way. It's mangled body could be seen at the base of the route.

My old Nokia phone got dropped from here at 80M. Recovered the following day. 

"You have 3 messages"!!!

Best shot of the roll.
Perfect position and poise. You can just make out Logan at the vanishing point.

 Nice work team. Logan ticked a swag of tough routes around SEQ in a punishing nine days on.

 Logan inspects Queensland's hardest high ball boulder sector never to have been touched.

Late winter is luxurious on the Sunny Coast, beautiful days and wild flowers.

Sophie's home is in the Blue Mountains, a favourite of Aussie climbers but so harsh in winter.

 

Thanks Sophie. 

I've been trying to sell this route for a decade.

Logan Barber

Climbers, you know some memories, even recent, can seem unreal as if they could never have really happened in a world as busy and complicated as this. Jet travel creates sudden disconnections.
I find myself reliving the holds, move by move, on the magical red sandstone of Kalbarri Gorge Western Australia.
Simon Carter, Monique Forestier, Lee and Sam Cujes, Coco Carter and I spent a few days there.
Days from another thread of a different story. This story is not about that.
But being in W.A. got me thinking about the indomitable West Aussie climber Logan Barber.

Logan answered my plea to the internet for an accomplice in China for Easter 2013.
We had about a day and a half cross over in China. That's worth a trip. Lee had told me this guy was someone I should go out of my way to meet. I think his words were "He's another me from W.A."

Logan leaves a trail of drill dust behind as he sends his latest new route on the fresh walls of Dragon City crag.

He gave it 27 (Aus).  Sandbag alert!
I've got a good advantage of reach on Logan, but I couldn't find anything useable within reach through the upper sequence. The guy can lock down hard on rubbish small holds.

 Lock down!!!

I was just grateful to the climbing gods for getting me through the run outs on the lower section when it was my go. Balance and guesswork.

Looking across the valley from dragon City crag, I have to keep reminding myself where I am.

A country that remained so mysterious to so many of us for so long. So vast, so different.

The next morning we head to super crag Lei Pi Shan where Logan has put so much heart and soul into his long project Storm Born. It's his last day in Yangshuo. Like so many Yangshuo routes now, it extends from the ground to the last useable rock.

I jug the 40M to the top for a photoshoot, plans change, Logan and David Kaszlikowski send the nails-hard arete route on the right end of the crag (see below).

I swap out Logan's draws on Storm Born, I still can't remember how I did that, I know I thought I was pretty clever at the time. I put up local legend Abond's shiny new green draws.

Logan resigns himself to the fact that projects don't stay exclusive round here.

They were still there on my last visit.

Acclaimed Polish photographer and world climber David Kaszlikowski.

Logan is back in China as we speak. He'll be lugging that drill through the muddy fields and dusty villages on the good quest.

Logan beneath the towering Lei Pi Shan.

Photo: jjobrien iPhone

Find him on Facebook: Logan Barber

He won't answer, he's in China.

jj

ps. this post lost all it's photo links and I've reconstructed it as good as I can.

If anyone knows why google albums would undo it's own links let me know.