Step in the Void
This is one of the best routes I ever worked on. Has everything in it from nice scenery to lots of overhangs and roofs that flex the muscles to the maximum to a rat family taking residence inside one of the best holds half way up (together with his toilet room for maximum smell effect!) . 'Step in the void' is not for the faint hearted, neither for beginners. It starts from a beautiful massive ledge some 20m above sea level.
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| A photo of upper half of 'Step in the Void' (red line on the right hand side) and Kurt's new project, 'Spiritual Flight' (Black line, left hand side) | Basic profile of my route. Ok I am not a very good artist but it roughly shows how the route looks like from the side. Notice the various 'caves' in the route! They seem big enough to rest but hold on! There is no rest! |
So first thing we (Kurt and I) did when we spotted our projects was to bolt some lower offs. Belaying for top-rope can be done from these bolts on the top. The rock is very good, very strong, and provides lots of friction. Places where to put natural gear vary along the route, in the lower part its the best becoming very sparse at the upper part, with lots of run-outs at the top!
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Kurt and myself just above our projects (11 Nov 2003). The day although cloudy still very warm and perfect for climbing |
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So from the moment you stand on the ledge and decide to climb up prepare for non stop action through the various stages of the climb. It is only about 30m long with the most difficult part being after 6m from the ledge, into a maze of caves and roofs and overhangs one leading to another... Brace yourself and hold on tight! The caves negotiated it's a pleasant climb on a steep angle with some pockets and very small sharp holds and some sloping ones! And beware of the rat toilet. Stinky!
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| Preparing to check my route what gear can I put for leading it. I took everything with me to drill in some resin bolts if necessary. Taken on 16 Nov 2003 | Upon the discovery of the rat and worrying where to put the next protection (the last protection from here is about 10m below!) |
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| Ascending the route to check for possible places where to place natural gear for leading | |
After abandoning this project for more than half a year, I started working on it in July 2004 together with Jeffrey. First thing we did was to put bolts for protection. Natural gear was sparse and so we wanted to make the climb secure and fun. I put around 6 or 7 bolts on it and there are some threads-in-situ too. Finally, on 12th September 2004 I climbed it on leading. So "Step in the Void" was 'officially' done. Jeffrey climbed it on leading too as my second, and graded it at 6B (Fr). Photos of me leading it can be found on my Webshots link.
The lead was not as hard as I expected. There was only one part which intimidated me... about 5 metres in all, but only two or three moves doubtful. Luckily we placed the bolts in perfect positions. Clipping was very easy done and the route is very much protected in the crux areas. Only the upper 10 metres have no good protection, however climbing becomes easy although one tends to be tired by that time and most of the holds are sloping!
Just before I did it leading I went down and replaced the temporary threads with new threads-in-situ.
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| Another profile of my route but this time showing an approximate sketch of the protection along the route. | Putting and testing the threads-in-situ. So first I abseiled down the route. I had already marked with an old rope where the threads must be placed. So I didn't waste time searching for suitable places. | ||
More pictures will be added when I get them and scan them. In the mean time you should visit my Webshots albums (link above) to see me leading this route.
