Splitter Camp - Day 3

This was the final day of Splitter Camp, I was battered, bruised and exhausted. Despite this I felt a surge of energy when it was announced that we would be at Supercrack Buttress. Supercrack Buttress is so named as it is the site of the infamous Supercrack (also known as Supercrack of the Desert and previously known as Luxury Liner). Supercrack Buttress is also home to The Incredible Handcrack . You may be thinking that the Buttress is also home to inflated naming, but I didn’t – I’d seen pictures and I believed these would live up to their names.

So I founded my cut, tired and scraped self at the bottom of Incredible Handcrack. I only just managed it on top rope. The crack itself is perfect but I definitely have problems when the terrain becomes overhanging. At one stage my foot popped out of the crack and I was left hanging on my hands which were jammed into the crack. This shockloaded my elbows and caused some discomfort. I then declined any further top ropes as there were rumours of Supercrack being put up.

Dennis on The Incredible Handcrack

This didn’t quite go as I’d intended it as I climbed Twin Cracks (5.9) because they looked easy and non-strenuous. Then some rain started to come in (yes in the desert) and as I thought the chance to climb Supercrack was about to pass, Dave offered to put it up as a top rope. I then got the chance to climb Supercrack in the drizzle. The crux is getting into the crack and requires some awkward layback moves. The crack itself is perfect hands up to and through a small roof, after this it becomes cupped hands and goes on and on in some kind of wide hand endurance test. As the crack becomes wider the feet become better and I got into a rhythm and found myself running up the crack, the feet are so solid that it is really easy to rest and I was amazed at how easy I had found the climbing. Of course I was tired when I reached the anchor chains but I wasn’t exhausted and this I found really encouraging. As all climbers know climbing these routes on a top rope is one thing but climbing on the sharp end, when you have to hang around and place gear, is a different matter altogether. As the rain came in and we moved back to the vehicles I considered how I would do when I came to lead these routes. The Splitter Camp was great in practising the techniques required, but until I started to lead some of these routes the jury was out with regards to my performance.

Todays routes

The Incredible Handcrack 5.10c (only just)

Twin Cracks 5.9

Supercrack 5.10