Photos by socialclimber

sbaclimber seconding the FA of Leipziger, at Peraki Valley.

a Spittle Hill Classic on the back of the Nasal Slip boulder.

Unknown group on Rockey Road. Three pitches, 17, 19, 18. The second pitch feels very exposed.

sbaclimber leading Cloak and Dagger on the back of the West Pinnacle

From left: the Far side, The Waterfall wall, The Fortress and the Orange Wall. The Hut Pinnacle is in the foreground

As with all the sport lines in the Embayment, slippery when Wet features sustained climbing on small features

Socialclimber on wildman...again...The crux is pulling through from the arch onto the face. Off width fingers are not my best jams. Pic by chalkeye

Kadies warming up on Lancelot at Castle Rock. Christchurch city is in the background.

Kit seconding up **Lonely on the Lead, 17. great friction, solid rock and a diverse rack make this line well worth the trouble.

The terrible thing about this addiction is that it can hit anyone and can be easily hidden from loved ones in it's early stages. For the trad addicts that can't go cold turky we give them a little hit in the form of bouldering, just enough to take the edge off. Although Gabe (sbaclimber) isn't far enough along in the program that he feels comfortable climbing without a harness, you will note he did only load up with quick draws, choosing to leave his serious trad gear in the bag. (Well done Gabe!!) Some people, like sbaclimber, may never fully recover from this all-consuming addiction that is trad climbing but they can still go on to lead full and productive lives with a little support. ( PM socialclimber regarding donations)

Gabe(sbaclimber) well jammed into the painful wrist jam on Court Jester. Chris Belaying, Lana looking on.

socialclimber on Basalisk, Mark spotting. Pic by Laurent de Senarclens

Nicole working the 100 times slab. This is one of my favorite problems. It is as steep as it looks. You can work it for ages and not lose any skin or pop any pullies on it. And with the thousands of little water runnells carved into it, a beautiful piece of rock.

Socialclimber on Train tracks. The problem is found at the eastern end of the Badlands area at Flock Hill. The mantle is a little harder than you might first expect then smear/jam up the "train tracks"

Theres still another 30/45 minutes of bush-bashing and rock hopping to do to get to the base of the crag. On the arete at the longest point of the crag is the three star classic "White Wizard", 22.

Gary on a beautiful but low grade problem at Wuthering Heights, overlooking Quantum Field.Pic by Seth Johnson.

It's an easy problem with a bad landing but too aesthetic to ignore. probably around v1. The Dark Castle(lower left), Quantum Field(center) and Spittle Hill (back) stretch out at the bottom of the hill.

It had been wanting to rain for a while, we were treated to this view as we left Quantum Field. Spittle Hill is in the background. Pic by pranayama

socialclimber takind a rest and sorting things out on Wild Man 19. A very hard start leads to easier climbing. Pic by Stu.

This is just a nice crag. Thats all I can say.

This is a nice overhanging 21. Climbing is on big holds all the way up, Brian is about to pull through the crux. Mark is Belaying.

Future Fantasy is a short but rather strenious climb involving a 2 meter roof and a mantle. I found the difference between success and failure was all in the way I held my tonge... Pic by sbaclimber

This is the end that overhangs the road a little. at the opposite end the lines are bolted due th their height.

This line has become harder since a useful hold broke off leaving only a crimpy side pull

This wall has climbs on holds between grade 13 and 27.The hardest lines are on the left, rising about 20m and finishing with a 4 meter horizontal run along the roof of the gym. At the back of this wall are the slabs anda kids wall.

This wall was designed to for climbing without holds for a bit of a challenge. There are overhanging cracks, flakes and bridging problems. In the left corner (out of sight) there is a chimney

BBB is a mantle problem that usually involves alot of slapping and swearing. using a crash pad is recomended.

"Spent" is a nice v6 with a typically rounded Castle Hill top out. I didn't finsh it, a little above my grade for now. Pix by no_grain

My Son, Shan-Le doing laps on the slab most of the lines are about grade 14

There used to be a basketball court in here, then some holds went up on the back wall...

Beautiful Edges is a must do for anyone looking for mid grade problems at Spittle Hill. it gets three stars in the guide, you can find it on map 4, problem 39. Pix: Alister Robertson

not an award winning pic but I like how the detail in the boulder came up. Map33, problem 7 in the Spittle Hill guide.

This problem is found among the Path-side Boulders, Map26, problem 28 of tyhe Spittle Hill guide. It's a lovely problem just meters from the track.

You walk past Spittle Hill on your way to Quantum Field. It's worth stopping though. At present this is the only field in Castle Hill Basin that you can buy a guide for.

Detch linking some moves on The Headlights Boulder at the north end of Quantum Field. Me spotting, Shelly Fisher taking pix.

If this looks awkward, it's because it is! Lay back to the right up the crack, (hidden by my leg)swing back in to look for the tiny notch on the left for your toe, work your right foot higher up the crack and if you did it right, you can step to the top with dignity. The alternitave is the classic Castle Hill beached whale top out. Not pretty to watch but perfectly acceptable around these parts. Thats me about to keep my dignity, Detch is spotting, Shelly Fisher taking pix.

There isn't much to this one. Just one of the many nice problems to play on at Castle Hill. Detch is climbing, I am spotting, Shelly fisher is taking pix.

Detch getting to grips with Roundabout. This is trickier than it looks. You only have two features to use. The big hole in the middleand the slopey edge to the right. I have a soft spot for Roundabout because it was my first ever boulder problem. I'm spotting, shelly Fisher is taking the pix.

Tis me on the easy part of the problem. The crux occurs once you are standing up with a foot in each of those holes (one is obscured). It involves a high step with the left foot to smear on nothing in paticular above the holes while having nothing much to hang onto either. By this time You are 3m up. This line looked like it had plenty of good holds but as I got into it, I found most of them wern't too useful. Chris (Detch) is spotting while Shelly Fisher took the pix

My 5 year old son bouldering at the YMCA. Hes been top roping and bouldering indoors since he was three.