Golden Boy.Next day, we headed for the beautiful Pussa Yan mountain. We were certain that we would not be able to fight our way up the classic line near the center of the face (7a) and so we went for something called the Golden Boy on the right margins of the southwest face. Seven pitches long and rated “only” 6b, it was humbling having to take on the first pitch. On the upside, Ola (who is a 5.14 climber and – among other accomplishments – placed 3rd in the Climbing World Cup) will be less shocked when she has to deal with other weekend wanker talent in the future. The route was continually challenging, the beautifully exposed positions were first rate, and there was even a bit of excitement near the top when I accidentally airmailed a boulder the size of your grandmother’s commode. Though there was little chance of hitting Shirley (route traverses a lot), possibility of chopped ropes loomed large in my mind. Not to mention being worried about hitting any farmers below or damaging the country road. Fortunately all worked out well and soon enough we were scrambling down the steep and densely overgrown backside of the mountain. That evening Ola gave us a bit of an insight into the circuit training of world class climbers: a pool table, many tens of pushups and a fifth of vodka were involved.
Photos
Getu village. Photo by Ola (Sept. 2016).On approach to Pussa Yan. Photo by Ola (Sept. 2016).Easy, easy…A pagoda near the base of Pussa Yan. Photo by Ola (Sept. 2016).Southeast face of Pussa Yan. Golden Boy follows the right hand margins of the yellow rock (Sept. 2016).Leading pitch 1 of Golden Boy on Pussa Yan. Photo by Ola (Sept. 2016).More pitch 1 action …shortly before taking. Photo by Ola (Sept. 2016).Shirley following pitch 1 of Golden Boy. Photo by Ola. Click photo for full res. (Sept. 2016).A closer look. Photo by Ola (Sept. 2016).And one more closer look by Ola (Sept. 2016).Shirley topping out on pitch 1 of Golden Boy (Sept. 2016).Long range photo by Ola. Golden Boy diagonals up/left along the margins of the golden colored rock. (Sept. 2016).Looking back at Shirley from midway up pitch 2 (Sept. 2016).Views from Golden Boy. The haze is likely due to the mugginess (Sept. 2016).Shirley on pitch 2. The route traverses quite a bit and would be quite difficult to bail from above pitch 2 (Sept 2016).More views including some pretty rice paddies (Sept. 2016).Beautiful limestone – pitch 2 (Sept. 2016).Leading pitch 3 (Sept. 2016).A cluster of houses outside of the Getu village (Sept. 2016).Think this is pitch 3 (Sept. 2016).Pitch 4.Shirley on pitch 4 of Golden Boy (Sept. 2016).A herd of goats enjoying a morning walk down below. Click for a short “ambiance video” (Sept. 2016).Pitch 5. The position is getting more spectacular (Sept. 2016).Rice paddies again (Sept. 2016).Shirley on pitch 5 (Sept. 2016).Leading pitch 6 of Golden Boy (Sept. 2016).Shirley on pitch 6 (Sept. 2016).Shirley topping out on pitch 6 with almost the entire height of the proud southwest face below your feet. Here the two routes join for the belay before their respective finishing pitches (Sept. 2016).Shirley topping out on the summit ridge of Pussa Yan after 7 pitches of very nice climbing (Sept. 2016).Best route of the trip!Hiking the summit ridge in search of the start of the descent. Hint: drop left and traverse in general direction of CMDI when you reach a large cairn (Sept. 2016).The steep forest bushwhack off the summit of Pussa Yan (Sept. 2016).More of the steep bushwhack descent (Sept. 2016).CMDI Wall as seen on the descent from Pussa Yan (Sept. 2016).Water buffalo – photogenic beasts (Sept. 2016).Hiking back to the barn (Sept. 2016).More local wildlife (Sept. 2016).Pussa Yan – what a beautiful formation!Water buffalo and a chicken (Sept. 2016).Looking to get picked up for the last 3-4 kilometers (Sept. 2016).Ola in the local grocery shop (Sept. 2016).Post climb entertainment. Other than drinking, it was really the only game in “town” (Sept. 2016).
