Dear CAWA members and fellow climbers,
It has been a busy couple of months for the committee since my last update. Many of us were travelling for work or climbing (or both), but CAWA business proceeded nevertheless. We had a successful CAWA trip to Eaglestone in July and published a new issue of the Western Climber, now available to the public on our website at https://www.climberswa.asn.au/publications/
The Access Subcommittee is continuing conversation with DPAW regarding Kalbarri. As you know, camping at the Promenade is prohibited for the time being, in order to give the Rock Wallabies a break from smelly climbers at night. DPAW has provided a “hikers and climbers only” campground near the Z-Bend carpark. I visited Kalbarri in August and stayed there. It’s a nice spot and the walk into the Gorge is quick and can serve as a warmup. To book, call the Kalbarri National Park Office on 9937-1140.
As I have noted in the Winter issue of the Western Climber, the Committee has decided to take up the widespread wish of our members to help with re-bolting of routes. Remi took the lead in this question and is working out the details at the moment. Thus far we have decided that we would not be involved in “retro-bolting” (that is, adding new bolts to existing routes) but only in “re-bolting”, that is replacing old or dodgy bolts with new ones, or adding anchors where appropriate. We are still in the process of working out the details but have decided to allocate $2000 this year to re-bolting. I will keep you informed about what, when, and how once these details are worked out.
Peter, Dirk and I have also formed a working party to revise our somewhat crusty constitution and to bring it in line with the new legislation on associations. We made some progress on this task in August, but given that Dirk is away climbing Mt. Elbrus and Peter walking the Haute Route, our progress has stalled somewhat since then. However, we will have everything in place for the next AGM.
Finally, we are still digesting the results of the survey of our members. It raised a lot of issues, and we are in the process of deciding what to prioritize over the next half year. We are a small committee of volunteers and we cannot possibly do all we would like to.
As far as the “Subcommittee on Sending” is concerned, everybody but Pete seems to have gotten out there and climbed some routes – or mountains, as in Dirk’s case. Nat, meanwhile, has worked on increasing the CAWA membership – he became a proud father! So the “CAWA parents’ group” is growing…
That’s all for now. Please feel free to contact any of the Committee members or myself, if you have any concerns, questions, or suggestions (https://www.climberswa.asn.au/cawa/committee/ )
Stay safe out there, wear a helmet, and check your knot,
Mark Edele
CAWA President