Top of the Totem

In yesterdays Tasmania post I mentioned the climber almost at the top of the pillar of rock on the left edge of the photo....here's the story...
The night before we did this hike out to Cape Hauy we noticed a young couple at the campground spending a lot of time getting all their climbing ropes and gear together....obviously they had a big climb planned the next day. It wasn't long after we got to the lookout the next day that the guy climbed up to the small ledge just below the top of the pillar. This pillar, known as the Totem Pole, is one of the most iconic challenges for climbers from all over the world. So we figured his girlfriend would be following him up after he had finished. Well, she did, but it took another 3 hours or so before she finally came into view! By this time we had been waving down to the guy and when they were both together we signalled to them and they made the final climb right up onto the top of the  pillar as I took a number of pics. We then left to get back to the the campground, knowing that they would be coming in a bit later on. So we caught up with them and let them know it was us taking all the pics, and would they like some copies? It turns out the guy, Benjamin, was from Denmark, and his girlfriend Riikka was from Finland, a really lovely couple and it was a real pleasure to share this experience with them. In fact Riikka had come across a photo of the Totem Pole some 18 months earlier and put it on her bucket list, and as the difficulty of the climb was well above her experience level, she was over the moon to make the climb! And they were both equally thrilled to be getting some great images of their final ascent from such a unique perspective. 
Make sure you click on this for the bigger view...you can see how happy they are!

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Posted in: Wildlife Photography