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Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Grampians	(General)	(General)	(General)	[ Grampians Guide \| Images ]

Topic Date User

Gramps guide.......is it true? 29-Aug-2009 At 12:40:56 PM dpearson

Message

Apart from requesting information on problems and areas we have tried to stay out of this sort of fray but maybe now is a good time to say:

Yes, Chris and I are very close to completing the new Grampians bouldering guide. It has been a long time in the planning and we have so far each devoted most of the last 5 months to putting it together including 4 months of work in the field. We have paid great detail to every version of every guide that has been released to date and have spoken to many of the Grampians most prolific bouldering developers to ensure that we have the most accurate information available. I would like to say that I support the job that the ACA is doing in compiling information on new routes. They are providing a service that I am sure every climber reading this has used extensively. It should be noted that the bouldering section of the ACA guide is far from comprehensive and a lot of work was required to bring existing available information up to a guidebook standard. Much of the data that could possibly be derived from the ACA was already available through klem loskots guides 10 years ago as well as Gordons original guidebook. We intend for this guide to be the first of further editions which will document ongoing development of the many new crags currently in the works. While descriptions for the Tower, the Gallery and some other sectors are included the guide the main focus is on the Stapylton area as this area contains the world class bouldering. During the making of this guide we spent a lot of time visiting other less publicised sectors such as those in the wonderland and victoria ranges. Sectors like the Tower, Mt Talbot and the Gallery contain great climbing but currently lack the density of lines necessary to warrant a full write up in this edition. Many of the sectors that were looked at such as the Jungle Gym, the Pinnacle, Bundaleer, Victoria Point, Black Range, Black Ians Rocks and a whole lot nearby Stapylton were not included because the climbing was of either a very low standard and/or density and would unlikely be included in any bouldering guide anywhere in the world. With further development some of these areas may come good in a few years but until then they are not worth putting in print.

Climbing guidebooks are never written as money making schemes and they never will be. Both Chris and I have put far more of our own money and effort into this than we will ever see returned through sales. We knew this from the start and still felt compelled to do it. This sport has fundamentally shaped both our lives and by writing this guide we hope to see Australian bouldering recognised on the world stage. As for where we are from I think we could all agree that the Australian climbing community is too small for people to be drawing lines in the sand about crags belonging to certain states. If someone came to the our locals crags and spent time recording the climbing that is here I would be out there as much as I could to help support them wherever they were from (as many have done for us over the last few months).

We won't be getting into a slanging match with detractors on a public forum. If they have something to say they can send us an email or backoff.

Thanks to everyone who has put in time helping us out with the guide so far. Stay tuned for announcements on a release date and the opening of the Grampians Bouldering website.

David & Chris