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VIC Eastern Mt Buller (General) (General) [ Bulla Guide | Images ]

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Winter Climbing at Mt Buller

Mr Poo

6-Jul-2011
2:14:34 PM

Hey guys dose anyone have any info on winter climbing at Buller.
I have seen some pics and some routes descriptions but there are NO grades.
Are these climbs graded if so what grading system do they use??
And where could I find a guide book on Ice/Winter climbing in Aus??
cheers Poo

citationx

6-Jul-2011
2:26:44 PM

On 6/07/2011 Mr Poo wrote:
>Hey guys dose anyone have any info on winter climbing at Buller.
>I have seen some pics and some routes descriptions but there are NO grades.
>
>Are these climbs graded if so what grading system do they use??
>And where could I find a guide book on Ice/Winter climbing in Aus??
>cheers Poo

Does that include this information? http://www.chockstone.org/MtBulla/MtBulla.htm
It does state "There are no grades other than rare throwaway comments like ‘hard’ or ‘easy’. Bearing in mind also that how difficult some of these routes will be on a given occasion depends entirely on conditions on that day and can vary from one extreme to the other in some cases. So there are no grades "

I think this can be said for anything in Australia because everything is so variable from year to year. about the only thing i have heard which forms year-in year-out is some corner ice climb at blue lake that I once climbed years ago, but again, variable, sometimes thick and up to 20-25m of quite vertical ice to barely-climbable wafer-thin ice other years.

uwhp510

6-Jul-2011
4:55:34 PM

I climbed out there a fair bit one year (maybe 2005?), with a Scottish bloke who was able to advise us all on the Scottish grades of the stuff we did. I think Scottish grades seem appropriate for the traddy, mixed, frozen grass/choss bashing that is the norm on the west ridge. As long as you strike the conditions right and get there early, the climbing is pretty good (as far as these things go in Australia).

Here is my recollection of the routes we did and the Scottish grades according to Steve the Scotsman. Some are in the guide linked to above, and some are (possibly) new ones we did.

Going Way Out in the West (in the guide, not as hard as its made out to be) - III

Steve the Scotsman on GWOITW.

Unnamed route direct between 19 and 18 in the guide (not in the guide) - III, A bit steeper than GWOITW. Good fun.

The Icicle middle line - IV+ (in the guide)

The icicle right hand line - V (in the guide)

Party at the Bosses House - IV(+?) - Around to the right of the amphitheatre, 2 pitches, 90m. Really good. Pitch one goes up trending right to a good belay ledge (crampons off, rock grade 10ish), then pitch two traverses back right to the weakness in the middle of the headwall and up (see the photo). There's a bit of gear in a pod a bit before the hard bit. This one was quite scary actually, but not really pumpy.

Me on Party at the Bosses House

One in the Face - IV+ 90m, 2 pitches. I climbed this with Steve while half the ice on the mountain melted off and fell down on top of him as he was belaying (hence the name). It was much more strenuous than PATBH, but better protected. Its the next major line left of PATBH.

Check out this thread for more info.

Sabu

15-Jul-2011
10:39:32 AM

Could anyone advise on the condition of Doherty's road in relation to 2wd access? Heading up there tonight for some exploring tomorrow.

Bob Saki

15-Jul-2011
12:49:40 PM

It's fine, when you get to west ridge veer off slightly left instead of following Doughty's Rd there is a big dip and is a bit tough ona 2wd. However, we built it up a bit with sticks and silt so really should be sweet.

southcol

15-Jul-2011
4:41:02 PM

I reckon ice conditions would be as good as they get up there. Every vertical exposed structure at Mt Buller had 30cm+ of rime ice on it last weekend. Any reports or photos from anyone ?

Sabu

17-Jul-2011
11:22:12 AM

Got back last night. Had a blast and keen to get out there again. Walk in wasn't too bad, in snow from round hill with good coverage along the ridge. Start was crapola though as we had to walk an extra few km due to a fallen tree halfway along Doherty's road.

On Buller itself, the conditions were pretty good. Lots of snow around and well packed on the final climb to the summit. Most of the rock around main st and the gullies was iced over.
Didn't get close enough to the waterfall area to have a good look but it looked alright from the ridge.

Some pics that give a rough idea of the conditions:

West ridge, looking up toward the summit ridge

Summit ridge

West face

IdratherbeclimbingM9

17-Jul-2011
7:22:01 PM

Great photos Sabu.

~> It also looks like you had a good time.

lacto

18-Jul-2011
10:39:46 AM

On 17/07/2011 Sabu wrote:
>Start was crapola though as we had to walk an extra few km due to
>a fallen tree halfway along Doherty's road.
>
When heading up "remote" roads an ax or better still a chainsaw is a very useful addition to the gear . I have had to remove trees with an ax ,but once was blocked in at woolybutt saddle with heavy snow and a 600mm diameter tree across the road . It would have taken hours to walk out and then get rescued let alone the cost . 20 minutes with the chainsaw and we were out but had problems with the new snow on the road even with chains .

There are 9 messages in this topic.