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Crag & Route Beta

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VIC Arapiles	(General)	(General)	(General)	[ Arapiles Guide \| Arapiles Images ]

Topic Date User

Arapiles newbe 2-May-2016 At 11:37:26 AM simey

Message

On 2/05/2016 Wendy wrote:

>Just because all pitches are grade 12 and it is exposed doesn't mean I
>have to like the climb. Call me terribly boring, but I love the climbing
>on EN and Arachnus and I don't like the climbing on Bard. I love the rock
>on EN and Arachnus and I don't like the rock on Bard. Maybe you should
>go do some long easy routes in the alps - i've done much better 4-500m
>5as there than Bard. And given the things I tend to climb, I don't think
>you can say it's because i like routes that give me warm fuzzies.
>

I have done long easy routes in the Alps and I have yet to come across a route as steep and varied as Bard that packs so much in for 100m. Personally I think you are talking shit because granite in the Alps simply doesn't give you the same architecture and steepness and funk that Arapiles offers at such moderate grades.

>Sure the start of EN is bouldery and slick, but it does actually have
>gear, which is more than you can say for the start of Bard.

Bard has a bomber medium size cam protecting its first pitch crux. I would say it is more straightforward to protect than the crux moves of Eskimo Nell which are unfortunately out of character with the rest of the route.

>And the middle
>pitch is probably the best pitch of grade 9 in existence. Then you get
>the exposed funky top chimney plus a crawl through a cave. Heaps of fun.
>The top pitch of Arachnus is probably the best pitch of grade 8 in existence
>with glorious rock going bang up the middle of a dominant feature. In fact,
>I'd take the Watchtower as a great feature to climb over Bard Buttress
>as well.

I'm not criticizing Arachnus and Eskimo Nell. They are all bloody great routes. You just have a thing about Bard which you bang on about, but which is out of keeping with what the vast majority of climbers think.

>And communicating with your second? How many yelling epics have
>you heard off Bard? It's almost constant. It's a feature of long pitches.
>You develop strategies to deal with it. It certainly doesn't detract from
>the route. And if I was to stress about a route for my second, it would
>be Bard with it's traverse then diagonal pitch.

Given that Arachnus is often peoples first multi-pitch, it can be a drag not being able to see them from the first belay to offer advice, particularly on that pitch. Novices often go slightly the wrong way and because you can't see them you can't direct them clearly, which results in a bit of faffing and time wasting. It is not a big deal though. It is not enough for me to start bagging the shit out of Arachnus and telling people not to do it. Meanwhile the crux pitches of Bard do allow easy communication between leader and second, although you do end up being out of sight of each other on the upper pitches.

>I don't like Bard. I'm not even alone in my opinion. If I had a friend
>coming to Araps for only one day wanting to do an easy multipitch, there's
>no way I'd take them up Bard.

Unfortunately when you guide you focus too much on what you like and not what is best the best for your clients/friends. For various reasons I rarely guide Bard, but if I think they are after an out-there climb with lashings of exposure then I will certainly consider it.

> I don't like Second Coming either if you
>want to argue over another supposedly classic route.

Obviously your new routes on Garden Wall have it all over Second Coming too.