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Mount Scabby

Andrew_M

18-May-2004
4:52:18 PM

Not Victoria at all, but ACT. I'll be passing by Mt Scabby on a bushwalk in the near future, witht a bludge day planned within spitting distance of the Scabby cliffs. Has anyone been there and can say whether it's worth chucking some climbing gear into the pack? Any recommendations on well protected easy/moderate climbs (not immediately obvious from the ACT granite guidebook) would be welcome, as well as any suggestions on what gear is likely to come in handy (don't want to be taking any more weight than necessary).

Cheers,

Andrew

JamesMc

7-Jun-2004
9:14:19 PM

I did a walk up Mt Scabby in winter a couple of years ago, but no climbing. A magic mountain, but there has been a bush fire through since. The slab is really big, and my guess is that the climbing would be great. Certainly the rock in the summit is nice granite. The cliff is a long way from the summit, and would be approached seperately. Interestingly, there appears to be a lake on top of the ridge above the right end of the cliff.

View of cliff from near summit

james mc

Andrew_M

8-Jun-2004
3:53:47 PM

Thanks James, Looks promsing indeed. We're hopefully heading there over the long weekend I will put the rack'n'ropes in the pack. Might mean I have to take out one bottle of wine to fit it all in though :(

Cheers,

Andrew

BA

8-Jun-2004
4:40:54 PM

That must be a bloody big bottle of wine if it takes up the space of a rope and a rack :-)

Andrew_M

9-Jun-2004
1:13:51 PM

Yeah, good point. We'll thin the rack out and be prepared to run it out to make sure the other bottles still fit in. Got to get the priorities right eh.

JamesMc

3-Aug-2004
9:45:38 PM

Hey Andrew, did you get there?

How was it?

James

Andrew_M

4-Aug-2004
11:38:13 AM

Yes, we did get there. Only got an afternoon's worth of climbing done in cold and windy conditions but still had a good time. Well worth putting the climbing gear in and it'd be worth heading back for full weekend another time.

Some photos of the trip (not all climbing unfortunately) are at: http://community.webshots.com/album/164396357yYQkYB

Cheers,

Andrew

Damietta

4-Aug-2004
7:17:05 PM

Cheers Andrew, nice photos. Haven't climbed at Scabby but looks like its worth a visit

D

JamesMc

4-Aug-2004
11:14:35 PM

Thanks for the pictures Andrew.

It sure looks burnt

James

mikl law

5-Aug-2004
5:55:35 AM

Paul Daniels (Canberra Stretch) did a few routes there (iincluding the memorably named Bandaid soup). If you can't find descriptions, Mike Law-Smith might be able to help out

Nico

11-Aug-2004
9:41:46 AM

A beautiful crag with about twenty named routes, all in the ACT Granite guide. One of my favourite places (or it was before the fires - haven't been back since, but hoping to get back after the snow season). As the guide says "Superb slab climbing in the wilderness." The first time I went there, in 1991, we had problems actually finding the crag. It was wet and misty, the scrub was dense, we had a good map and compass (and the skills) - but all we could find was Mt Scabby itself. The crag is actually called Silhouette Slab, and it runs north-south, just south-west of the Scabby massif. Have a look at the Yaouk sheet of the 1:25,000 topographic map. Grid reference for the slab is 688399. Before the fires there were a couple of great little campsites, grassy dells in the forest with a permament creek, about 15 minutes walk downhill from the cliff, grid reference 682397 and 682396. Remember that the Scabby area is high and wild - take plenty of warm clothes - and be ready for sudden bad weather.

The climbing is great at all grades (they tell me!) - personally I have enjoyed Antiquity, 110m, (17) and Harlequin's Carnival, 100m, (16) as well as all the easier lines. The book says Harlequin's Carnival is well protected. Oh.

There's also the isolation factor. How many grades do you add for a two-and-a-half hour walk in, starting at a remote farm, following a long drive? It feels a long way from anywhere - which is one of the attractions - but you don't want to take extra chances. Even a small accident could turn into an epic.

Because of the long walk in you need to spend two nights there to get a full day's climbing. But it's well worth the hike!

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