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Chockstone Forum - Trip Reports

Tells Us About Your Latest Trip!

Author
Ben Cairn and Tenneriffe

shiltz
17-Feb-2003
1:38:52 PM
Couldn't get away from Melbourne this weekend (15-16 Feb) due to a BBQ on Saturday night. Instead Bec, Stu and I did two day trips to Ben Cairn on Saturday and Tenneriffe on Sunday.
Ben Cairn is a great little crag on a hot day although one day is enough to cover most of the clean routes unless you're climbing mid-high twenties.
We did "Pie in the Sky" (15), "Skating Away" (19), "Pancake Flake" (18) and "Digit Dancer" (20) on the upper tier. The rock takes a bit of getting used to. I think Mike's description (quoted in the new Eastern Vic guide) pretty well sums it up. "Holdless slabs, and jambless cracks, all cast in formless grey blobite". Stand still for too long and you begin to slide inexorably groundward.
After lunch we ventured down to the lower tier and did "Flapjack" (19), "Frankenstein and the Wereturkeys" (19) and "My Brilliant Career" (19). "Flapjack" is good fun although a little dirty here and there. I wouldn't put to much faith in the piton runner anymore. There is plenty of other gear around it, so you can clip it for a sense of history if you like. We toproped "Frankenstein" due to the badly placed (and slightly dodgy looking) bolt. Its a good route and would be worth rebolting. Both routes would benefit from a some chains at the top. This would save the trees from belay anchor duty and prevent erosion on the path down to the lower tier. "My Brilliant Career" could well the the end of somebody's career. You climb about 4 metres up a mossy slab to a horizontal break which offers some protection (assuming an SLCD) will hold in a muddy, moss filled crack). Then you have to do a few tenuous slab moves to gain the first bolt on the slab above. I was very happy to watch Stu lead this one. I would suggest striking out the words "Justifiably popular" from any future version of the guide. Recommended gear would include a wire brush and a stick to make the clip safely.
We went to Tenneriffe on Sunday to escape the rain (our original destination was to be Camels Hump). Did "Runaway" (16), "White Hart" (18) and "The Sirocco" (17) all on White Hart block. All good fun and solid at the grade. After lunch we jumped onto the two pitch climb, "Finger Lichen Good" (19?). It has to be one of the easiest grade 19 climbs in the state. Grade 16 would be a lot more close to the mark, tick it at 19 while you have the chance ;-) After running up this one we did "Precaution" (13,18) doing "Little Sister" (16) as the first pitch instead of the normal grade 13 start. Finally we did "Claudia Rising" (20) which follows a really interesting dyke feature. I took a few falls near the top of the dyke hurting my ankle a bit before handing over to Stu who also took a few falls before solving it. Bec found the start pretty hard but crusied the section that Stu and I found difficult.
A good weekend overall considering we couldn't go any further afield.
Robin
23-Feb-2003
9:23:41 PM
That's one bumper weekend of climbing.

Regarding 'Finger Lichen Good': Grading new climbs is a difficult task especially when the route is top-roped several times to work out bolt placements. Also I can't climb slabs for shit so I tend to over grade on slabs but sandbag on cracks. I agree that FLG may be soft at 19 but 16 is a bit harsh. Take for istance Milawa (17) Black Hill. This climb is shorter, more possitive holds and less sustained, with similar angle slabbing. FLG has to be at least one grade harder if not 2?

I'm happy to regrade FLG if there is a general consensus that it is overgraded. To date some people have found it solid at the grade and some have cruised it. Depends how good you are on slabs. Anyway with the new VCC guide format the guides are produced in short runs with regular updates, so there plenty of opportunity for corrections.

The grading in general at Tenneriffe will be quite variable. At the time of writing the guide most climbs had only had one ascent. Any feedback on grading, stars, route descriptions is welcome. Post it on Chockstone or send it to the VCC.

Robin

nmonteith
24-Feb-2003
8:57:16 AM
I thought FLG was fairly spot on for the grade - might be 18ish. Definatly not 20.

shiltz
24-Feb-2003
10:26:15 AM
You might be right Robin, could be just a consistency thing. After the day at Ben Cairn and then doing White Hart (18) it seemed quite straight forward for grade 19. Maybe grade 18 would be close enough. I haven't climbed at Black Hill for a few years so I don't really remember how hard Milawa was.

Rupert
24-Feb-2003
12:09:01 PM
Here's my two cents - and I've mentioned this to Robin before :) - I think the first pitch of Finger Lichen Good is probably 18, the start of the second pitch I found totally desparate and ended up literally diving for the flake - I felt this bit to be 19. Overall a great climb. White Heart is (for me) definately undergraded at 18 - if you compare it to Milawa at Black Hill then it should be more like 20.
kieranl
24-Feb-2003
11:05:59 PM
So "Frankenstein..." has a poorly placed bolt. What a surprise. And "My Brilliant Career" could well be the end of somebody's career.
I lead "Frankenstein..." on-sight many years ago.
I also on-sighted "Pakenham Upper" and had to hang around above the shitty mashies, that were the only protection then, while someone shakily seconded "My Brilliant Career", threatening to take me out at any moment.
There's some scarey stuff out there.
You must take care. Always.

Paulie
25-Feb-2003
7:51:24 AM
I found FLG to be about 18, but only at the hard move on the 2nd pitch, 1st pitch is great...good route overall.

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