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Morialta Gorge, Adelaide 14-Dec-2009 At 1:03:33 PM f_ladou

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After a four day conference on femtosecond lasers, entangled photons and quantum computing - where my old supervisor
John Love received a life-long achievement award - it was finally time to hit the rockface. I never climbed in South
Australia and this was an occasion I should not miss. In the short time I had, basically two days, there was no time for
Moonarie and I followed my friend's Graig Roberts advice and paid a visit to Morialta Gorge. Located a mere 20 minutes
due north of Adelaide in the Eastern Hills. The drive is so short, you barely have time to buy lunch on the way - a good
change from the long-ish drive up to Blackheath.

Morialta Gorge offers numerous crags on both sides of the Gorge: we went to Far Crag located on the south side of the
the Gorge which, due to its eastern orientation, is covered with pleasant shades early in the afternoon even in December.
Although there are a couple of bolts here and there (e.g. on the classic "Pizzaz"), this is a trad climbing area. The very
good quality quartzite (metamorphosed sandstone) wall is reminiscent of Arapiles but highly fractured: hence the trad
nature of the crag with excellent gear placement.

Graig recommended some classic like "Pizzaz" (21m, 23) and "Barad Dur" (20m, 22) and I have only one comment for
you Craig: are you insane ! Instead we focussed on (basically) re-learning trad-climbing. So, we started on the aptly name
"Pedagogue" (20m,12) to get a feel of the rock (yes, Craig, that's 10 grades lower) followed by "Sheoak Corner" (15m,
12). By then, I felt like tackling some real hard stuff ;-) So we moved on to "Arev" (14m, 15) which provided some
excitement in the overhang and to "Golgotha" (15m, 16) where I managed to skip a bomber nut placement to give myself
a good dose of adrenaline running out the crux of the climb. Alex red-pointed the route but found it scary and hard as he
systematically refused to jam on the last 5 meters of the climb although the guide clearly says "a fine introduction to
jamming". That's what happen when you climb in the Blueys to often.

Perhaps the best route at that level is "Lord's prayer" described as an "adventure lead". A veteran of the crag we met on
site, John Lattanzio (hi John) suggested we use an alternate finish: the end of "Shewoodenduit" (20m,18). So I launched
into it, the crux being essentially the first move (BTW, no way this is a 15 crux, apparently erosion at the base made
things harder with time) and was off for an excellent experience. One of those climbs which is both surprising and
satisfying. The move to the alternate finish, left, pulling on a flake and stepping up onto the arête is magical.

So, if you ever visit Adelaide for fun or work, even for a short weekend, pack in your trad gear and drive up North Terrace,
pass the Tower Hotel, take a left at the Norton Summit Road find the swing gate and go for it.

Cheers, François

P.S. Here's a couple of pictures:

Alex refusing to jam on Arev

A typical profile of Far Crag: somewhere in there is Lord's prayer