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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

 Page 5 of 5. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 80 | 81 to 87
Author
Longest climbs?

Grinder
8-Jul-2013
1:23:16 PM
Is there anything in QLD that is longer "The Governor, 22, 320m" on Mt Barney (excluding the ridgeline scrambles on the same mountain)

nmonteith
8-Jul-2013
7:02:01 PM
On 8/07/2013 Grinder wrote:
>Is there anything in QLD that is longer "The Governor, 22, 320m" on Mt
>Barney (excluding the ridgeline scrambles on the same mountain)

Less than an hour away is Mt Warning!
gfdonc
9-Jul-2013
9:45:53 AM
Now the thread has been bumped, I guess it's time to post up the route description for Red Tide. Let me know who does the first one-day ascent.

**Red Tide 1013m (19 pitches) Grade 17
Australia’s longest route is a traverse – but with good positions on mostly clean rock this is a great adventure. Some of the pitches are easy scrambling, but there’s enough tricky pitches to keep your interest. The route follows the distinctive line of red sandstone at about the 60 to 80m level for most of the way, hence the name.
Some words of care: Pacific Ocean Wall has some of the softest rock in the Grampians and this covers most of it, so be careful. Also, being a traverse, the leader and second need to both be capable at the grade. There are long runouts on the easier terrain, and the swinging falls could cause serious injury.
The harder sections (grade 10 and above) are mostly well protected with cams, the occasional wire and bolt. Cam placements are flared and subtle, and some would not hold well in the event of a fall. 19 stainless expansion bolts (12mm sleeve anchors) with fixed hangers were placed as runners during the FA, all on lead, but due to the softness of the rock these should be treated with caution. Another 17 bolts were placed at belays. Take a 17mm spanner to retighten if required. Where a bolt has been placed for the leader, another has been placed after the harder sections to protect the second in almost all cases.
The grades of most pitches reflect these considerations as well as the ‘fear factor’ of the uncertainly of some of the holds. POW is covered with many layers of slightly harder rock, forming ‘plates’ that are quite wide but fragile, so don’t stand on them!
Gear: take a selection of wires and a generous rack of cams up to about 70mm (BD #3 or WC #3), including several smaller cams (‘finger size’, or 13-33mm), and a selection of slings. All bolts have fixed hangers or rings. A 60m rope is required, and a second rope might be needed to bail.
The route crosses several water streaks including the main feature of the cliff, a waterfall at pitch 7. The waterfall is dry during summer, and fortunately reasonably clean, but you should avoid the route after rain unless you enjoy that sort of thing.
You can drop the overall grade to 15 or 16 by tensioning off the bolts on the crux pitch, see notes for pitch 11.
Start: at the left end of the main wall there is a bushy ledge at about 20m with a small but distinctive roof (1m) at about the 70-80m level. There are 3 cairns arranged in a triangle on the open ground. Start under the bushy ledge.
1. 60m 6. Up, trending right of the ledge, past a stance at 45m and belay off cams in a groove.
2. 50m 10. Up to the line of red stone, traverse right to a bolt, then delicately right onto a blunt arete. Belay from a bolt + a higher cam at a good stance.
3. 56m 6. Continue right easily with 1 BR to a belay from 3 cams.
4. 55m 8. Continue right, slinging a ‘dinner plate’ and a cam for pro, then a long but easy runout to the corner. Belay 2-3m past the corner from cams.
5. 55m 8. Head right with some good cam placements (and maybe a nut) to make a delicate step across the ‘blank spot’. No pro for the second past this point! Continue across then step down onto bushy ledge, belay off cams on right.
6. 55m 7. The ‘Plates Pitch’. Step back up into the line, then across and around the bulge. Follow the plates (avoiding stepping on them!) along to a DBB before the waterfall.
7. 55m 13. The ‘waterfall pitch’ and also referred to as the ‘money pitch’. Photogenic. Follow the line of 3 bolts with some delicate climbing into the waterfall runnel and continue across to another bolt. Make a rising traverse (finding cam placements higher) and continue across some gullies out of sight to belay from cams - you can see your belayer again from this stance.
8. 58m 3. Easily right on sloping ledges with several gear placements to a DBB.
9. 58m 8. Walk along to a shallow corner, step over this make a slabby move up to the arete. Continue to DBB before the runnel. (note: this pitch crosses over the line of Totgeboren, meaning there is a rap station with double rings on a ledge some 15-20m somewhere below you and right of the corner if you need to bail, and a 50m rap from there).
10. 60m 14. Step down and cross the runnel (delicate), place a high nut for the second. Continue easily across ledges then around the next arete (bolt). Place cams to protect the second and then run it out to the next arete. Belay here from one bolt plus trad in the crack above (cams &/or a nut) at a semi-hanging stance.
gfdonc
9-Jul-2013
9:46:01 AM
11. 35m 17 (crux). This is tricky as the belayer can’t see the leader for the difficult sections. Communications can be difficult. The crux is well protected by high bolts for both leader and seconder – the overall grade could be reduced by tensioning across this section.
Head right easily across slabs (no pro) to a shallow corner. Go around this (pro), head right around to the next pillar, make a step up and right to a bolt, then down and right to another lower bolt, and across (tricky here) to a blank section of slab with a high bolt. Mantle downwards then cross the slab on small holds, then climb up to clip a second high bolt (ring) for the follower. (A ‘direct’ at the level of the bolts is possible, would be 19 or 20). Belay from double rings.
Bail/bivi option: a 60m rope (single) reaches the ground from here, and the FA party bivvied overnight on padded ledges (called ‘beds’) in Halls Gap.
12. 53m 11. The ‘Bowl pitch’. Head right and around the arete, staying along the same level with two bolts, then make a tricky step down and across the bowl, clip a nut with a long sling to protect the second. Continue easily right (runout, one cam) to DBB with one ring and one FH.
Variant: it would be possible to drop further down from the first bolt and avoid the bowl, scrambling easily and directly down to the belay at the start of pitch 14.
13. 18m 6. The ‘chicken pitch’. Downclimb 15m from the belay, then move 5m right to a DBB on a good stance. The second should rethread the ring & be toproped by the leader, no other pro.
14. 60+m 10. The ‘rope-stretcher’ or second waterfall pitch. You need the full 60m, don’t use up the lead rope in the belay. Downclimb the left side of the ledge then move right, place a wire underneath the ledge and continue across the runnel and downwards then across an easy traverse line (bolt and cam). Continue right to reach the base of the Kon-tiki face, clipping the DBB on Ripples then continuing right along the line to clip the double rings of Ra Ra Ra at a good stance. Bail option: rap 30m from these rings.
15. 56m 15. The ‘fragile pitch’. Be very wary of the rock. Well protected, interesting climbing, but don’t use up your small cams too early. Traverse right 8m, step up a little, then traverse delicately right for about 12m where the holds get better (if you can trust them) and step up to a bolt. Up and right again to another bolt then easily right to a DBB.
16. 59m 8. Climb down and right along a groove, friction across the runnel (bolt), then continue easily on ledges to a good sloping stance (bolt + cam).
17. 59m 2. Easily right along the line, rising near the end to belay from bolt + good cam.
18. 59m 6. The ‘horn pitch’. Along the line to a water streak, slinging the odd phallus. Step down, cross the streak then step further down onto a large bushy ledge. Bolt + cam.
19. 52m 12. The ‘turret pitch’. From the right end of the ledge follow a shallow groove up (no pro), heading for 3 distinct ‘horns’ above. Climb up to a shallow corner and up between the left and centre horn to a bolt. Care of the rock. Up to the crack to make a steeper and well protected exit up the final corner.
Descent: rap 22m from rings (just right of the finish), off the front of the buttress down to a large ledge. Head right (facing in), past Coral Cave, then descend downhill into scrub and bushbash down to the plateau. Allow 1½ to 2 hours to get back to your car from the top.

shortman
9-Jul-2013
10:49:46 AM
gfdonc your pm box is full.
gfdonc
9-Jul-2013
11:21:28 AM
Got your message though?

shortman
9-Jul-2013
11:48:12 AM
Yeah, it was mine that was full. Doh.

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There are 87 messages in this topic.

 

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