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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

 Page 1 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 56
Author
Moonarie - Worth bringing a Sat. phone?

ado_m
11-Mar-2009
9:21:04 AM
Chockstoners

A mate and I are heading up to Moonarie for 10 days or so of exploration:

Q1. What is the reception like there?

I have the impression that raising alarm and coordinating rescue would be pretty difficult in the unlikely event that we or someone else at the crag got into trouble (not that it's planned!). Thus, thinking of bringing a Sat phone. Overkill perhaps, but $300 for two weeks seems pretty non-material for the piece of mind...

Q2. Any impressions about Moonarie? We would be climbing probably in the 15-20 range (I hear the grades are pretty steep)

Ado M



nmonteith
11-Mar-2009
9:26:17 AM
There is a major tourist park just down the road. It's no more remote than Pierces Pass in the Bluies or
the Vic Range sin the Grampians. I imagine normal mobile phones would work ok...

Robb
11-Mar-2009
11:12:14 AM
might get reception with a next g phone but not a normal 2g phone from experience. ive never got reception there. but ive only reently aquired a next g phone.
moonarie feels quite remote and it would take a while to organise a rescue if there was a serious accident. 30 min walk back to the car then 15 mins to wilpena.
alot of the time you may be the only climbers up there so not alot of help to call upon either.
hope you enjoy it. its a beautiful amazing place to climb. let me know if you have any questions.
hero
11-Mar-2009
12:40:28 PM
Some kilometres to the south is a roadsign that says end of mobile phone coverage.


tnd
11-Mar-2009
12:54:50 PM
These... http://www.personaltracker.com.au/ ...are worth considering if you do a lot of remote outdoor stuff. They are starting to be used by glider pilots which is where I've come across them. There is an annual coverage charge but even at $12 per month or whatever it is it could be worth the peace of mind.

(Glider pilots often end up stuck in paddocks when the thermals die and have an epic trying to contact the retrieve crew if they're out of mobile coverage).

foreverabumbly
11-Mar-2009
1:15:06 PM
Moonarie is the best crag in the world IMO

Hit up hangover layback, outside chance, miles from nowhere and downwind of angels.
All great climbs

and good luck with any phone reception I had 3g phones up there and had no reception
racingtadpole
11-Mar-2009
1:26:37 PM
There is no mobile coverage at Moonarie. A sat phone is a good idea. The other option is to rent an EPIRB (i am told these can be had from Paddy Pallin on Rundle St in the CBD for $50 a week). Both options are cheap insurance if you ask my 2c worth. I personally would take a phone but thats because I have free unrestricted access to one, If I had to pay for it I would probably go get an EPIRB.


IdratherbeclimbingM9
11-Mar-2009
1:29:07 PM
If your EPIRB goes off accidentally, the bill you end up paying would buy you your own sat. phone?

foreverabumbly
11-Mar-2009
1:45:09 PM
EPIRBs are pretty worthless in hilly and mountainous terrain, the satellites have no coverage

The new SPOTs are better, the coast guard will be able to rescue you. (as the nearest call centre is in America)

wallwombat
11-Mar-2009
2:30:35 PM
Surely heaps of people climb at Moonarie without any of this crap?

Richard Delaney
11-Mar-2009
2:35:35 PM
Another option is that you can buy an iridium sat phone outright (for $2000) and then put
your telstra nextg sim card in it to make calls. This way you can avoid any monthly
fees and works well for those who are mostly within the range of the terrestrial networks
but go bush occasionally.

The details:
- it must be a nextg sim on a plan (pre-paid won't work)
- the sim must be enabled for international roaming
- the calls (both incoming and outgoing) are made through the iridium satellites and will
appear on your normal mobile phone bill charged at $3 per minute.
- this is NOT a dual mode set up - the handset is only a sat phone and can not make
calls through the terrestrial network.

I decided that this was a bit more expensive than the new PLBs (the digital
replacements for the old EPIRB) but gave me options other than straight out rescue -
particularly as work has us out in the field doing remote flora/fauna work.

Note: in the Blue Mountains, you can borrow (free of charge) new GPS equipped PLBs
from Katoomba/Springwood police stations or the NPWS office in Blackheath.

wallwombat
11-Mar-2009
2:41:30 PM
On 11/03/2009 Richard Delaney wrote:

>Note: in the Blue Mountains, you can borrow (free of charge) new GPS equipped
>PLBs
>from Katoomba/Springwood police stations or the NPWS office in Blackheath.

I'll stop by and grab one next time I go to Centennial Glen.

tnd
11-Mar-2009
3:29:11 PM
The SPOT is what I was referring to above.

tnd
11-Mar-2009
3:36:02 PM
On 11/03/2009 wallwombat wrote:
>Surely heaps of people climb at Moonarie without any of this crap?
>
>
You'd be happy to use this "crap" if you were lying whimpering in a creek bed with a broken leg when you've gone off for an explore and no-one knows exactly where you are.

Sh1t happens, and using modern technology like this makes life a lot easier for emergency services.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
11-Mar-2009
3:37:42 PM
tnd wrote
>You'd be happy to use this "crap" if you were lying whimpering in a creek bed with a broken leg when you've gone off for an explore

I wonder if Doug Scott or Joe Simpson would agree with you?
Heh, heh, heh.

... and while we are on the 'what ifs'; ... they had better take spare batteries in case the originals go flat!



>Sh1t happens, and using modern technology like this makes life a lot easier

Is that a quote from a sport climber?
;-)

tnd
11-Mar-2009
4:08:32 PM
On 11/03/2009 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>...and while we are on the 'what ifs'; ... they had better take spare
>batteries in case the originals go flat!
>
>
>
>>Sh1t happens, and using modern technology like this makes life a lot
>easier
>
>Is that a quote from a sport climber?
>;-)

It's mainly from the point of view of glider outlandings that I see the benefit; when there's no mobile coverage you can sometimes have to walk a long way to find a phone to let people know where you are (while the local cattle are licking your $40k glider to pieces).

Climbing/outdoors wise though, I can't see what's wrong with spending $150 pa of my own money to save emergency services hours and $1000's looking for me if I need help and they don't know my exact location.

And a set of spare batteries goes without saying. As well as that, log the life of the batteries and change them after a certain number of hours. There's an old aviation saying - the 5 P's - "Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance". If more outdoors people followed that idea there'd be a lot fewer accidents and incidents.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
11-Mar-2009
4:15:08 PM
I have also heard it said by aviators in PNG that "The clouds are full of rocks."
Maybe the flying-climbing link is stronger than we think!
Wendy
11-Mar-2009
6:45:47 PM
Moonarie is a great crag. Beautiful spot, heaps of atmosphere. Expect even the easy climbs to not be easy. Pagoda, Flying Buttress, Hangover Layback are all amongst the best but most desperate 15s around. Big cams won't go astray on some routes. Double ropes are good for desents. There's some rap anchors gone in that are not in my guidebook - if there isn't an updated one, I did find them on line somewhere, sadly, can't remember where now. Downwind of Angels, Pine Crack (a bit run out in the 1st pitch), Icarus, Vortex, Tim Tam are all great. Ignore the silly 3 star grade 18 traverses - i'm not sure what drugs the guidebook author was on when they gave those stars out. Shangri La is also quite scary to lead. Ultion, Nervine, GGRC are all good not so easy, easy routes. The descent down the central gully is quite intresting - don't approach it in the dark as I did on my first day of my first visit there! It's OK once you've sussed it out.

I've never taken any sort of emergency contact device there. I really only take one on remote multiday outings. I'm not a pedantic helmet wearer, but I think it's a good plan at Moonarie where the rock can be friable. If you take normal reasonable precautions - choose climbs wisely, place plenty of good gear, don't solo any access or descents that are at all iffy, wear that helmet, there's no reason why you would need a rescue any more than at Arapiles. If all turned to shit and you did need a rescue, it would be a while, but not days. Probably no longer than if you needed one at Rosea. Well, maybe a bit longer as any choppers might have to travel further. If it makes you happy and you can afford it, well, there's no harm in having it but I don't think you're taking an unreasonable risk going without it.

The road into camp looks bad, but even my bodgy van makes it. Take some ear plugs if you don't want to be woken by crows at dawn. Enjoy!
WM
11-Mar-2009
7:16:58 PM
On 11/03/2009 Wendy wrote:
> There's some rap anchors gone in that are not in my guidebook - if there isn't
>an updated one, I did find them on line somewhere, sadly, can't remember
>where now.

http://www.geocities.com/moonarie/

wallwombat
11-Mar-2009
8:28:57 PM
On 11/03/2009 tnd wrote:

>You'd be happy to use this "crap" if you were lying whimpering in a creek
>bed with a broken leg when you've gone off for an explore and no-one knows
>exactly where you are.
>
>Sh1t happens, and using modern technology like this makes life a lot easier
>for emergency services.

"...and I will never carry a telephone or have a handset with me in the wilderness. To do so would mean destroying the sense of isolation and exposure that I seek. If I can call out, I am no longer on the edge. These are my self-imposed rules."

Reinhold Messner


And they are my self imposed rules too.

Please do not impose your values on me.

TND, you do not know me and you do not know what I'd be "happy to use".

I got into climbing as an extension of the long distance bushwalks I did when I was a kid. At it's best, climbing for me is about wilderness experiences and adventure and knowing how to look after myself if and when something goes wrong.

For me, it's not about clipping bolts and 'gymnastic movement on rock'. It's not about numbers either.

There have been plenty of times that I have been days rather than hours from the nearest road or telephone and guess what?

That was the whole f#cking point. That's why I was there.

So I think my comment about whether people go to Moonarie without sat phones and EPIRBs and all that other "crap" is totally valid.

As, of course, is your point of view

But PLEASE do not presume what I would be "happy" to use or not.

These are MY self imposed rules.



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There are 56 messages in this topic.

 

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