Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Area Location Sub Location Crag Links

VIC Arapiles King Rat Cliffs (General) King Rat Gully [ Arapiles Guide | Arapiles Images ]

Author

Coke Adds Life (19)

gfdonc

16-Nov-2011
12:50:46 PM

Did this route on Monday.
In trawling the Chockstone postings I saw one enquiry about a possible accident on it a few years ago. I wouldn't be at all surprised.

IMHO this route is a much more serious lead than the guide suggests. I think the wording is "poor protection at the start". I launched up it, placed one low wire and was expecting to get pro under the roof, by which time my one wire would be useless to prevent a groundfall. I figured this was what was meant by the description.

To my disappointment there was no gear under the roof, either. I got a marginal (2 cams) cam in a slot in the roof as the only piece between me and the ground, and hung out for a while. I could have placed a Fr #4 in a horizontal above the roof but that's not part of my standard rack. I pulled through the roof a bit and got a cam in the bottom of the flake but wasn't sure about it (seems fairly smooth).

I estimate it's about an 8m drop from there, onto rocks. Eventually I pulled right through the roof and got the one good wire that protects the crux, so it all ended well.

Follow up actions? (in order of difficulty)
1. Put this post together so others might know what they're in for.
2. Put one of those hand symbols and update the route description in the next guide.
3. Go and stick a (high) bolt in it.

As always I'm happy to place the bolt with respect to consensus and protocol. Anyone in touch with Chris Shepherd?
- Steve

kieranl

16-Nov-2011
1:47:24 PM

The ACA guide already has one of the "hand things" against it.
Maybe needs a bit more of a note to warn people not to expect gear under the roof so use some energy to get some more gear low down.
Earlier this year I got on it. I remembered that there was no useful gear under the overhang so hung around and got another piece up on the right then a small cam in one of the horizontal incuts. When I got to the roof I felt too weak to reach over and place gear but my gear below was close enough to provide some protection for the downclimb.

Wendy

16-Nov-2011
1:50:58 PM

I always figured the name was half the warning! I led this many many years ago when I was young and bold, and still remember it. Similar experience of one low wire, hanging out in the break trying to fudge gear - the best of which was probably an open quickdraw sling over a tiny nubbin which started a competition with my climbing partner for the rest of the day of who could place the most preposterous sling that might actually hold. I didn't get anything decent until several moves up the top wall where the other good wire is in the flake. Needless to say, I haven't returned.

I agree it should have a gear warning in the book - i thought it had, but obviously not enough of one.

maxdacat

16-Nov-2011
1:56:18 PM

Interesting that when they tried to translate the slogan into Chinese it became "Coke brings you back to life"....so maybe a bit of dodgy protection is nothing to worry about :p

IdratherbeclimbingM9

16-Nov-2011
2:01:56 PM

On 16/11/2011 maxdacat wrote:
>Interesting that when they tried to translate the slogan into Chinese it
>became "Coke brings you back to life"....so maybe a bit of dodgy protection
>is nothing to worry about :p

... sounds like one needs a full bottle for both!

spicelab

16-Nov-2011
2:09:04 PM

Vaguely recall this being an 8 metre solo until some decent gear to protect the last 2 metres before you stand up and doddle to the belay.

Also vaguely recall not liking it.

Doug

16-Nov-2011
3:40:49 PM

I led this a few years ago when I was feeling pretty good and thought it was pretty goey but okay to protect if you looked carefully enough. Followed it a few weeks ago and found it desperate! Alex actually had a fair bit of gear in (including a well-cammed 3 Camalot) but he had to work pretty hard to get it. Most of it was solid with a couple of marginal pieces. I think a slight amendment to the description is a fair call.

nmonteith

16-Nov-2011
4:05:26 PM

Although i don't remember the climb itself my thecrag.com note says "Very scary bold start! Easy finish". So it seems I am in agreement!

Eduardo Slabofvic

16-Nov-2011
4:09:40 PM

If we take guidance from a number of recent posts on other threads, trad is safe and sport is scary; so therefore this is a safe route and retrobolting it will make it scary. I'm all for it remaining as safe as it is now.

kieranl

17-Nov-2011
11:09:23 AM

Added this note to the ACA description.

There is groundfall potential at the little roof at half height. Spending time to fiddle in gear on the initial wall can help but won't eliminate this. Large cams are useful just above roof.

gfdonc

17-Nov-2011
12:11:46 PM

Thanks Kieran.

Oh, and Wendy I did look at that little nubbin but decided against bothering to try and sit a sling on it. I'm not sure what that implies in terms of our relative skill and intelligence.

cruze

17-Nov-2011
1:01:23 PM

What interests me about this thread is not how hard it is to find a poorly protected moderate route at Arapiles, but that most of the posters are strong, experienced climbers who probably climbed the thing to fill in some time well below their limit and got sufficiently rattled by the experience to remember it amongst all the others they have forgotten. Isn't it great that those sort of climbs exist?

IMHO the route is short, is clearly visible from the ground and has a warning about poor pro in the guide. If you get on it despite that and keep climbing above crap or nonexistent gear and eventually have a mishap then I am sorry but... that's just what can happen when climbing. With a bolt in it people would only remember it as some obscure little thing tucked away next to Glory Rodent and King Rat.

mikllaw

17-Nov-2011
1:19:13 PM

The danger is when you wander up the gully and remember 'running up this' years ago. A self-administered Alzeimher's sandbag is hard to escape gracefully. Or safely.

kieranl

17-Nov-2011
2:08:26 PM

Yes, the problem was that I was "insufficiently rattled" the first time I led it. Luckily now that I am older and even more cowardly, I took the time to give myself an insurance policy and could back out of trouble.

duglash

17-Nov-2011
9:50:44 PM

I did this the other day - there's a cam in the groove on the right which is a good second piece. You'd still come close if you fell off placing the next cams, which are not that bad if you take a good range (ie big ones too), but save a gold/2.5 for the base of the flake.

To be honest, I'm regularly worried by sub 20 routes at Araps. Especially now that I'm more sensible.

gfdonc

18-Nov-2011
12:35:51 PM

On 17/11/2011 cruze wrote:
>IMHO the route is short, is clearly visible from the ground and has a
>warning about poor pro in the guide. If you get on it despite that and
>keep climbing above crap or nonexistent gear and eventually have a mishap
>then I am sorry but...

What I wanted to make clear is despite the warning in the guide and being prepared for 'poor pro at the start' I still got surprised and ended up in a life-threatening situation unexpectedly.
As I suggest the warning needed to be beefed up to match the climb, or the climb 'modified' (eww) to suit the description.
It is of course hard to issue a recall on hundreds of copies of the Select Guide to add a few words (no criticism of the authors is intended).
The moves up to the roof are hard enough to not be easily reversible. I contemplated downclimbing or traversing off via Smile as options. I deciding continuing was the least risk. YMMV.

> that's just what can happen when climbing. With
>a bolt in it people would only remember it as some obscure little thing
>tucked away next to Glory Rodent and King Rat.

Actually I think the reverse is closer to the truth. Refer my thread on Goodbye to All That if you like, which (as I saw someone on it the other week) now seems to be getting a few ascents rather than being lost to obscurity.

IdratherbeclimbingM9

18-Nov-2011
12:42:08 PM

On 18/11/2011 gfdonc wrote:
>Actually I think the reverse is closer to the truth. Refer my thread
>on Goodbye to All That if you like, which (as I saw someone on it the other
>week) now seems to be getting a few ascents rather than being lost to obscurity.

... but the same can't be said of the new route that you & singer put up the other day!
Heh, heh, heh.

Seriously, I tend to agree with ES on this given some of the posts above, especially duglash's.

Nottobetaken

18-Nov-2011
10:53:35 PM

I once had a fine morning doing this sans rope and thinking it might have been more sketchy with one. Suspicions confirmed. It was a lot less demanding than applying the same technique to King Rat and topping out! What a great morning.

mthrfckr

19-Nov-2011
10:18:38 AM

"Especially now that I'm more sensible."

When did that happen?

There are 19 messages in this topic.