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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Poll Option Votes Graph
Go for it, lots of good options 5
33% 
Stay home you fool! 2
13% 
Read the bloody guide book and stop bothering us! 8
53% 

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 37
Area Location Sub Location Crag Links
VIC Arapiles (General) (General) (General) [ Arapiles Guide | Arapiles Images ] 

Author
Best Araps routes in 40+ heat?
jprockbelly
5-Feb-2014
11:42:20 AM
Hi All

I've had a long planned trip to Araps this weekend and it is with horror that I've been watching the forecasted temps. I'm now wondering if it is worth it to brave the stinking heat. I know there are a bunch of good routes that are shady all day, but I'm guessing these will be chockers. Plus when it tops 40 it's still hot in the shade.

So I'm wondering: is it worth the trip? will all the shady routes be crowded? or will the heat kill the crowds (then kill me!)?

My list of shady things to look at is:
Bulger
Agamemnon
Lawrence (best option to be shady and free)
Lamplighter
King Rat (and surrounds)

And if the weaker members of the party have had enough, and I feel like hurting myself:
Spasm
Astral Plain

Any other gems tucked away in the shade that I should consider?

Cheers
John

ps. I'm sure this has been discussed at length before, but a forum search didn't really return much.




IdratherbeclimbingM9
5-Feb-2014
11:48:26 AM
Go to Moonarie beforehand, as Araps will feel cool by comparison!
;-p


> I'm sure this has been discussed at length before

~> You should add another poll option of;
'Wendy will set me straight.'
... as I'd vote for that!

Heh, heh, heh.

Sabu
5-Feb-2014
12:34:04 PM
Yes there are heaps of options. Generally you'll want to be climbing in the morning and later arvo/evening. Don't even bother with the hottest parts of the day.

Get up early and head for anything on the right side of central gully or pharos gully. There is also heaps of other morning shady options including castle crag, Mari buttress, watchtower chimney, and a few climbs in the bowels between bard buttress and tiger wall. One side of bushrangers is shady in the morning and there are heaps of other little gullies and spots that you can occupy yourself in.

More than enough for a weekend (or several)!
kieranl
5-Feb-2014
12:38:15 PM
If it's like last weekend there won't be many at Arapiles and routes will not be crowded.
Don't do Lawrence - there's a good reason it won't be crowded at any time. By the time you've grovelled up the first 50m of dirt and bushes you'll be ready to go home.
jprockbelly
5-Feb-2014
12:44:56 PM
Thanks for the feedback guys

>Don't do Lawrence - there's a good reason it won't be crowded at any time.

ha ha, yet it still gets a star in most guides!

The good Dr
5-Feb-2014
12:53:03 PM
Yes, lots of options. I have often climber from 6 or 7 till 10am then back out at 5. For an all day option Dreadnaught Gully is pretty good and is often cooler.King Rat Gully is also a place you can hang out all day as there is stuff always in the shade.

Also try Virginia, English Ethics and Cruel Consistency, Fly By Night Gully, Organ pipes Gully, Lex Luthor Area, Aardvark and the routes on the back of D Minor pinnacle ......
gfdonc
5-Feb-2014
1:51:59 PM
Yeah, King Rat gully, Back wall of the Pharos, all good ideas.

I did Judgement Day in 38C heat a few years ago when everyone else wanted to just lie down at camp, it was quite pleasant with a breeze blowing through.

Bulger in theory but I expect the top part might be sunny.

Lots of places in shade in the afternoon, like the Organ Pipes.


Duang Daunk
5-Feb-2014
2:07:01 PM
On 5/02/2014 gfdonc wrote:
>Yeah, King Rat gully, Back wall of the Pharos, all good ideas.
>
>I did Judgement Day in 38C heat a few years ago when everyone else wanted
>to just lie down at camp, it was quite pleasant with a breeze blowing through.
>
>Bulger in theory but I expect the top part might be sunny.
>
>Lots of places in shade in the afternoon, like the Organ Pipes.
>
... yes, but if you are a half-wuss like my best mate simey, what would you recommend?
Wendy
5-Feb-2014
2:16:56 PM
Well, it does depend a lot on grades, time of year and time of day and wind, but 42 is getting up there even for me.

For easy stuff, I'd go early morning onto Lamplighter. There's usually a breeze back there too, but it will be in the sun by 230-3ish. Shady side of Bushrangers is ok til about 1, when the sun starts peeping over. All the top is in the sun so TRing is probably better. Serpent and Nude Balloon dance now they are afixed with an anchor so you can bail before getting into the sun. Again, early, the sun does hit that wall in the afternoon. A lot of the right side stuff gets both early and late sun in the height of summer and I'm not sure if that has passed yet. So Dracula/Mari etc are best in the middle of the day. Although you might more accurately say the river or the pub are best in the middle of the day. I don't thing bulger ever sees the sun and should get some breeze, but you will have to top out in the sun and rap of the back, probably also in the sun. Fly by night gully has a minor airconditioning system in it.

Agamemnon doesn't work so well, because both the bottom and the top tend to be in the sun. Maybe really early whilst still shaded by Female Friends wall. Or you could try Red Parrot Chasm instead. I don't think it ever sees the sun.

Hard stuff is strangely easier to find - My pick of the bunch is skyline walls. Lots of shade, lots of breeze, lots of great stuff between 22-26. Walk in from the top and find the rap stations and you don't have to do any slogging up hill in the heat. Some of the routes will come into the sun mid afternoon, but you'll probably be ready for the river/pub option by then. Dreadnaught gully has a major airconditioning system. You can just sit in the back of it for the whole day and play scrabble. There is some rather good climbing in the mid 20s as well though. The rest of the back of the pharos or south wall of the pharos. Mysteries gully. doggers gully. cobwebs gully. hunger gully.

The morning sun gets into pilot error gully, but there are some morning options on the left and afternoon options on the right, a range of grades, but most involve a top belay in the sun. Eurolochyus is good fun.
jprockbelly
5-Feb-2014
2:32:29 PM
Thanks Wendy, heaps of helpful suggestions

Which river has water in it this time of year?
White Trash
5-Feb-2014
2:34:12 PM
On 5/02/2014 jprockbelly wrote:
>Thanks Wendy, heaps of helpful suggestions
>
>Which river has water in it this time of year?
the murray, as anything else is a creek by comparison,
gfdonc
5-Feb-2014
3:17:35 PM
Actually the best route I've ever done for a warm day is Opening, a one-star 18 on the inside wall of the gully below Down and Out.

The chasm holds cool air - natural air conditioning - and the route is completely in the shade until you top out. It also has pretty good gear, and moves.
White Gold
5-Feb-2014
7:12:55 PM
Preludes wall is perfect. Range of single pitch grades. It's actually like 10oC cooler up there. Did it a couple of weeks ago when it was 39oC.
We did bulger, start of the second pitch is fun. Just gets hot sitting there bringing up te second but that usually doesn't take very long. It's worth it.
Fly by night area gets a good draft and is in the shade.

JamesMc
5-Feb-2014
8:57:42 PM
The sensible thing would be to change your plans and go somewhere cooler like Buffalo. Arapiles won't go away.

goshen
5-Feb-2014
11:49:37 PM
Having just climbied buffalo in near 40deg, i can't say that's such a great idea... it's cooler, but there's just not enough in the shade.
Wendy
6-Feb-2014
4:27:59 PM
I just got in from Skyline Walls. Conditions were beautiful until about 2 when I started to feel it was hot enough to be a bit greasy. Shade was still on the cliff when we left at 3.

In order to get the most of your Skyline Walls experience, here's the strategy.

Park by the picnic table with the shade near the disabled look out. Wander back up to the pull out at the high point and potter past the top of Cecilia Wall (which is also a perfectly fine hot day experience too) and scramble down to the rap anchors above Copyright. Use a long set up rope or 2 to create some clip and lower anchors at the top of the cliff so you don't have to ever leave the shade. Or just set up for a day of stress free toproping. Rap in with a few luxuries and hang out at the base. Leading wise, Bootleg and my fantastic new route Bittorrent are the best warmup options. The other 2 19s have shitty rock and shitty gear. Copyright is safe as houses. The other 22 (rasputin) is best toproped unless someone wants to piss Damo off by chucking a bolt in the start, which would turn it into a great route. Some of the harder routes are ok ground up but can have some fiddly or hard to find gear. You can rap into the anchors above On High and Non Stop off the trees and the anchor above Tres Hard doesn't actually exist, but a long set up rope will wrap around the big lump of rock there quite adequately. Top out on something at the end of the day (Copyright has the most shade at the top, unless it's really late arvo in which case you'll just have to bake for a bit) and haul out your stuff and climbing partner. If you have to climb out, the gully between Tres Hard and On High is about 10. Reversing the scramble to Cecilia and walking out is possible but a bit sketchy.
martym
6-Feb-2014
5:20:07 PM
On 5/02/2014 White Trash wrote:
>On 5/02/2014 jprockbelly wrote:
>>Thanks Wendy, heaps of helpful suggestions
>>
>>Which river has water in it this time of year?
>the murray, as anything else is a creek by comparison,

Try: Horsham Aquatic Centre - always a good spot on a hot summer's trip to Araps. The guidebook has the details about the local swimming hole which is closer to Nati - but only just...
Wendy
6-Feb-2014
6:00:22 PM
Urgh, Horsham aquatic centre in either heated chlorinated water indoors or shadeless outside pool and trillions of noisy kiddies on a hot saturday ....

The river at quantong is fine at the moment. The billabong is supposed still be ok though I haven't been there for a bit. Toolondo is still good. Nati lake is a smelly marshland but the birds love it.
simey
6-Feb-2014
8:59:28 PM
On 6/02/2014 Wendy wrote:
>Reversing the scramble to Cecilia and walking out is possible but a bit sketchy.

That's right. The grade 2 scramble is completely inappropriate to reach a cliff where the routes are all graded 19 to 26+. It makes much more sense to rap in and then climb out and haul your gear out... not!
simey
6-Feb-2014
9:05:34 PM
On 6/02/2014 Wendy wrote:
>Urgh, Horsham aquatic centre in either heated chlorinated water indoors
>or shadeless outside pool and trillions of noisy kiddies on a hot saturday

Although the Wimmera River is fine for swimming, the Horsham Pool is a pretty good option too. The water in the indoor pool is fine (nice temperature and not overly chlorinated) whilst the 50m outdoor pool is never that busy and is surrounded by lush grass and has a couple of trees for shade.

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 37
There are 37 messages in this topic.

 

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