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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

 Page 1 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 55
Area Location Sub Location Crag Links
VIC Grampians Northern Mt Stapylton Campground (General) [ Mt Stapylton Campground Guide | Images ] 

Author
The Olive Caves - New Gramps Sport Crag!

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
1:18:11 PM
Steep climbing, 2 minute walk-in and shade until 4pm? Yep! 5 minutes drive from Stapylton campground? Yep! Welcome to the Olive Caves. Two large orange sweeps of stone within a stones throw of the road. It's a limited area - but most of the routes are pretty cool lines. Only 6 routes - grades 20, 22, 25, 26, 26 & a closed project. Not much more to go apart from harder routes.

Interestingly there is some evidence of previous abandoned interest in these caves. Old bolts were found above Tazer and halfway up the wall to the left of Tazer. If anyone knows the history behind these bolts let me know!

Full guide and photos are here!
http://www.climb.org.au/index.php?page=27&area_id=1181
dalai
29-Jan-2008
1:30:09 PM
That was quick Neil! Looks great!
qman
29-Jan-2008
1:40:09 PM
Good work, i am always impressed by the effort that goes in from a relative few.

Something like this that is easily accessible in a popular area i am sure will see lots of traffic.


nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
1:43:17 PM
To minimize damage to road and tracks - try to car pool from camp. The road is very sandy and I imagine with too much traffic it will get closer too a real 4WD track rather than the softroader track it currently is. There is a farm right next to the cliff - so it should be plainly obvious that there should be NO FIRES - ever. If its cold buy a warmer jacket.
kieranl
29-Jan-2008
2:03:34 PM
I think I'm responsible for those bolts. Has a bit of a look there in the early nineties. Got motion sick trying to bolt it. Never really got the fitness to motivate me to go back and do it. Probably an easier driving approach would be to take Winfields road to the end of the olive grove and there is a track at the south end of the olive grove.
Somewhere on this cliff are supposed to be a couple of old routes by Dave Gairns that I couldn't locate. I think Paul Hoskins and Greg Pritchard have also done some routes but I don't think I've ever seen any descriptions.
P.S. I took HB in there to try to interest him in the big cracks in the cave but he never went back.
qman
29-Jan-2008
2:24:49 PM
BTW, Neil, what program do you generate your photo topos in.
They are very good.


nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
2:27:27 PM
Adobe Illustrator.

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
2:34:09 PM
On 29/01/2008 kieranl wrote:
>I think I'm responsible for those bolts.

Good! It was a nagging mystery.

>Probably an easier driving
>approach would be to take Winfields road to the end of the olive grove
>and there is a track at the south end of the olive grove.

It's certainly longer that way - but less 4WD. There are some hefty waterbars at southern end.

>Somewhere on this cliff are supposed to be a couple of old routes by Dave
>Gairns that I couldn't locate.

Are these on the Olive Grove cliff? I presume that is the huge cliff about a 20min walk up hill from the caves which only have a very brief mention in the Northern Gramps guide.

> I think Paul Hoskins and Greg Pritchard
>have also done some routes but I don't think I've ever seen any descriptions.

I'd be interested to know what these guys have done in the area! 90% of the rock on the lower cliff line is total choss.

>P.S. I took HB in there to try to interest him in the big cracks in the
>cave but he never went back.

I'm surprised someone hadn't done the route dubbed Adam's Crack in the past. Such an obvious trench and so easy to get to! The top is going to be hard though (26+??).
kieranl
29-Jan-2008
2:38:23 PM
On 29/01/2008 nmonteith wrote:
>>Somewhere on this cliff are supposed to be a couple of old routes by
>Dave
>>Gairns that I couldn't locate.
>
>Are these on the Olive Grove cliff? I presume that is the huge cliff
>about a 20min walk up hill from the caves which only have a very brief
>mention in the Northern Gramps guide.
>
The Olive Grove cliff was supposed to be only 5 minutes walk from the Olive Grove. Dave apparently drove through the Olice Grove and parked at the top fence. I'm pretty sure what you're climbing on are the Olive Grove cliffs that Dave went to but I could never work out where his routes went.

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
2:44:47 PM
On 29/01/2008 kieranl wrote:
>The Olive Grove cliff was supposed to be only 5 minutes walk from the
>Olive Grove. Dave apparently drove through the Olice Grove and parked at
>the top fence. I'm pretty sure what you're climbing on are the Olive Grove
>cliffs that Dave went to but I could never work out where his routes went.

So the large 60m high and 500m wide cliff above it has no routes then?!! It looks a bit chossy from the road but that fact has never stopped the old guard from climbing routes in the past...

BA
29-Jan-2008
3:11:29 PM
On 29/01/2008 kieranl wrote:

>Somewhere on this cliff are supposed to be a couple of old routes by Dave
>Gairns that I couldn't locate. I think Paul Hoskins and Greg Pritchard
>have also done some routes but I don't think I've ever seen any descriptions.

Kieran, when we went for walk along the top, didn't we find a cairn that marked a possible descent route? Probably just left of the big orange part of the wall with what looks a diagonal 'ramp' coming down and right.
kieranl
29-Jan-2008
3:16:25 PM
On 29/01/2008 BA wrote:
>Kieran, when we went for walk along the top, didn't we find a cairn that
>marked a possible descent route? Probably just left of the big orange part
>of the wall with what looks a diagonal 'ramp' coming down and right.
May have done Bill, my memory is hazy on that.t Baxter has put up a couple of routes on that long cliff (Dave Gairns may even have been along on them too) and even he wasn't impressed with the rock quality.
sbright
29-Jan-2008
3:29:47 PM
Hey Neil,

Looks good, I'll be sure to check it out on my return to Oz.

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
3:32:13 PM
On 29/01/2008 kieranl wrote:
>Baxter has put up a couple
>of routes on that long cliff (Dave Gairns may even have been along on them
>too) and even he wasn't impressed with the rock quality.

What is the upper cliff called then? I'm trying to get these online guides accurate but it can be bloody confusing trying to decipher all the old stuff.
Dave J
29-Jan-2008
3:48:46 PM
Aargh! I was just in there a 2 months ago bouldering in that big cave...I bouldered as far as I dared up
that left hand line...I had been meaning to go back and do the big crack....Sheesh....you've gotta be
quick. Do you not think that that right hand line you did would contiue up the crack neil? Or alternatively
keep heading out rightward past that anchor....It was a bit tricky to tell from the ground.

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
4:03:04 PM
On 29/01/2008 Dave J wrote:
>Aargh! I was just in there a 2 months ago bouldering in that big cave...

With Earl from Halls Gap? He was also there bouldering a few months ago!

>I bouldered as far as I dared up
>that left hand line...I had been meaning to go back and do the big crack....Sheesh....you
>ve gotta be
>quick.

:-) Yep.

>Do you not think that that right hand line you did would contiue
>up the crack neil?

The 'crack' above looked very hard - tenuous 40 degree overhung layback on using a sloping edge. I thought it looked nails or impossible.

> Or alternatively
>keep heading out rightward past that anchor....

That was my hope as well! It might go - it might not. From what i could feel by aiding up a metre above my anchor there wasn't much in the way of holds. There are a few shallow heucos but they don't really have lips or a bottom. The sort of thing that looks ok from the ground by on closer inspection doesn't work. The cave is much steeper than you think from standing on the ground. You need large positive holds to make it work. Maybe if you are climbing grade 32+ something might work? Worth investigating if you're so inclined!

They're all yours Dave!
Dave J
29-Jan-2008
4:16:55 PM
On 29/01/2008 nmonteith wrote:
>On 29/01/2008 Dave J wrote:
>>Aargh! I was just in there a 2 months ago bouldering in that big cave...
>
>With Earl from Halls Gap? He was also there bouldering a few months ago!

No with Jill...I was amazed that they those lines hadnt been done....particularly the crack. And that
line to the left "Tazer" I bet thats loads of fun.


>From what i could
>feel by aiding up a metre above my anchor there wasn't much in the way
>of holds. There are a few shallow heucos but they don't really have lips
>or a bottom. The sort of thing that looks ok from the ground by on closer
>inspection doesn't work. The cave is much steeper than you think from standing
>on the ground.

I was under no false impressions about the steepness of the crag...

> Maybe if
>you are climbing grade 32+ something might work? Worth investigating if
>you're so inclined!
>
>They're all yours Dave!

thanks

IdratherbeclimbingM9
29-Jan-2008
4:28:28 PM
nm wrote;
>It looks a bit chossy from the road but that fact has never stopped the old guard from climbing routes in the past...

Too right.

Modern folk who have been bought up on such things as the diamond hard Arapiles rock probably would not believe what others who were bought up on Sydney seacliff sandstone would consider to be good climbing!; ... to them such places as the looseness of Warrumbungles trachyte seemed excellent!!

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
4:36:46 PM
On 29/01/2008 Dave J wrote:
>No with Jill...I was amazed that they those lines hadnt been done....particularly
>the crack.

You can imagine my relief when i now know that neither you or HB had already done them. I couldn't think of anyone else who'd be into that sort of route!

>And that
>line to the left "Tazer" I bet thats loads of fun.

That was the line i was most surprised hadn't been done previously! So obvious!

nmonteith
29-Jan-2008
4:44:08 PM
Dave, if you have any boulder problems you want to add to the online guide - please send me the details! I don't have an eye for that sort of thing at all.

 Page 1 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 55
There are 55 messages in this topic.

 

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