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Chockstone Photography
Australian Landscape Photography by Michael Boniwell
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Chockstone Forum - Gear Lust / Lost & Found

Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

 Page 1 of 4. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 62
Author
Booty call: Pinnacle F / L Watchtower area, Araps.
Roast_chook
9-Feb-2014
6:58:12 PM
[Chockstone Moderator edited thread title:
Original thread title was: Booty call: Arachnus, watchtower, araps.
but the eventual area turned out to be (after 40 posts of discussion), in the vicinity of Xena - Tauraroa, of Pinnacle Face / Left side of Watchtower (Left) Face.]

Putting out a booty call for Arachnus or a bit to the right; the usual spoils of an epic retreat, including a red C4, nut and a cordelette.

If you find it and need it: fill your boots!
If you happen that way and fancy swapping it for a slab, and live in the Melbourne area, then PM me please.

Now to hop onto the "Where to climb at arapalies in 40+ heat" and post the bleeding obvious.

The watchtower crack seemed a great idea first thing in the morning....

Miguel75
9-Feb-2014
7:18:31 PM
Dibs. I'll be there sometime soon, please leave it in situ and I'll get it when I get there:)
Roast_chook
9-Feb-2014
7:40:59 PM
Don't think I left my head torch at the bottom though :)

ChuckNorris
9-Feb-2014
9:04:08 PM
On 9/02/2014 Roast_chook wrote:
>Putting out a booty call for Arachnus or a bit to the right; the usual
>spoils of an epic retreat, including a red C4, nut and a cordelette.
>
>If you find it and need it: fill your boots!
>If you happen that way and fancy swapping it for a slab, and live in the
>Melbourne area, then PM me please.
>
>Now to hop onto the "Where to climb at arapalies in 40+ heat" and post
>the bleeding obvious.
>
>The watchtower crack seemed a great idea first thing in the morning....

I appreciate that things could get a bit hot under the collar later on in the day but for me watchtower is one of the climbs to do on a hot day (as long as you are early and fast).
roast_chook
10-Feb-2014
9:54:01 AM
I do remember the "early and fast" bit being part of the plan too, but not the two random pitches above, not being able to find the rap points and lots of the other usual excitement which comes from too much heat and too little water... The belay on the big block at the top of pitch two was nice and shady in the morning though...

shortman
10-Feb-2014
12:48:47 PM
On 10/02/2014 roast_chook wrote:
>I do remember the "early and fast" bit being part of the plan too, but
>not the two random pitches above, not being able to find the rap points
>and lots of the other usual excitement which comes from too much heat and
>too little water... The belay on the big block at the top of pitch two
>was nice and shady in the morning though...

Were you climbing Arachnus or Watchtower Crack? I can't picture 2 random pitches above either?
Roast_chook
10-Feb-2014
1:54:03 PM
Neither could we. Looking back I think we started Watchtower crack, but drifted left onto Minerva (Arachnus variant) and then topped out right again through a compact set of low cliffs and brush at the summit. At that point we realised we were all too f^%ked to walk, stood no chance of finding the rap chains and abb-ing off on gear was the best worst option..

I could start a poll about abseiling mishaps but I am trying to forget, claiming heat exhaustion and dehydration in defense.

For those booty hunters out there - There was a trail of small cairns/ducks/cones leading down to a small cairn at the very top on an exposed section with a clear view across to the lookout platform. This was 30m or so left (looking back at the face) of where we started descending from.

Suffice to say it wasn't the best executed plan but all four survived.
One Day Hero
10-Feb-2014
2:15:27 PM
I love the vagueness of your descriptions, like the heatstroke might have done some permanent damage :)

Sounds to me like you might have kept on climbing above the top of the watchtower, maybe up scrambly shit on the left end of Kitten Wall? Did you cross a 20m wide, tree covered ledge before "the last 2 pitches of Watchtower Crack"?

Also, did you end up getting onto the rap chains eventually?

pecheur
10-Feb-2014
2:29:49 PM
On 10/02/2014 One Day Hero wrote:
>I love the vagueness of your descriptions, like the heatstroke might have
>done some permanent damage :)
>
>Sounds to me like you might have kept on climbing above the top of the
>watchtower, maybe up scrambly shit on the left end of Kitten Wall? Did
>you cross a 20m wide, tree covered ledge before "the last 2 pitches of
>Watchtower Crack"?
>
>Also, did you end up getting onto the rap chains eventually?
>
Yeah I was wondering given there should be two raps involved, and potentially two sets of booty...

shortman
10-Feb-2014
2:50:13 PM
On 10/02/2014 One Day Hero wrote:
>I love the vagueness of your descriptions, like the heatstroke might have
>done some permanent damage :)
>
You gotta take that heat stuff seriously Damo. I once started seconding Little Thor and ended up on Little Asteroid. You never know what can happen.

Drake
10-Feb-2014
3:01:25 PM
>>> I once started seconding Little Thor and ended up on Little Asteroid.

But Watchtower Crack isn't exactly vague... how could you get lost on the most striking line at Araps? Bailing off of WC onto Minerva would involve abandoning the shade and the giant crack ,and climbing left and around the corner.

Roast_chook, did you do a climb on Watchtower face, or the big crack around the right side of Watchtower face?

shortman
10-Feb-2014
3:10:34 PM
On 10/02/2014 Drake wrote:

>But Watchtower Crack isn't exactly vague...

What about with heatstroke?

;)
Roast_chook
10-Feb-2014
3:24:44 PM
Vague and and heatstroke certainly sound familiar! So does scrambly shit on the left of kitten wall - and there was almost permanent damage too...

Working back up from the ground at the start of the Watchtower crack; the last rap was off a narrow ledge 10m below a single bolt about 40m of the deck. Second rap was at the bottom end of a downward sloping ledge maybe 10m long and 2-3m wide with a reasonable tree at the top of it. First rap was across said scrambly shit from the very top.

Though this is all probably as vague and rambling as the route we took.

The new C4 was mid way down and left a little from the second rap for those still hunting booty.

My mate saw some chains across from the top of the second pitch on top of the big block but no, it was gear all the way.


shortman
10-Feb-2014
3:46:27 PM
On 10/02/2014 Roast_chook wrote:

>The new C4 was mid way down and left a little from the second rap for
>those still hunting booty.
>
Simon would have had it on his rack last night, :)
Wendy
10-Feb-2014
3:56:33 PM
I'm not sure that you didn't have the heatstroke from the walk up! Are you sure you started up the right climb??? The first pitch is a slabby corner with a few bushes and you climb the right face of it a fair bit? Ending on a sizable ledge? There's a bit of tat in a steep thing immediately left of it of the start and there's a boulder near the base.Should have been completely in the shade first thing in the morning. Once you are on line, it's hard to imagine you could get lost. up the blocky shit in the corner to a chimney, then up the chimney, around the roof and into the long curving fat corner crack? Did you do 2 ropestretching piches? or 4 25m ish pitches? In which case you were definately at the top of the watchtower faces. From the top of the watchtower, to the left is a low angled chossy, scrubby bit of rock that you could climb up to the ledge at the base of kitten wall (probably another 25m), but to the right should have been an obvious big (like really big, uunrope and dance around) treed ledge, with a fair bit of scree on it and a gully that you can walk up to kitten wall. Where you would hit the ledge below kitten wall (which is also a very large, treed ledge), there's no easy way up, you'd have to walk left a wee way to have climbed further.

For the benefit of anyone else want to ramble up Watchtower Crack in the shade on a stupidly hot day, try starting at 5am. And be sure you can be off the route and rapped back down again by 9am because you will be topping out and rapping in the sun. I'm not sure a party of 4 is likely to manage that! But good on you guys for getting yourselves off and not needing a rescue.
One Day Hero
10-Feb-2014
4:43:27 PM
On 10/02/2014 Roast_chook wrote:
>Working back up from the ground at the start of the Watchtower crack;
>the last rap was off a narrow ledge 10m below a single bolt about 40m of
>the deck.

So, this sounds like it was midway up the second (guidebook) pitch of Watchtower Crack, and the the bolt you mention is a carrot in the corner at the point where Skink traverses right

>Second rap was at the bottom end of a downward sloping ledge
>maybe 10m long and 2-3m wide with a reasonable tree at the top of it.

I think this is the official 'top' of Watchtower Crack and all the routes on those faces. You could have walked down, or abseiled using the chains to your R (facing uphill), and been back at your bags in about 20mins

>First
>rap was across said scrambly shit from the very top.

Once you'd gotten up Kitten wall (via scrambling on the left, or a route), quickest way down probably would have been via the stairs in Pharos Gully.

Of course, none of this clever advice is of much use to you now. I think the most important lesson is that 40 degree days are not for climbing rocks, they are for swimming and drinking beer (preferably both things simultaneously)

shortman
10-Feb-2014
5:05:15 PM
On 10/02/2014 One Day Hero wrote:
> I think
>the most important lesson is that 40 degree days are not for climbing rocks,
>they are for swimming and drinking beer (preferably both things simultaneously)

Climbing easy shit on hot days is awesome, no one else around.

Take heaps of water, something salty and sugary to eat, sunscreen, and no brains. I do it all the time.
Roast_chook
10-Feb-2014
9:57:10 PM
Hmmm, this thread has turned into a poor version of;

http://www.chockstone.org/Forum/Forum.asp?Action=DisplayTopic&ForumID=1&MessageID=55649&PagePos=0&Sort=Replies&Replies=1133&MsgPagePos=0

but for the small problem that the OP doesn't seem to know either!

As to pitches; one rope stretcher, one short and one medium and then the blocky $hit which, apparently seems to have been Kitten wall (do I claim that separately on 8a.nu?!) Saw no fixed gear, pegs, or carrots apart from one shiny bolt on the way back down - might have seen a penguin or two as well... but they were in no mood to help us walk out down Pharos.

On the plus side we kinda' followed some of your advice Wendy but got that ar$e about too, starting at 9 and finishing at 5...

Nevermind - pleased my cam will find a new home amongst the waifs and strays on Simon's rack and nothing was really lost but gear and some serious bodily fluids.

Its good to have an adventure now and again....
kieranl
10-Feb-2014
10:50:00 PM
The thing is, there aren't any shiny single bolts that I can think of at about the 40m mark on the right watchtower face. But there is one at about that mark on Wall Of The Afternoon Sun. Did you maybe go up left, not to the very top of kitten wall but the broken stuff from near the top of Rotten Row and then abseil down the Left Watchtower?
Still a bit hard to imagine but heat exhaustion can really stuff up your reasoning. i.e. rapping down instead of walking when you're exhausted and haven't found the rap route. You would have been back at your water much quicker than rapping,.

shortman
10-Feb-2014
10:53:43 PM
Can someone pull up a photo of the watchtower faces??

Ajfclark?

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There are 62 messages in this topic.

 

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