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Park at the small, secluded oak forest picnic area at the foothills of Mt Alex, a short drive in from the Harcourt shops. (See: map and consult VCC guide for details). Note the intriguing cork bark trees, the way the backlit oak leaves creates a splendour of greenery (pictured right), the delightful smell of pine cones, and the pleasant bubbling brook. Then, ignoring all such things, shoulder your packs and start the steep ascent along the four wheel drive track up to Wabbit Wocks. After-all we're here to climb not romanticise god dammit! (hehehe). The four wheel drive track can be driven if you posses a sufficiently studly vehicle. However, those of us cursed with the family sedan should leave it at the base. Evidence of once bogged cars that attempted to bail on the approach can be found as you trudge up the hill. If you've taken the high side track you'll pass the remains of a quarry where climbers who forgot to pack lunch may forage for sustenance among the delicious black berries. Gaining the crest, take the unmarked footpad leading up and to the left of the ridge line, and you'll shortly come to Wabbit Wocks.
The first area you'll see is Inquisition Boulders.
At it's heart is the wonderfully charismatic "Inquisition",
18m grade 14, the layback crack that leads to a left traverse under a
roof, then straight up to top out. It's a delight to lead, and
I must have done so at least half a dozen times. It never gets dull
despite the easy tick. The layback is so secure, and the feet so bomber
you could almost sit down and let go. The perfect intro to lay-backing for
any beginner climber. The line does not lend itself to top roping, so
bring your trad rack and enjoy the rewarding lead. If you have a big cam
(3.5 camalot size) it'll be handy to protect the traverse, though there are other, less
obvious options. Watch the
To the right of Inquisition you'll notice a route,
Hendo's Arête 15m grade 21, that follows the arête to the summit. The first bolt can be clipped by standing on the
nearby block and possessing the wing span of a condor. The line is by
no means a give-away, but certainly worth a look. The original start was
off the ground, but so many of the micro flakes have peeled off, the start
is now generally performed with a high step off the nearby block (pictured
left), then a bear hug of the arête utilising a good crimper, followed by
a desperate move to swing back into layback position. A fun route, easily
top roped if the lead is not appealing. Watch the
Above Left: Ben top roping Hendo's Arête, 15m grade 21. The first image shows the step up start (crux) off the nearby block, the second image the classic, and enjoyable arête hauling finish.
Above Right: Ben leading "The Thin Edge Of The Wedgie" a 12m grade 16. The first bolt is a rusted carrot, and the other two aren't much better. There's also a few hollow flakes. Despite this, it's a very fun lead, probably the pick of the slab routes. A few feet left and you'll come to "The Wabbit Kicked The Bucket", a 10m grade 20 that requires some dubious bridging off the tree to gain the first good hold. Its a great climb and I've no idea why it doesn't get a star. Perhaps the tree start turned them off. Just bridge up the tree until you gain the good crimper (pictured below left), then picking your feet carefully commit to the face and launch for the high right nose-like hold. This is the crux, the rest, apart from a delicate top out, is a cruise. There are only two bolts, one low (clip-able from the tree stance), and one high on the route.
Whilst you're in fine slabbing form, a few more feet
left along the main slab, just past the cherry tree, you'll find a short
route called "Sandman", 15m grade 14. It's a fun climb as is
"Spit The Dummy" the 15m grade 17, just to it's left that starts
in the crack. Sandman has a tricky direct start that I've seen spit off
it's share of leaders not tall enough to gain the good slot, so perhaps the names of these two climbs should
have been swapped. The left hand line, with a bolt on the crux, is
certainly easy for a 17. Left: Tail Feather, 30m grade 19. Moving left again, and you'll come to Tail Feather,
30m grade 19, the super scary left trending dog leg traverse, with a bolt
to protect the slab top out. It's grade 19 for a reason. You'll need to
pre-plan your protection. Camming up the traverse is easy to say but
harder to do when you're under-clinging the beast and placing gear
blindly. The ground is close - too close when a pendulum fall parades
across your imagination. That bolt, once clipped, is a life saver, and the
slab finish is no easy scramble either. It's a serious outing, but it definitely
delivers on excitement and sense of achievement. Two more routes worth investigating are "Instant Justice" 12m grade 22, and "Bunny Twouble" the bolted 10m grade 19 slightly down and left of the main area. The later is self explanatory once you set eyes on it. Instance Justice, the steep thin crack line leading to a lower angle top out, on the other hand, is less obvious. The crux is the first few metres, and the protection is poor to say the least. Not an inspiring combination when considering a lead. If fiddling around with RPs and micro nuts during the crux, whilst looking at a deck-out fall is your idea of fun, then I'd suggest you grab the lead pronto. Otherwise a top rope might be in order. Not that this should put you off, because the climb is well worth doing. Above Right: Ben leading, me belaying "Bunny Twouble" 10m grade 19. Two bolts, plus one for the belay. The first bolt can be clipped in relative comfort. The crux is moving up to, and clipping, the 2nd bolt. A short, but really rewarding climb. That's about it for my recommendations for Wabbit Wocks. There are plenty of other lines to do. You can easily fill in the day just in this one area, and not go home disappointed.
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