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Grampians Gate Closures 23-Feb-2019 At 2:14:59 PM Goshen

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So, in addition to the several banned areas and a new route moratorium; now we can add "unseasonal" gate closures to the list of things making climbing in the Grampians increasingly difficult.

Was saddened to see that the Waterworks track is now locked with a massive chain.
I can see no reason why this track should be closed, apart from making it difficult or impossible for climbers to access some climbing areas.

Of course there's others gated and locked too:
- Track up to red-rocks, gated.
- The track down to Eureka / lost world.
[Maybe add the other ones you know of to this thread; so people can be informed about what they can get to, and what's going to require more effort].

Whether we like to accept it or not; the popularity of crags in the Grampians (regardless of whether they have bolts or not), really comes down to accessibility / walking time. This kind of broadstroke action will funnel even more climbers into other accessible crags.

Sure, we can walk an extra few hundred metres to some crags (eg Red Rocks), even the extra walk to Gilhams isn't that bad. But effectively closing a whole bunch of areas (Curiosity, Ruined Castle, Lost World, Weir's Creek) is ridiculous.

You might say that this is a result of some climbers driving around gates or opening them... but in that case; the locked gate is identical to the unlocked gate - access is prohibited in either case.