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General Climbing Discussion

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Best in the country

Chalk Free

13-Nov-2006
8:49:33 AM

My 11 year old son and I spent the wekend at Arapiles. Ticked the following: Bard, Mantis, Piccolo, Agamemnon, Necrophilliac.

Anyway to the pointof the thread. Our climbing partner reckons that Piccolo is the best grade 11 in the country. A big call?

cruze

13-Nov-2006
8:57:14 AM

Nice weekend! I would say (not so much in response to your post) that the very dangerous descent (esp for your grade 11 seconder) off the back of the piccolo pinnacle mars an otherwise very pleasant beginners route.

Nottobetaken

13-Nov-2006
11:19:50 AM

For single pitch - my vote would be with Blockbuster - but mainly because of the position...

albion

13-Nov-2006
11:31:26 AM

The quite like the first pitch of Phoenix, a bit like Kestrel but easier.

PreferKnitting

13-Nov-2006
11:37:38 AM

My vote is for lampLighter. It's an intimidating looking climb and absail! But it's not in the 11 category. Take a picnic and it's an awesome day out.

cruze

13-Nov-2006
11:51:25 AM

On 13/11/2006 boardlord wrote:
>For single pitch - my vote would be with Blockbuster - but mainly because
>of the position...
Finally led Blockbuster on the weekend (I had seconded it three times but never got around to leading it). It is one of my favourites at Araps. Way up there and cruisey. As an aside, I noticed a rap station at the top of Ivan. I don't really understand why (I guess there is a good reason - and presumably not so you can top rope that megaclassic into submission ... :) I would have thought that anyone finding themselves at the base of Blockbuster would want to go up rather than down.

darkxst

13-Nov-2006
12:40:21 PM

my favourite 11 at araps is didgeridoo
though havent got around to climbing blockbuster yet.

Duncan

13-Nov-2006
12:48:30 PM

There's a pleasant 11 at Summerday Valley, can't remember the name though.

darkxst

13-Nov-2006
12:51:50 PM

On 13/11/2006 Duncan wrote:
>There's a pleasant 11 at Summerday Valley, can't remember the name though.

waxman

PreferKnitting

13-Nov-2006
1:17:08 PM

waxman is cool. Isn't thre an 11 on the front wall as well?

nmonteith

13-Nov-2006
1:23:36 PM

Hocus Pocus is pretty cool at Piddo. Very long slabby face route.

Bob Saki

13-Nov-2006
1:25:19 PM

I loved Waxman.

also at about this grade - (some may laugh)

is Raspberry Ripple (10) at Ben Cairn
Tricky Bouldery stary, into unique and excellent finger crack then runout exit with two chices for finishing slab, straight up being harder than stepping right.

If only it were twice as long

nmonteith

13-Nov-2006
1:26:55 PM

Waxman is awesome. Pretty 'out there' for grade 11 as it climbs a reasonably steep face with no rest
ledges which typify many of the routes at Araps.

albion

13-Nov-2006
1:44:16 PM

Totally agree about the lack of rests. I hopped complacently on it one hot day last year and soon wasn't complacent anymore.

Chalk Free

13-Nov-2006
2:31:52 PM

Hmm a pretty formidable list of climbs. Happy to say I've done them all and enjoyed every one.

Duncan

13-Nov-2006
3:17:42 PM

On 13/11/2006 darkxst wrote:
>waxman

Thats the one. The easy stuff on the other side of that bit of rock was horrible. So polished.

gordoste

14-Nov-2006
9:58:49 AM

Have to admit I really didn't like Piccolo very much as the crux is slippery. I enjoyed Bastress more and it only has one star.

adski

14-Nov-2006
9:36:01 PM

The fact Piccolo is a tad more necky than your average eleven would make it more worthy of classic status in some people's eyes, but I reckon overall more people would come back smiling from Waxman.

prb

14-Nov-2006
11:22:44 PM

A quick check of the guidebooks suggests don't come to South Australia for quality 11s. Arguably the best 11 in the Adelaide Hills is Frontignac in Onkaparinga Gorge. The best 11 I've climbed at Moonarie is Tree Beard, but in the best tradition of the Moon it felt very stiff at the grade. Our best 11 just might be Funcrack at Point Bonney, a little to the north of Moonarie and considerably tougher to access. It's a 90m climb up corner systems done in 1967 and, from the photo, looks to be a pretty robust outing. Doubt if it's been ticked by many Chockstoners - I'll climb it next winter and see how it stacks up to the Arapiles 11s!

Speaking of which, my votes are 1. Didgeridoo 2. Blockbuster 3. Piccolo.

There are 19 messages in this topic.