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General Climbing Discussion

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Mt Arapiles development plans 28-Oct-2010 At 5:20:14 PM wombly

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>Most climbers know that Easter is the busiest time in the Pines, and prepare >accordingly.

Agreed there, anyone who wants piece and quiet at that time of year is always going to be disappointed, booking system or not. However, Wendy has pointed out that the powers that be are using the campsite expansion that occurs during this time to bring in something that none of the existing users really want, so it's not just about what we think.

>The issue with a booking system that it requires guaranteed vacant sites.
>Considering the numbers of people who stay mid to long term, and those who come >and go depending on the weather forecasts, it would be very difficult to maintain >harmony.

The idea isn't so much to reserve a particular patch of ground - too much hassle there indeed. More like having a permit system for the entire campground, and only issuing permits for X number of people, with X to be determined through consultation with the climbing community. So permanent residents won't get booted because someone else has booked 'their' site.

>Booking systems are great for people on fixed term vacations, but are a nightmare for >internationals and those of us with the luxury of time. I recently had an experience in >QLD where I booked camping over the phone. The phone call cost more than my 5 >nights camping fees.

I can certainly understand the issue re booking ahead of time - if it was still my local crag (I'm in NSW at present) I'd hate for this to operate all year round. Deciding whether it's worth heading up based on the forecast is clearly an important part of the experience. However, if it only ran one or two weekends a year (e.g. easter and anzac), it shouldn't be too onerous. As for the cost of the call, there's a phone box with a minute's walk of the crapper, so a local or 13XXXX number that you could call and score a permit wouldn't be too much to ask. Sh1t, you could even have a system that allocated 50 of the permits to those who were able to write their name on a list at the noticeboard at the toilets, and have the rangers collect it and assign permit #s a week before the permit period began.