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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Buffalo	Gorge	North Side	Wilkinson's Lookout Environs	[ Gorge Guide ]

Topic Date User

holden caulfeild beta 14-Dec-2004 At 4:36:16 PM IdratherbeclimbingM9

Message

On 22/02/2004 butters wrote:
>thanks alot for the info on holden caulfeild.
>to A5iswereitsat: what would be your top 5 favorite aid routes in the
>gorge? as youve probably guesed ive just caught the aid bug and as you
>said aid climbers in aus are definateley a minority! oh well more routes
>for us!

Just found this unanswered request while retro-reading old stuff.

Top 5?
Hmmm, anything you can walk away from (afterwards) and which was considered fun while doing it !

It's a dificult Q to answer because there are many levels that it can be answered on;
eg Done as a team of 2, or 3, or solo; Short and sweet; long and hard; scary; safe; tricky moves; funky moves; speed ascent; slow 'for the experience' ascent, etc

To generalise-answer your Q. ~> I do not have a specific 'hit-list'.

I once considered setting myself the challenge of completing every known route on the Nth wall of the gorge. I now doubt I will achieve that because I find myself going back to climbs that I have already done and enjoying them again, plus other things in life gobble my time!

My preference at present is for maximum time in exposed climbing with a variety of move types, but tending toward the thinner-moves end of the spectrum, & with minimal bolt ladder clip-ups!
Long, sustained, exposed climbs generally fit the criteria, & I like the classics for their history. I enjoy spending time on these simply for their sense of time-warp location.

I enjoy challenging moves eg equalised thin gear to take bodyweight, and the challenging mental discipline involved in roped-solo, but equally also enjoy the 'camaraderie of the rope' when climbing in a team.
I am happiest when in the 200 to 250m zone on a 300m climb, ie maximum ground up commitment with an uncertain outcome still a possibility.
Buffalo fills all the above criteria.

There is sufficient on the Nth Wall of Buffalo that mixing and matching sections of climbs into a long route can be fun.

My suggestion then is to 'Go for it', starting with what is manageable for your timeframe, budget and commitment level.

PS there are plenty of other places that also give similar long Adventure aid climbing; (Bungonia, Warrumbungles, Blue Mtns come to my mind readily!).