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Advice for a visiting climber |
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18-Sep-2013 11:24:16 PM
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Hi everyone,
I'm a Spanish climber based in London and I'm coming to Oz with a friend. We'll be based in Wartook near Gramps but we'll be going to Araps as well. I was after a bit of general advice for someone that's never been to Australia before. It would be great to get some recommendation of classic routes in the 25-29 grade, both in the Grampians and Arapiles. Also, as all Euro climbers, I'm under the impression that Oz is full of nasty little critters that out to get ya, is there anything I need to worry about, or any useful advice? I don't want to get bitten, I would loose too many climbing days! :)
Any help greatly appreciate it. Can't wait to sample the world's best climbing!
Ramon
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19-Sep-2013 8:56:48 AM
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On 18/09/2013 Ramon Marin wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>
>I'm a Spanish climber based in London and I'm coming to Oz with a friend.
>We'll be based in Wartook near Gramps but we'll be going to Araps as well.
>I was after a bit of general advice for someone that's never been to Australia
>before. It would be great to get some recommendation of classic routes
>in the 25-29 grade, both in the Grampians and Arapiles. Also, as all Euro
>climbers, I'm under the impression that Oz is full of nasty little critters
>that out to get ya, is there anything I need to worry about, or any useful
>advice? I don't want to get bitten, I would loose too many climbing days!
>:)
>
>Any help greatly appreciate it. Can't wait to sample the world's best
>climbing!
>
>Ramon
Sarah has beaten you to the all-encompassing questions thread, and you will possibly find many answers useful within its 275 replies, along with some not so much... ;-)
Taipan Wall will stoke your grade recommendation request!
☺
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19-Sep-2013 9:48:28 AM
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Hi Ramon - what time of year are you visiting? and for how long?
Plenty to try in that grade range in Araps and the Gramps. Taipan Wall would certainly keep you busy for a while eg Serpentine which Gresh says is one of the best routes he's done:
http://www.thecrag.com/climbing/australia/grampians/mt-stapylton-amphitheatre/area/12974653
At Araps you would definitely want a rack of some sort, just the usual cams and wires. If you're worried about weight you could take the bare essentials and aim to hook up with other people to share cams for certain routes. There is a lot of history behind some of the routes so have a try at some of the sandbag stuff put up by Henry Barber in the 70's. Some other random suggestions:
Trojan - 25
Birdman of Alcatraz - 23
Kachoong - 21 (mainly for the photo op and outrageous position)
Watchtower crack - 16
The thing to remember is that even some of the 1 star routes at Araps would be popular classics in the UK. The rock and protection is some of the best i've climbed on (the Grampians is the same), so it's hard to give a definitive list, suffice to say you won't run out of stuff to do no matter what grade you climb.
For staying in the Gramps I've heard good things about this place:
http://www.mtzerologcabins.com.au/
but Araps you will need camping gear to stay at the famous Pines.
I'm based in Sydney so don't get down there as often as i'd like but drop me a message if you need any more info.
cheers
Morgan
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19-Sep-2013 10:10:48 AM
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It really all depends on the time of year you are here and what sort of routes you want to climb! Do you want trad, sport, steep, slabby, cracks, faces, scary, safe as houses??? If you aren't fussed about any of the above, jumping on any of the multi star routes at major crags in the Gramps or at Araps in your grade range will be fantastic. If you are fussed about any of the above, we can point you at better crags. Also some crags are better in summer/winter/rain/seep incessantly/are temporarily closed, so when you are visiting changes stuff a lot. The Tempest/Mentz guidebooks are the best all round books, although for sport stuff the new gramps guide has much more of the recently developed stuff.
And don't worry about the critters. No climber has died from being attacked by any wildlife in Australia! Mostly they are just cute. Or at least interesting.
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19-Sep-2013 10:18:25 AM
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On 19/09/2013 Wendy wrote:
>And don't worry about the critters. No climber has died from being attacked
>by any wildlife in Australia! Mostly they are just cute. Or at least interesting.
I think you're right....i probably saw more snakes in a day at the Shawnagunks than in a lifetime of cragging in Oz.
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19-Sep-2013 10:22:44 AM
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On 19/09/2013 Wendy wrote:
>And don't worry about the critters. No climber has died from being attacked
>by any wildlife in Australia! Mostly they are just cute. Or at least interesting.
As maxdcat points out 3 posts above, we have a thing known as a 'sandbag' in our climbing terminology.
Sandbags are not restricted to climbing.
... Sometimes they can even include Chocky posts!
;-)
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19-Sep-2013 11:50:36 AM
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If you don't want to get bitten, stay away from Ozi climbers. The vino tinto in a box is OK if you buy something like de Bertoli. The hottest chicks are in Spain already.
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19-Sep-2013 6:47:09 PM
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Hey guys, this is invaluable beta for me, thanks so much! Such a refreshing change from the forums in UK
Morgan, is that the Morgan Woods I know by any chance? If so, how the hell are ya? How's the bouldering in Sidney? And most importantly, do I need to come back for the Blueis? It looks as good as Gramps/Araps!
In answer to the above post, I'm not fussed about scary trad, sport, slabs, sandags... I just want to get on good stuff, which I think is everything for the sounds of it...
So if you see a slightly lost climber wandering at the bottom of Taipan speaking funny english, that's be me, come and say hi! ;)
Thanks again people
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19-Sep-2013 7:57:48 PM
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On 19/09/2013 Ramon Marin wrote:
>Morgan, is that the Morgan Woods I know by any chance?
Clicking on his avatar reveals that it is.
>In answer to the above post, I'm not fussed about scary trad, sport, slabs,
>sandags... I just want to get on good stuff, which I think is everything
>for the sounds of it...
Grampians and Arapiles has a fantastic selection of almost everything except 200m+ long cliffs. Rock quality is great. We could all list some fantastic climbs, but the guide books comprehensively cover most of that.
Like others have said, Taipan wall has some incredible climbs in that grade range.
On 19/09/2013 Ramon Marin wrote:
>So if you see a slightly lost climber wandering at the bottom of Taipan
>speaking funny english, that's be me, come and say hi! ;)
Just a bit of context. As many times as not, there will be a good chance that Taipan wall will be empty.
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19-Sep-2013 8:49:43 PM
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It is I....PM'd you :p
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19-Sep-2013 10:51:00 PM
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Taipan Wall empty? For real? It looks insanely good, the best piece or rock I've seen. I thought there'd queues on Groovy... Well, in that case, I can only say this trip is just getting better by the day, so psyched. To me it looks like the Gold Coast sector in the Red River Gorge, just 10 times bigger and better.
So far I've only received the Simon Carter's Araps book, everything looks amazing. My mate is getting the Gramps one and hadn't had the chance to look at it yet. I'm quite good a picking the great lines on euro limestone, but on your sandstone everything looks great so it's hard pick one route over the other.
Thanks again everyone for your input
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20-Sep-2013 10:24:22 AM
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I think the critter most likely to kill Australian climbers is this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_jumper_ant
Only a few % of people are hypersensitive but you won't know if you're one of them until you get bit. A jack jumper almost killed a climbing friend of mine when she was at home a couple of years ago. She has had allergic immunotherapy to reduce the risk and always takes an Epipen on climbs.
But unless you happen to be hypersensitive to jack jumpers, they're not a problem!
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20-Sep-2013 11:59:57 AM
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Of the world's 50 most venomous snakes, Australia has 41 of them.
But of the world's 50 most venomous spiders, Australia has ALL of them.....
Spiders fit in smaller spaces, move pretty quick, are not so affected by cooler weather, and are more often found indoors.
Oh, and they climb better than snakes too.
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20-Sep-2013 5:32:23 PM
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On 20/09/2013 prb wrote:
>But unless you happen to be hypersensitive to jack jumpers, they're not
>a problem!
Unless your feet are a little numb from taking off a very tight pair of shoes while standing unroped (Yea... I know.) on a narrow ledge coiling the rope that you should be tied in with.... Curiously you look down wondering what that stinging sensation is. Oops you are standing on a Jack Ant nest.
It hurt a lot. My partner looked very concerned at my jumping around. On the bright side, The bites hurt a lot less when wearing those shoes and oddly the shoes hurt less too.
Oh and they jump about 200mm vertically. They are big enough you can see the buggers bite into you with their mandibles and then curl their abdomen under to squirt formic acid into the wound they just created. Nature is very cool.
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20-Sep-2013 6:26:20 PM
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>As maxdcat points out 3 posts above, we have a thing known as a 'sandbag'
>in our climbing terminology.
>Sandbags are not restricted to climbing.
>... Sometimes they can even include Chocky posts!
>;-)
Every where I climb is sandbagged.
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20-Sep-2013 7:43:09 PM
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The link above had some interesting comments attached; ... along the lines of, it isn't so much that trad grades are sandbags, as much as sport grades are soft; ... summed up by one wag saying...
'trad climbing is to golf as sport climbing is to putt putt.'!
;-)
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23-Sep-2013 4:34:20 PM
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On 19/09/2013 Ramon Marin wrote:
>Taipan Wall empty? For real?
According to Wikipedia, Australia is the world's 235th dense country, with 3.1 people per square kilometre.
That's you, your belayer & someone to take the photos.
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23-Sep-2013 4:57:28 PM
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On 23/09/2013 martym wrote:
>Australia is the world's 235th dense country
Surely not. There are only 206 countries, 16 of which have disputed sovereignty.
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24-Sep-2013 2:25:29 PM
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On 23/09/2013 prb wrote:
>On 23/09/2013 martym wrote:
>>Australia is the world's 235th dense country
>
>Surely not. There are only 206 countries, 16 of which have disputed sovereignty.
I just copied the wikipedia page - http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_density
"Names of dependent territories as well as recognized states with no or limited control over their territory are shown in italics."
Regardless - Australia is definitely far less dense & less populous than Spain (and the UK where OP currently lives) and that goes for the climbing community & our access to crags.
For Ramon's info - Taipan Wall is about a one hour walk from the carpark, which is a 15 minute drive from the campsite, which is a 3 hour drive from the nearest international airport.
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24-Sep-2013 4:17:23 PM
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One hour walk? How slow do you move? I recently walked from the summit back to the carpark with a bung knee in 45 minutes...
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