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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

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ACT beta


nmonteith

29-Mar-2010
12:16:44 PM

On 29/03/2010 evanbb wrote:
>What did you think of the crag? Are there some worthwhile lines? I've
>never actually bothered going.

Yere - its got some good routes for sure. A little too well loved (slick!) but certainly a days worth of climbing and the swimming is good. With a 50 bolts you could renovate the entire cliff.


evanbb

29-Mar-2010
12:29:57 PM

On 29/03/2010 nmonteith wrote:

>Yere - its got some good routes for sure. A little too well loved (slick!)
>but certainly a days worth of climbing and the swimming is good. With a
>50 bolts you could renovate the entire cliff.

I could rebolt it for me! First bolt one VERY long move off the deck, then 1 bolt per 2m until the top. Also, anything over 20 gets a bolt every metre so I can aid it easier.


wallwombat

29-Mar-2010
12:40:53 PM

Sounds like a few climbers needs to go to Kambah and hide in the bushes with baseball bats.


nmonteith

29-Mar-2010
12:50:00 PM

I'm seriously mystified about how all the break and entering can happen at such a public carpark without the police doing a major crackdown. It would be simple to do. Place a bait car in the carpark, install a Taxi style hidden camera inside and just set it on record. It obviously happens all day every day by the amount of glass in the carpark. The guy we talked too had BOTH his windows punched out about 10 minutes before we arrived.


wallwombat

29-Mar-2010
12:51:56 PM

Sounds like very 'local' locals to me.

One Day Hero

29-Mar-2010
1:07:48 PM

On 29/03/2010 nmonteith wrote:
>
>Yere - its got some good routes for sure. A little too well loved (slick!)
>but certainly a days worth of climbing and the swimming is good. With a
>50 bolts you could renovate the entire cliff.

Good to hear you knocked off some classics Neil, it was a humid sweatfest in the blueys yesterday too, so you didn't miss anything up there

Red rocks is heaps better than Kambah; 4X the height, funky features, suited for leading rather than toproping and you have to jump the river on the approach!! Get back down and check it out

Kambah is a toprope crag, no one bothers to lead!!

BTW the friction is fine, much better than limestone. (it's not people polish, the river does all the smoothing work when it floods) Problem is the rock is so smooth, you get no interlock with the rubber. Hence you go from sticking to flying through the air without the telltale oozing feet feeling you get on granular rock.......a bit of milage and you'd be cruising it.

I warned you about the break ins, Its better to park in the suburb further south and cut across the golf couse to meet the riverside track.....One of those big piles of glass is mine, fuchkers smashed 5 panes!!

Anyway, pop back down when it gets a bit cooler, I'll take you on a tour of some of the few longer Booroomba routes which aren't death

Estey

29-Mar-2010
1:09:09 PM

Regarding the breakins at Kambah Pool. This has been happening systematically for about 3 months. Some locals on Motor Bikes apparently. At least one car torched. Word on the street is to park elsewhere.

One Day Hero

29-Mar-2010
1:20:23 PM

On 24/03/2010 wallwombat wrote:
>Those boulders below the crag and near the river look alright too.

Yeah, there's about 50 boulders which would be awesome for a dwarf.......unfortunately for big people they amount to 1.5 move sit starts!! The only good problem is an overhanging arete, would be a classic at font, however the landing is utterly fuched.....don't come off the mantle or you'll be in 5 bits. George Fieg found a shitty cave with some sharp crumbly stuff in it, last time I checked a kangaroo had chosen this location to go and die...so maybe wait till the carcass decays before trying these 'classics'

I quite like bouldering out of the water on the other side of the river, it's not real climbing but it is real swimming.....the crux is always getting your arse out of the river and holding it there till the bilge water drains out of your boardies :)

One Day Hero

29-Mar-2010
1:27:05 PM

On 24/03/2010 evanbb wrote:

Re: Euryproctus

>Is it really that hard? It's a 'strong' line too. I like the look of it.

Oh boy!! I could tell you what causes the problem but that would ruin the surprise....every canberra climber reaches a stage where they think they're up to the task, they psych up, jump on, cruise up to the crux and then say "oh, I see"

Don't be shy, join the long and distinguished list of people who have been shut down by Euryproctus, it's part of the initiation if you want to be a local :)


nmonteith

29-Mar-2010
1:33:01 PM

What's the story with the retrobolts on No Beans For Bonzo?

I'm glad I didn't try Euryproctus - it looked good though.

Estey

29-Mar-2010
1:34:14 PM

On 29/03/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>
>Don't be shy, join the long and distinguished list of people who have
>been shut down by Euryproctus, it's part of the initiation if you want
>to be a local :)

Glad I'm not the only one who had trouble. I'll have to get back on it. By the way where is the crux? I find the whole thing friggin hard.


wallwombat

29-Mar-2010
1:35:24 PM

On 29/03/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>Yeah, there's about 50 boulders which would be awesome for a dwarf.......

That was what I figured.

One Day Hero

29-Mar-2010
5:55:34 PM

On 29/03/2010 nmonteith wrote:
>What's the story with the retrobolts on No Beans For Bonzo?

So, John Smart - ultra hard arse, leading A.C.T. climber in the late 70's/ early 80's, put it up bolt free by a combination of

1) climbing a tree to sling a high branch behind the route for protecting the 10m off the deck (which is the gr22 crux).......that would have been quite scary

and

2) using "side runners" in integral..........no one is sure if this meant traversing over and back a few times or rapping integral 1st and draping long slings from nuts over to No Beans...........(perhaps 'Zoo could fill in the details if he's reading?)

Anyway, it was certainly very bold and probably quite contrived. Some folk thought it was the pinacle of climbing acheivement at the crag, others saw a killer line wasted with bullshit rigging frigging (nothing changes in climbing).......sooooo, in the early 90's, one of the folk who is a chocky regular whacked in 6 bolts in 50m and hey presto, the route became instantly popular.

John Smart was pissed, wrote a scathing article in......screamer? which is quoted at the start of the granite guide........anyway, the tree burnt down so doing an 'old style' ascent is a bit unlikely. I replaced the retrobolts a month ago with stainless trubolts which will outlast civilization :)

One Day Hero

29-Mar-2010
6:03:40 PM

Ooh, while we're talking Booroomba, I also replaced bolts on Alligator Wine (22) put up by none other than 'Hero from chocky'.

Bloody classic route, at least as good as African Walking Tree, you still need a couple of #2 and 3 wires on route and stuff to build a belay up top, the rest is bolts. There is now a rap station 10m to the right (facing in) from where you'll belay. This lands you in the gully at the base of African!


nmonteith

29-Mar-2010
6:20:44 PM

The bolts certainly make for a better line as you don't get tempted to escape into Integral! The ACT Granite guide I have doesn't refer to any bolts on this route - mine must be quite old. I think i bought it in 1992.

deadpoint

30-Mar-2010
12:05:59 PM

On 29/03/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>Ooh, while we're talking Booroomba, I also replaced bolts on Alligator
>Wine (22) put up by none other than 'Hero from chocky'.
>
>Bloody classic route, at least as good as African Walking Tree, you still
>need a couple of #2 and 3 wires on route and stuff to build a belay up
>top, the rest is bolts. There is now a rap station 10m to the right (facing
>in) from where you'll belay. This lands you in the gully at the base of
>African!
I agree much more instant exposure straight off the ledge, Purple Haze is also a ripper - all gear!!!!


nmonteith

30-Mar-2010
12:15:37 PM

Where is Aligator Wine?


wallwombat

30-Mar-2010
12:24:47 PM

On 29/03/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>Ooh, while we're talking Booroomba, I also replaced bolts on Alligator
>Wine (22) put up by none other than 'Hero from chocky'.

I thought Alligator Wine was a Mike Peck route.

Neil, it's a bit further along, past Square Gully.

deadpoint

30-Mar-2010
2:54:22 PM

You gonna be scared forever
Too much alligator wine
Alligator wine
WHOAA - alligator wine
Yeah yeh, is gonna make you mine
HUH HUH AAH
Alligator, alligator wine
HUH AAH

deadpoint

30-Mar-2010
3:00:05 PM

Sorry the twitching has stopped now, I will get back to work...

There are 61 messages in this topic.