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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

 Page 3 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 55
Area Location Sub Location Crag Links
VIC Arapiles The Watchtower Faces (General) The Watchtower [ Arapiles Guide | Arapiles Images ] 

Author
watch tower crack?

IdratherbeclimbingM9
27-Mar-2011
9:55:57 PM
On 27/03/2011 davidn wrote:
>fighting the good fight on the internets. :P

... only once I got home.
;-)
egosan
28-Mar-2011
8:36:41 AM
On 27/03/2011 Rolsen1 wrote:

>I've seen someone who didn't have a big cam get to this point and back
>off before hitching a ride with the pair following them up - apparently
>they'd done brolga the day before but this pitch freaked them out more

Brolga is a funny one. I find the protection adequate. Sure it is no Tarantula where you can poke a piece in every 30 cm if you like; however even on the hardest move on the second pitch I wasn't more than 2m from my last decent piece. It is a slab, even if you do fall it will only be uncomfortable. I reckon it is the slabiness not the gear that freaks people out.

Regarding the Watchtower Crack. The run out between the three pin belay and the fixed hanger is a between 2 and 3 meters. You can fix that with a #5. The runout from there to the crux of that pitch where the crack constricts and you can put in a #2 or a hex is some where less than 5m. A #4 camalot allows you to cut a little more than a meter off that runout. A #5 would let you halve it. The climbing in those runout sections is not hard or insecure. It is just moves you will never learn in a gym.
Wendy
28-Mar-2011
8:50:24 AM
On 28/03/2011 egosan wrote:

>
>Brolga is a funny one. I find the protection adequate. Sure it is no
>Tarantula where you can poke a piece in every 30 cm if you like; however
>even on the hardest move on the second pitch I wasn't more than 2m from
>my last decent piece.

That's because you are nearly 7 foot tall! My memory of Brolga is of 2 consecutive 5-6m runouts on the first pitch, the worst bit of both being at the very end of them, standing on one horizontal and staring at the other just out of reach and really wishing you were not 5 foot tall and didn't have to stand up on way less inviting holds in order to get to the next gear. At the end of the second one, there is an old bullet hole that you can put a 4 rock in and twist sideways and think positively about. I don't remember anywhere near the drama in the 2nd pitch which people seem to consider the crux.

I'd actually debate that the watchtower slabs are really slab climbing. You don't really smear on nothing in good ole fashioned granite slab style, you climb from feature to feature. Let's call it low angle face. Either which way, i've been known to call it boring though, i think only 2 of the 3 moves apply ...


It is a slab, even if you do fall it will only be
>uncomfortable. I reckon it is the slabiness not the gear that freaks people
>out.

What planet are you on this morning??? if I had a choice of places to take 10m + whippers, a slab would not be one of them!
egosan
28-Mar-2011
9:15:08 AM
Having taken a 10+ meter fall on a slab, I can say it wasn't that bad. With the help of some quick feet an alert belayer and a good pair of carhartt pants I hopped, skipped and skidded my way down Mt. Cole with only a couple of bruises and a few scraps to testify to my tale.

Granted a 10+ meter fall on some magic roof climb might cause less discomfort in the long run. I still think you, Wendy, would sell your favorite pony to the glue factory to avoid taking either fall.

Miguel75
28-Mar-2011
9:27:09 AM
>On 28/03/2011 egosan wrote:
> It is a slab, even if you do fall it will only be uncomfortable. I reckon it is the slabiness not the gear that freaks people out.
>
I'm with Wendy on this one Sol: I'd prefer not to take 10+ mtr falls on a slab, or anywhere aside from a foampit or powder snow...
Wendy
28-Mar-2011
9:29:09 AM
Good thing I've never been a horsey kind of girl .... unlikely as it may seem, I have actually fallen 8 m twice in the last 20 years. Neither were slabs, although i do still have a scar on my shin from where I came back into the wall on the 2nd one.
PThomson
28-Mar-2011
12:06:19 PM
superstu, is that crack pitch 2 of a certain grade 11 climb with an identity crisis (according to different guide books)?

If so, you can do it with a single number 6, because half way up there's a really old bash-in carrot that is in tolerable enough condition to get you through it. I had a good look at the carrot last time I climbed it... Not great, but good enough.

It's a wicked climb. Bloody easy, but just funky.
gfdonc
28-Mar-2011
1:32:14 PM
I recall Brolga was a bit run-out but easy on the first pitch. The second pitch is harder, but I thought pro was adequate. It's been a while, I'll have to go and repeat it one day soon. The slightly freaky bit is the belay at the end of p1, where it seems cams are almost essential to get something secure into the slightly flared crack behind your bum.

I think what freaks people out is the water-polished stone there. If you're not used to frictioning, it will feel insecure.

The Confession was a whole different issue. That's one of the two times I can recall being seriously intimidated at Araps. Given the grade, easy access and lack of warnings, why no-one has yet seriously injured themselves on it is a surprise to me.
gfdonc
28-Mar-2011
1:34:47 PM
Hey while we're at it, what are the opinions about replacing the old bolt on the Watchtower Crack (under the roof)?

(a) it's an old rusty carrot and should be chopped and replaced with something modern
(b) if it's there people are going to use it so it may as well be bomber
(c) it's a bit of history, so what it it's insecure, people don't need to clip it.
(d) there's a crack there anyway so it should be chopped 'cos you can place a large cam instead
(& etc)

ajfclark
28-Mar-2011
1:39:27 PM
The general ethic at Arapiles is to only use bolts where natural protection is not available, correct? Given the roof section is easily protectable with a few cams, leave them as is.

cruze
28-Mar-2011
2:15:36 PM
On 28/03/2011 gfdonc wrote:
>I recall Brolga was a bit run-out but easy on the first pitch. The second
>pitch is harder, but I thought pro was adequate. It's been a while, I'll
>have to go and repeat it one day soon. The slightly freaky bit is the
>belay at the end of p1, where it seems cams are almost essential to get
>something secure into the slightly flared crack behind your bum.
>
>I think what freaks people out is the water-polished stone there. If
>you're not used to frictioning, it will feel insecure.
>
>The Confession was a whole different issue. That's one of the two times
>I can recall being seriously intimidated at Araps. Given the grade, easy
>access and lack of warnings, why no-one has yet seriously injured themselves
>on it is a surprise to me.
>
Interesting. I found that The Confession was fine although there was a comitting move up high which could be nasty if you aren't climbing within yourself. I took my time with it and eeked out pro at every available opportunity.

I have always found the reachy move below the belay on Brolga P1 to be the crux, the belay at the top of P1 to be verging on inadequate by modern standards and the moves off that belay to be committing on small/no gear above a ledge and a less than desirable belay.

I used a large cam to protect the moves to the peg belay on WC and climbed up to the bolt for my second before setting up the belay.
Cam McKenzie
28-Mar-2011
3:25:41 PM
On 25/03/2011 Miguel75 wrote:
>> Golgotha
>>
>>I haven't looked at the climb for 7+ years but I remember thinking the
>>name seemed appropriate. (what grade is it supposed to be?)
>
>I believe it's 19!
>

Did it get an upgrade? It was 17 when I climbed it!

shortman
28-Mar-2011
3:30:26 PM
Its an 18 in the new Melbourne guide.
Cam McKenzie
28-Mar-2011
3:33:05 PM
On 28/03/2011 gfdonc wrote:
>The Confession was a whole different issue. That's one of the two times
>I can recall being seriously intimidated at Araps. Given the grade, easy
>access and lack of warnings, why no-one has yet seriously injured themselves
>on it is a surprise to me.
>

I'd done the Confession before and remembered the top being a bit run out, but then accidentally sandbagged Steve onto it as an approach to Gollum. The top arete is not technically that difficult, but a fall would be very messy.

Likewise, I found the 'easyish' second pitch (I think it gets 17 or so) of Gollum (where it traverses from Auto Da Fe's belay into the belay on Skink) very comitting. Again it's not that technically difficult, but a fall would not be pretty. The guide underplays this a bit I think (it says something about how it used to have a reputation, but that gear can be found).

Great routes though.
egosan
29-Mar-2011
9:02:37 AM
On 28/03/2011 gfdonc wrote:
>Hey while we're at it, what are the opinions about replacing the old bolt
>on the Watchtower Crack (under the roof)?
>
>(a) it's an old rusty carrot and should be chopped and replaced with something
>modern
>(b) if it's there people are going to use it so it may as well be bomber
>(c) it's a bit of history, so what it it's insecure, people don't need
>to clip it.
>(d) there's a crack there anyway so it should be chopped 'cos you can
>place a large cam instead
>(& etc)

You don't even need the large cam. Can place the bomber medium cam/nut in the horizontal that skink takes. Leave 'em be, Steve.

 Page 3 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 55
There are 55 messages in this topic.

 

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