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VIC Grampians Halls Gap (General) (General) [ Grampians Guide | Images ]

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Best quality middle grade crag near Halls Gap

JDB

10-Oct-2011
4:14:14 PM

Dear All,

A group of 10 is heading to the Grampians this weekend (based at Halls Gap)
We are a blend of youth and experience, and climbing ability.
It terms of easy access, middle grades (12-22) and preferably single pitch - where would you recommend? (sport or trad)

..::- Chris -::..

10-Oct-2011
4:46:57 PM

If you want the crag to be close to Halls Gap then probably watchtower. Watchtower is about 3 minutes drive from Halls Gap shops.

Watch tower isn't the biggest crag in the world, but probably had enough routes to keep you busy for a day or two.... Has a couple of sport routes (20-22ish from memory) and several trad routes.

It's not a nice as Summerdays for taking a big group climbing etc....

If you don't mind driving (40mins) you can't beat Summerday Valley for choice, ease and convenience... Flat easy 2 min walk in, really really well made track and area around the base of the cliffs, toilet and the walls are very easy to setup (easy access up and down) and the walls tend to offer a great variety of climbing styles and grades...

Cheers
Chris.

pharmamatt

10-Oct-2011
4:54:43 PM

If you want something close to halls gap, try The Watchtower there's some more info in the mentz/tempest gramps select guide.

matt

pharmamatt

10-Oct-2011
4:55:51 PM

just beat me to it!

ajfclark

10-Oct-2011
4:56:49 PM

By 8 minutes...

pharmamatt

10-Oct-2011
5:03:52 PM

yeah but it took about ten minutes to find the climb.org.au link for a crag i couldn't remember the name of!

kieranl

10-Oct-2011
5:13:34 PM

With road access to the west from Halls Gap very lengthy your options are a bit limited, especially for a large group. As people say, The Watchtower is the most obvious pick.
There are also the various little crags such as Rural Rocks on the hillside east of Halls Gap. Most of these don't have route descriptions in the ACA guide. and there probably aren't enough routes on any individual crag for a group of your size. However Crocodile Rock is in the ACA guide http://www.climb.org.au/index.php?page_id=10&action=area&area_id=1127
and has 13 routes from 15 to 22
On the west side I think the track past Mackey's Peak is open so crags like Crock Wall and The Goon should be accessible but pickings are very limited above grade 16.
On the east side, Blazed Rock is good but again, not many climbs for a large group.
Maybe The Promised Land is worth a quick look as well.

nmonteith

10-Oct-2011
5:13:45 PM

A group of 10 is big, so probably a good idea to stick to Summerday Valley only.

JDB

10-Oct-2011
5:27:36 PM

Thanks for the feed back.

Unforunately, we've already picked over Summer Day Valley and The WatchTower on previous trips

nmonteith

10-Oct-2011
10:23:45 PM

Rural Rocks and Pastoral Buttress have some great trad cracks and a few ok sport routes. Very close to Halls Gap as well. Not too much in the sub 17 grades though.

Even though it's miles from Halls Gap, Gilhams Crag has an awesome mix of trad and mixed routes at the grades you want. Really easy area for a larger group with lots of quality right next to each other.

Another option that's not so near Halls Gap is Black Ians Rocks - fantatsic short crag with heaps of classics. This would be my pick for a larger group like yours.

gfdonc

12-Oct-2011
10:01:14 AM

On 10/10/2011 JDB wrote:
>Dear All,

This is a troll. Don't feed the troll. JB is just looking for a distraction and an excuse not to get onto some steep, pumpy sports routes this weekend. Either that or some place to use his brand-new blue cam. Don't feed the troll!

There are 11 messages in this topic.