Goto Chockstone Home

  Guide
  Gallery
  Tech Tips
  Articles
  Reviews
  Dictionary
  Links
  Forum
  Search
  About

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

  Shop
Chockstone Photography
Australian Landscape Photography by Michael Boniwell
Australian Landscape Prints





Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 31
Area Location Sub Location Crag Links
VIC Northwest Mt Alexander Wabbit Wocks (General) [ Mt Alexander Guide | Images ] 

Author
Wabbit Wocks thoughts ..
gfdonc
15-Oct-2012
12:10:17 PM
Was up there yesterday for a second visit. Gorgeous weather, lovely setting, and some good climbs - we really had a good day. No-one else there, either, so we had the place to ourselves.

But .. a couple of comments:

There's some fairly bad bolting there, with undersized carrots and/or rusty bolts as well as general sparseness on some routes. I'll start with Hendo's Arete (21), for which the Chockstone guide says "The first bolt can be clipped by standing on the nearby block and possessing the wing span of a condor". Yeah sure, as long as you have the flying ability of a bird as well perhaps. Both bolts (only 2) have rusty heads and RP fixed hangers (which look pretty thin these days). I rapped down it and preplaced a 60cm sling (which just allowed the first bolt to be clipped) but the likelihood of hitting the block when clipping the second bolt put me off.

There were undersized carrots on The Thin Edge of the Wedgie which I've posted about before - to refresh your memory the heads were small enough to allow a standard bracket and biner to fall off, they've now been replaced with SS fixed hangers. However there are two more of these still on Bottle of Smoke. I'd replace them, but since the first bolt is 5m off the deck anyway (for a 10m climb) I really didn't see the point.

The second issue is around the number of routes crammed into a small area. Some of them really don't make sense. We went to do Sandman - Chockstone description reads "Sandman has a tricky direct start that I've seen spit off it's share of leaders not tall enough to gain the good slot". What it doesn't say is that there's a blank bit of slab, a collection of (unstable) rocks to stand on at the bottom, and a crack + holds much much less than 'the wing span of a condor' over to the right (called something else) which allows you to step left into the crack and is simply the logical way to do the route. I could have done the route as recorded by fixing the cairn but didn't see the point. Likewise the separation between Bottle of Smoke and Where Beagles Dare seems very slight - they both climb the same 2-3m wide buttress using the same bolts.

Some of the other more obscure routes, such as Tail Feather (19) look pretty good but due to lack of traffic are covered in lichen now.

OK, rant is over now. Flame away.
- Steve

phillipivan
15-Oct-2012
2:46:07 PM
A cairn to do the direct start (if you wish to call it that) of Sandman is far from essential, though it seems to help some of the shorties I've belayed up it. I've lead it direct without a cairn on at least two occasions; and I'm not a very good climber. I think the start is no more contrived than many other over climbed crags.

rodw
15-Oct-2012
3:10:42 PM
On 15/10/2012 gfdonc wrote:

>Some of the other more obscure routes, such as Tail Feather (19)
>look pretty good but due to lack of traffic are covered in lichen now.

You forgot your wire brush then?

Duang Daunk
15-Oct-2012
8:20:31 PM
On 15/10/2012 gfdonc wrote:
>I'd replace them, but since the first bolt is 5m off the deck
>anyway (for a 10m climb) I really didn't see the point.
>
why have bolts at all on highball bouder probs?

Miguel75
15-Oct-2012
8:26:27 PM
On 15/10/2012 rodw wrote:
>On 15/10/2012 gfdonc wrote:
>
>>Some of the other more obscure routes, such as Tail Feather (19)
>>look pretty good but due to lack of traffic are covered in lichen now.
>
>You forgot your wire brush then?

Napalm?
gfdonc
15-Oct-2012
8:40:32 PM
http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/outdoor/how-to-get-rid-of-lichen/

skegly
15-Oct-2012
8:50:09 PM
Napalm wabbit ? Come on mikl god lives there too.
rolsen1
16-Oct-2012
2:49:40 PM
Only been there once, was memorable because there was a crazy woman trying to get ford falcon up the road, causing all sorts of damage to it. When we asked her if she needed help she explained it didn't matter because it was her ex-boyfriend's car!

Anyway, the only comment I have is that the 21 arete is super soft for the grade, right? Not much/any harder than thin edge of the wedgie? Seems the grade takes into account the run outs. Or am I thinking of the wrong climb? I agree about the need for easy/mid grade climbs to have more bolts but this isn't an issue just for wabbit wocks. Are they any different from most of the mid-grade climbs at the youies?
dalai
16-Oct-2012
2:56:29 PM
On 15/10/2012 Duang Daunk wrote:
>why have bolts at all on highball bouder probs?

Good question. Heard recently from Charlie Creese that some of his boulder problems at Black Hill have been bolted!!!

Eduardo Slabofvic
16-Oct-2012
3:00:32 PM
I'm not sure it was Rabbit rocks or Dog Rocks or what ever, but there was this left facing corner crack route that had bolts on the left face. I was belaying this guy who clipped the bolts and was really struggling on the route. He eventually came off, only to have the back of his harness clip into one of the bolts.

Lucky for me, as when I could finally wipe the tears from my eyes, I could take him off belay and go and collect everyone else there to come and watch the spectical of him wriggling around trying to get himself out of the situation.

It's a shame there's not this much fun to be had every day.

shortman
16-Oct-2012
3:02:15 PM
On 16/10/2012 dalai wrote:
>On 15/10/2012 Duang Daunk wrote:
>>why have bolts at all on highball bouder probs?
>
>Good question. Heard recently from Charlie Creese that some of his boulder
>problems at Black Hill have been bolted!!!

Interesting......and chopped recently I do believe??
Mark R
16-Oct-2012
4:19:59 PM
Oooh, intrigue! Where forth are these on again off again bolts?

Regarding bolts at Mt Alex I posted a while ago about at least 5 routes at Dog Rocks having fixed hangers removed/flogged (it doesnt look like ethics, the nuts were screwed back on and are still there for all to see). It includes a couple of easy things, the bolt on Scottish Reign and the hangers on the 29 down the bottom. Im told another area at Mt A has also been stripped. Anyone know whats going on?
dalai
16-Oct-2012
5:35:54 PM
On 16/10/2012 shortman wrote:
>On 16/10/2012 dalai wrote:
>>On 15/10/2012 Duang Daunk wrote:
>>>why have bolts at all on highball bouder probs?
>>
>>Good question. Heard recently from Charlie Creese that some of his boulder
>>problems at Black Hill have been bolted!!!
>
>Interesting......and chopped recently I do believe??

I hadn't heard this... Interesting indeed!
gfdonc
16-Oct-2012
8:11:48 PM
Scottish Reign was still missing a hanger on Sunday.
Anyone mind if I replace that with some stainless in a more clippable position? Like, on the right side of the crack instead of out left, where it will tend to pull out your wires.
kp
17-Oct-2012
10:56:27 AM
Good idea steve!!

shortman
17-Oct-2012
10:59:51 AM
On 16/10/2012 gfdonc wrote:
>Scottish Reign was still missing a hanger on Sunday.
>Anyone mind if I replace that with some stainless in a more clippable
>position? Like, on the right side of the crack instead of out left, where
>it will tend to pull out your wires.
>

Fascinating. When I read something like this it makes me realise how much about gear and stuff that I just don't get.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
17-Oct-2012
11:21:49 AM
On 16/10/2012 gfdonc wrote:
>Scottish Reign was still missing a hanger on Sunday.
>Anyone mind if I replace that with some stainless in a more clippable
>position? Like, on the right side of the crack instead of out left, where
>it will tend to pull out your wires.

Pedant in me reckons that sounds a bit ambiguous depending on which way the pro crack faces!

On 16/10/2012 gfdonc wrote:
>Scottish Reign was still missing a hanger on Sunday.
>Anyone mind if I replace that with some stainless in a more clippable
>position? Like, on the right side of the crack instead of out left, where
>it will currently tends to pull out your wires under a tensioned rope.

~>fixedthatforyagfdonc.
Beware the tensioned rope shortman! ~> PS; If you don't fall it won't be a problem!!
... & something that a 1st piece placed for upward loading would help fix in the meantime.
;-)

shortman
17-Oct-2012
11:59:03 AM
On 17/10/2012 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>Beware the tensioned rope shortman! ~> PS; If you don't fall it won't
>be a problem!!
>... & something that a 1st piece placed for upward loading would help
>fix in the meantime.
>;-)

What do you mean Rod?

I think I kinda get it.....but I'm sure u could write me a novel to explain it properly.

:)

IdratherbeclimbingM9
17-Oct-2012
12:38:59 PM
On 17/10/2012 shortman wrote:
>Fascinating. When I read something like this it makes me realise how much about gear and stuff that I just don't get.
>On 17/10/2012 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>>Beware the tensioned rope shortman! ~> PS; If you don't fall it won't
>>be a problem!!
>>... & something that a 1st piece placed for upward loading would help
>>fix in the meantime.
>>;-)
>
>What do you mean Rod?
>
>I think I kinda get it.....but I'm sure u could write me a novel to explain
>it properly.
>
>:)

?
Try an experiment some time with an absolutely bombproof top piece/anchor; ... take a fall and see how your rope tries to dislodge lower pro when it goes tight back to the belayer!
This effect is increased dramatically with any gear that is off to the side of the fall-line, and also includes upwards and outwards loading of pro if the belay location is away from the cliff, or off to one side of that same line.

In this case the bolt off to the side is causing the rope to load the wigglies sideways.

Another solution would be to put a long sling on the bolt, ... but that may be a problem for decking out in a fall if it is the first one off the ground.
Mark R
17-Oct-2012
12:42:27 PM
Sounds like a good plan! Be nice to cut the 1.5 inch stub on the old one too... If you do manage to fall to the left it could do some real damage. I wouldn't use a fixed hanger though... The very unfortunate precedent has been set!

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 31
There are 31 messages in this topic.

 

Home | Guide | Gallery | Tech Tips | Articles | Reviews | Dictionary | Forum | Links | About | Search
Chockstone Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography | Landscape Photos Australia

Please read the full disclaimer before using any information contained on these pages.



Australian Panoramic | Australian Coast | Australian Mountains | Australian Countryside | Australian Waterfalls | Australian Lakes | Australian Cities | Australian Macro | Australian Wildlife
Landscape Photo | Landscape Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Fine Art Photography | Wilderness Photography | Nature Photo | Australian Landscape Photo | Stock Photography Australia | Landscape Photos | Panoramic Photos | Panoramic Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography | High Country Mountain Huts | Mothers Day Gifts | Gifts for Mothers Day | Mothers Day Gift Ideas | Ideas for Mothers Day | Wedding Gift Ideas | Christmas Gift Ideas | Fathers Day Gifts | Gifts for Fathers Day | Fathers Day Gift Ideas | Ideas for Fathers Day | Landscape Prints | Landscape Poster | Limited Edition Prints | Panoramic Photo | Buy Posters | Poster Prints