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Classic 'no-star' routes at Point Perp |
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28-Oct-2014 9:36:47 PM
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Just dug out the guidebook, "Thunderbirds are Go" gets no stars; but "Thunderbirds are bogged" gets three stars. Now, I'm pretty sure "Are Go" was a 19 in a previous life?
I can't remember which is which, I never got up either on lead; but I remember a sweet dyno at the very top... I'm pretty sure it was "Thunderbirds are Go" - in which case, I'd put that up there.
And may I say helmets off to Rob for getting so many awesome photos of people wearing helmets into his guidebook. Makes that Peter Blunt look irresponsible :p
... and while I haven't climbed it - "Real Men Have Man Boobs" should have a star for the name alone.
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29-Oct-2014 6:11:04 AM
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On 28/10/2014 vwills wrote:
>I see the new guide changed raptures of the deep from 3 stars (or hyped
>up) to no stars, would agree with that. And also Bird of Omen gets no
>stars, whereas the last guide mentioned its Arapilesian like rock.
Wow, that's one of the more liberal uses of that strangely popular phrase I've heard of. How anyone could describe any rock at the Pt to be Arapiles like impresses me with their imagination. Or memory.
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29-Oct-2014 9:54:08 AM
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On 29/10/2014 Wendy wrote:
>On 28/10/2014 vwills wrote:
>
>>I see the new guide changed raptures of the deep from 3 stars (or hyped
>>up) to no stars, would agree with that. And also Bird of Omen gets no
>>stars, whereas the last guide mentioned its Arapilesian like rock.
>
>Wow, that's one of the more liberal uses of that strangely popular phrase
>I've heard of. How anyone could describe any rock at the Pt to be Arapiles
>like impresses me with their imagination. Or memory.
These routes are on the lower-cliffs, which do actually contain dark orange smooth rock that if you squint can pretend it looks like Arapiles. It is very different rock to the usual coarse grained stuff people climb on the upper half of the cliff.
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29-Oct-2014 9:30:31 PM
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I did a few of the routes at the VB slab one day - all on top rope as the 'bolts' have dissolved and the pro is generally death on a stick or non existent but they would be some of the most exposed feeling, easier climbs at the point as the cliff goes all the way to the ocean there with no big ledge. well worth a look
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30-Oct-2014 5:51:57 AM
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I only have the old(er) guide which doesn't use a star system so this might be cheating, but Elspeth is the best 10m of grade 14 climbing in the universe, absolutely no question.
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30-Oct-2014 11:18:38 AM
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I'm going to put in a plug for the no-star approach of the old guide.
Years ago I was down at the point with my mate Fraser, with whom climbing trips always seemed to get a bit loose... Anyways, he picked out Heavy Weather, somewhere a little bit north of the main part of Windjammer wall, as being worthy of our attention. In retrospect I have no idea what aspect of it caught his attention. I hadn't heard of if, and it had just as many stars as every other route in the guide book (i.e. none) so I thought "Why not eh?"
It was a two pitch route, on the upper cliff, with a tricky undercut start, leading to a horrendous, rusty carrot which stuck out 2 inches. There was no other gear on the pitch, but it was pretty short. The belay consisted of some very small, loose, slung blocks. Fraser said not to fall off.
The second pitch involved a long traverse right with easy climbing but not gear. Then there was some easy up climbing, still with no gear. Then there was a couple of tricky moves, still with no gear, but THEN (about 8m up and right of the "belay") there was gear (and sandy hand jams).
I'm probably not really selling this route. I wasn't having a great time at the time, but in hindsight it was really fun (type two fun obviously) and was probably one of the most memorable routes at the Point for me. If the guide had any of the following symbols; stars, cobwebs, little piles of shit, then I probably wouldn't have ever done it, and I would have been all the poorer for it.
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