Hey guys does anyone know which climbs would be the best at The Towers at The Rock (near Wagga Wagga) for top rope climbing? Im looking for grades in the low teens to take a group to learn out there on.
Any info or tips for a trip out there would also be super appreciated or who I should contact regarding. :)
Cheers - katie
On 8/05/2016 katieclimb wrote:
>Hey guys does anyone know which climbs would be the best at The Towers
>at The Rock (near Wagga Wagga) for top rope climbing? Im looking for grades
>in the low teens to take a group to learn out there on.
>Any info or tips for a trip out there would also be super appreciated
>or who I should contact regarding. :)
>Cheers – katie
Hmm. Given that you know about (name of sub-area) The Towers, I assume you have either been there, or have a copy of the old Guide to the area, so will reply in a manner that assumes you have a base knowledge of it…
At the top of Angie (has a marked start), is an abseil descent station.
I haven’t been there for a while and normally climb on double ropes (so for me the following isn’t an issue), but I think a single 60 m rope halved, will get you down from this station … Take that advice with a large grain of salt!!
Anyway, if you rig a couple of long slings (redundancy), from that abseil station, with your own doubled-lockers with reversed-gates on the slings, you should be able to top-rope Angie (35m Gd 15), and with slight repositioning, also Scratched Knees (35m Gd 15).
Those two routes of quite different flavour to each other are popular classics of the area; and are pretty much the main cleft (Angie), that you arrive at when following the climbers track up to the place. Scratched Knees takes the slabby face about 5m climbers-left of Angie, and has a number of variations as to how it can be done, some easier, some harder…
Jammers Delight (40m Gd 9) is located about 15 m right of Angie and starts up a crack leading to very easy ground. The route really backs off (and becomes potentially wandery), once one arrives at the top of the false-pinnacle forming the right side of the crack, though with some trad gear it could easily be set up as an introductory top-rope for its first 15 or so metres, and at that point the ledge system it encounters is large enough to accommodate about 6 people if necessary, as compared to the top of Angie which is relatively exposed at the abseil station..
The further left you go from Scratched Knees (kind of up-slope), the shorter, easier (Gd 11-ish or under), and scrappier the climbs become. It has pretty much all been climbed including the many variations there-of and seems to be a favourite place for people to practice their leading skills. Pretty much anything there ends up leading to the walk-down descent gully located even further left…
I've never considered it for top-roping, but with trad gear and extra rope it is certainly feasible.
There is other stuff within-and-betwixt the above mentioned climbs, but you are heading rapidly into high teen-grades or harder...
It is my opinion that the further right one goes around the cliff base from Jammers Delight, the worse the rock quality becomes, and you need to head in that direction for a fair distance till you come across easier grades again…
Here is a photo (thanks again gordoste!), taken from below the climb Staircase, located between Scratched Knees and Angie.
Angie is the cleft with the doubled abseil ropes hanging down it (from the abseil station located above it).
Jammers Delight is the cleft further right on the other side of the face (climber is on Lest We Forget, Gd 17), with the 'false pinnacle' bounding its right hand side.
Note: Jammers Delight can easily be climbed without jamming!
If you are able to lead trad and set up trad anchors you'll be able to top rope most things (possibly with a bit of anchor extension, rope protection etc.). If not, you may struggle as the ring anchors tend not to be at the top of the cliff.