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[TR] Arapiles, Australia Sept. 2007 - 9/1/2007


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Trip: Arapiles, Australia Sept. 2007 -

 

Date: 9/1/2007

 

Trip Report:

There seems to be a lack of down-under postings since Blake left us , so here goes (hopefully these photos work):

 

After drowning for several months in the perpetual rain that is Palmerston North, NZ (If, by some unlucky circumstance you have to go to NZ, don't come here) http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/cleese-tirade-upsets-kiwis/2006/03/07/1141493650426.html

I decided to blow off school for a while and head down to the "greatest crag in the world"

 

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While that might be a tall order to fill, it's pretty awesome.

 

I flew into Sydney, met my friends there, and we all piled into the car for the 12 hour drive down to Arapiles

We arrived just in time to see somebody being picked out of one of the descent gullies via helicopter after having fallen and broken some bones. He was stable, and the prognosis was good.

An inauspcious start, however

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This being the end of winter/early spring in Australia, it was hot (in the 20's Celsius during the day), but don't tell that to the aussies, who huddled in their "downies" whenever they got a chance.

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The camping is great - you can basically shout from your tent to your friends up on the wall to tell them when lunch is ready. The general plan of action is to go climb something in the morning, walk the 5 minutes back to camp, feast, and then go climb something in the afternoon.

 

The climbing is phenomenal - I don't know if I'd say best in the world, it's awesome. Almost all trad, very few fixed anchors at the belays - there might be one rap station for every 10 or 15 climbs (I think somebody told me there are 3000 named lines at Arapiles) - most climbs you can walk off (via the moslty decent descent gullies), or if you're close enough to the rap stations, then rap. The lines are VERY stiff in the lower grades, - most everybody you talk to will say "that was the hardest 15 (about a 5.6) I've ever done!" (or 12, or 13 etc..) or " I just backed off of a 16!" Full on feet-cut loose overhangs on 5.6's, really awkward moves, strange sketchy looking but solid chickenheads, but mostly bomber gear - the rock just sort of sucks in good pieces, especially small to medium nuts and tricams.

The grades get more "accurate" the higher you go, with a 19 feeling about right (~5.10)

 

It's very similar in feel to the Gunks(though the grades are stiffer at Arapiles), only about 50x better. The campgrounds may be full, but once you leave the camp, it's very unusual to be around other people for most of the day - even on the mega classics. The rock isn't all greased up or even overly chalked up, though it does often get too hot to climb, even during "winter".

 

Animals: For a North American, there are all sorts of crazy animals that live in and about the campground - kangaroos, echidnas (a marsupial hedgehog/porcupine), cool parrots called rosellas, and some very cool lizards - Stumpies! (blue tongued lizards/shingleback)

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Stumpie (not my photo)

 

 

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Kangaroos at the base of the cliffs

 

All in all, some great climbing - defineatly worth travelling a long way for.

 

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Racking up below Tanin - a classic 19

 

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and up at the top

 

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And my lovely hosts Meg and Steve (photo credits to them, except for the stumpie)

 

 

Stay tuned for more adventures from the other side of the world...

 

Edited by EastCoastBastard
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