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Guidebook: Grampians Climbing: Sport Crags 14-Apr-2013 At 9:39:28 AM simey

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On 13/04/2013 Dave J wrote:
>At the risk of further derailing Neils thread...
>
>I personally wouldn't put Mr J in the top 25% of routes on that wall and
>I think if you just went out and did a few more of the classics on Taipan
>you'd be in a better position to comment.

To say Mr Joshua is not in the top 25% of routes on that wall is laughable. There are 72 routes/projects listed on Taipan in Neil's guide, that means you need to list 18 routes that are better than it. I think you will have some trouble.

>Its true they're mostly not 25
>but some walls just don't lend themselves to that particular grade (the
>best routes on Tiger wall aren't 25 either and if someone was banging on
>about Sunday Best being the best line on the wall because it was 25 when
>they hadnt gone and done any of the classic 8s and 10s it would be hard
>to take them seriously too).

It's true that Taipan doesn't lend itself to to grade 25, but the reality is that Mr Joshua is absolutely brilliant pitch at the grade. If you took out those rests, it wouldn't be grade 25! Even these supposedly better routes still have flaws which Mr J doesn't have... For example on Serpentine you have to climb a long traversy, shitty bolted grade 24 to even reach the main pitch. Cardigan Street doesn't even have a climbable first pitch - you need to solo to the top of the cliff and then rap in. As for climbs with rests - well I bet Feather Boa has few of them given the first part of the main pitch is a SLAB! And did we mention another long shitty traverse just to reach the start of Feather Boa? I seem to recall that Groovy has some pretty significant rests interspersed between harder climbing.
>
>Out of curiosity have you been back and actually done Mr J?

Well I recall doing the first pitch with Gordy many years ago (early 90s). We went there one day and I climbed it and he failed on it. Then later that summer Gordy (with Simon Carter) ticked Serpentine - much to my amazement.

I have been on the second pitch, but haven't done it clean.