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New anchors at Araps - What do you reckon? 9-Jan-2017 At 10:28:43 AM simey

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On 9/01/2017 Wendy wrote:
>Whilst I think there are more than a few cases where there are rap stations
>almost on top of each other, I can see some use for the Mari one, mostly
>around not belaying in the sun. People usually go to Mari in the summer
>because it's shady, but it did suck belaying in the sun up there. The other
>one is around getting in the way of parties on Megalomaniac using the other
>rap. The walk down descent has overgrown these days and it wouldn't be
>good for it to become a major thoroughfare again.

Fair points. I must admit belaying in the sun at the top of the cliff would be a drag on those hot days when you specifically go there to escape the heat.

>I think the rap down Tiger Wall and the new one down the right watchtower
>both suck. Flinder's Lane, the cave and Ali's were all coping with the
>traffic fine. On the other hand, both the halfway ledge and the base of
>that abseil rapidly became devegetated. The Kestrel rap starts and ends
>on rockier ground and does not have the same damage despite being there
>for many years. The lower one also goes over several climbs on the base
>of Tiger Wall.

I reckon the Tiger Wall rap descent works quite well, although I would rarely use it to descend from Flinders Lane as multi-pitch rapping is usually more time consuming than walking/scrambling down. I do use those anchors if I am climbing routes in the immediate vicinity (many of which don't go all the way to Flinders Lane). By the way, have you done the mega-classic that Bec and I put up there recently 'Renovation Nation' (20)?

>The right watchtower one has a station in the middle of
>Siren. Really, if you are doing a multi pitch, you have already committed
>to a certain degree of journey and where walking down is safe and doesn't
>trash the gullies, I think it's perfectly reasonable to do so. From RWS,
>you can easily access the Pharos gully track, just wait in line at the
>LWS if you really have to abseil. You could always walk off watchtower
>gully if you don't want to wait. Again, I have never had to wait more than
>a single group to get off LWS. The only times I have had a problem getting
>down Ali's is when groups were doing the "rock journey", which I have a
>bunch of issues with in itself.

What do you mean by LWS and RWS? Do you mean LWF and RWF? (Left Watcthower Face and Right Watchtower Face, for those of you who hate acronyms).

I haven't used the LWF rap descent, but I can't imagine that I will. Walking down Pharos Gully is pretty convenient in comparison. I usually walk down if I climb on the RWF too. It is faster and saves taking two ropes.

>I don't know that people are really at risk of loosing the skill of setting
>up natural anchors. Most easier routes, indeed most routes in general,
>still involve some setting up of gear anchors.

It is not uncommon to climb trad routes around the world and end up a lower-off. Just be careful if you go climbing with someone who has supposedly done a load of trad leads but rarely rigged an anchor!