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The first grade 36 in Australia 14-Jul-2006 At 4:34:35 PM The Keeper

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My man, the plan is to that get Kokanee to Araps in September!!! Fresh out ot the margins of the "ghastly blank" I will be going for anything that pours out of a bottle!
A few contraband brew from the Great White North, some sizzlling moose steaks and sauteed wolverine ribs and the party will be on in the Pines. Last time I was there it was pregnant with silence albeit the weather was deluxe for a northern lad like moi. Plus I need to be well fortified as my tortured carcass hammers away at that route with the two bulgy things that kicked my butt. So I will be on a mission to climb that thing - ah that heinous little route was named D Minor or something - strikingly iconic to that Queen'sland matilda with two overhangs that kicked or rather bit my butt. Definitely live to learn.
And to drive my "carrot-like" point home - I fondly remember the shock when I came across some mankey piece of metal sticking out of the rock at the top of one of those routes in the Organ Pipes - I recall yelling over to Hugh - " And what the hell is this???!!!?? E-gads we rapped off that thing and survived. The beer supply at the Nati pub was severely reduced afterwards as I relieved my quaking mind!! I felt I had looked into the heart of something - a Kiwi guide and an Aussie carrot bolt for anchor - there has to be a parable in there somewhere!!

So how does this connect with the state of Aussie climbing??? Well let us quote from
our wandering rock hound Scott Milton as provided for in our little Canuck climbing mag Gripped - a succinct one-page ode to Aussie climbing entitled "Finding Oz":

"For the first few days this style of route equipping pissed me off, but it quickly
became absurdly comical and I eventually saw some logic behind it. These routes
were designed, consciously or subconsciously to test your level of commitment and
it aided in developing mentally strong climbers. Australia has produced very
impressive climbers over the years (Kim Carrigan, Garth Miller, Nathan Hoette,
Monique Forestier, etc) and I believe that the level of confidence gained on this style
of route prepared them for harder projects down the line. If every route we did was
uniform in its style, the homogeneous nature would quickly become boring and we
would plateau. Stress encourages adaptation, which causes growth. (Note:does
this apply to southern Queen'sland climbing matildas? Hmm.) If we find ourselves
in situations that are just outside of our comfort zone and are able to push through
the discomfort, we usually carry that newfound confidence into our next challenge.

I'm not saying that all climbs in the Grampians are horror shows, because they have
hundreds of safe routes. Unfortunately the guidebooks aren't too forthcoming with
practical details about the route's general safety level, so it is a bit of a crap shoot
once you leave the ground.

Did I truly discover OZ logic in the end, or was I trying to justify their actions for my
own good? I can't say for sure, but one thing I do know is that they can be proud of
their routes. Logical or not, they'll test your mettle and make you a better climber."

Amen. So there you have it from another shy, innocent, introverted Canuck. So
I will be back to battle my Araps skeletons and I hope to hell I become a better
climber. As for the gnarly Queen'sland matildas - game on, only first period is over
and we lads from the up over play hard for the entire match.

In the meantime, grades and folks who nailed them are like threads on this web site,
as new ones come in yours plummets lower and lower - soon out of sight and out of mind. In 500 years who will remember anything about a grade 37 and who did it! Time wounds these heals. Better to just have at it and enjoy the journey and not worry about the end result - it is all pretty transitory and emphemeral to the real things in life anyways.
Some Cambodian bloke with two legs blown off from an inadvertent intersection with an old leftover land mine - would like to dream of walking again let alone climbing something like Trojan or Punks in the Gym ( I have to name a route over here "Skunks on the Rim" what a hoot! The opportunities for humor in this game are mind boggling and oh so good!