Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

The Arapiles we Love... 15-Oct-2006 At 10:37:46 AM Fool in the Rain

Message

Interesting thread. regarding guides I witnessed a very scary incident a couple of years ago at Charity Buttress. It had been raining a bit and we decided to check out Charity Buttress for some short easy climbs. There were a few people there including a group from a Bendigo (or was it Ballarat?) college.
As I was on the descent route I heard a loud rushing noise and saw a person hurtling head first down the cliff and shouting "f--- me Dead!!". Initially I thought he was unroped and I averted my gaze so as not to witness the impact. Amazingly he was pulled up a couple of metres above the deck by his belayer. She was a novice, I think it was her first time out doors. The guide was on a rope and climbing Charity, a grade 8 climb when he slipped near the top. Another example of very poor guiding. Does guide in question want to put his hand up and tell his side of the story?

Postscript. Shortly afterwards the rain came on more heavily and we scuttled back to the pines. The next morning, gearing up for Watchtower Crack I realised I didn't have my camel back so I raced up to Charity Buttress and found it. Then I noticed like Excalibur, the Sword in the Stone a nut wedged in a small rock on the ground. I knelt down, gave it a small tap and scored some booty.