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General Climbing Discussion

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Buffalo in hot weather 6-Mar-2008 At 7:45:19 AM jgoding

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It's roughly 5 degrees cooler than in the valley below, but well worth chasing the shade as you can easily get sun stroke and your energy is sapped.

Some good early morning routes can be found on the Hump (i.e. The Initiation - great 18*** multipitch) or the fantastic grade 19 & 20 slabs such as Chickens in Choppers, Cows with Guns etc. There are about 4 in this area.

Calligular (18***) is fantastic and should be in the shade from about midday from memory. It's not far from the main car park at the Gorge and you can abseil in to save scrambling down the crappo gully.

I would suggest avoiding routes such as Where Angels Fear To Tread unless you've got a hat, lots of water and prepared to climb in the sun pretty much all day on long routes (tiring!). Better saved for a cooler or cloudy day where you can keep your energy up.

Sultan (20*** at the Cathedral) is a good option for climbing in the afternoon. Maharajah (17***) also at the Cathedral is good in the morning as it's in the shade. There are also 2 nice 19*'s (Shell Shock and Fire in the Foothills) which are near Maharajah and in the shade in the morning and late afternoon.

Dreamworld (main wall) is in the shade until about midday. Most of the routes at the Horn will be in the sun for most of the day.

I'll be up there, camping with the VCC mob if you want any more info or reccomendations.

PS there are a bunch of updates to the current (V5, March 2006) guide availible on the VCC's website which you might like to print out and bring along as there are some new routes, corrections and also some additional photo topos which may help you to find your way around...

http://www.vicclimb.org.au/Site/index.php?location=publications

PS the berries at the Bright berry farm are fantastic, you can get a great "berry cup" for about $4 including ice cream, cream, lots of great berries. Very refreshing if you're hot and bothered and need a short stop/break before the drive home.

Also - for on the way up the King River Cafe (in Oxley - about 10-15mins off the freeway when you turn off at the twin servos) is great for a late night snack (they stay open till 1030pm often and have lovely desserts). A reliable source tells me their hot chocolates are crap though and that they need some strong feedback to get them right in the future!

Hope you enjoy your trip.

Joe Goding