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General Climbing Discussion

Author

Lengthy Approaches

Wollemi

9-Jun-2008
11:45:27 PM

I thought to approach the Heathcliff crag from the normal car parking spot was a bit of a hike. Maybe carrying a full rack(!) on an unseasonal humid morning contributed.
Didn't compare to today - NPWS have the gate locked on Mt Hay Rd in the Blueys, due to slashing of trees and grass alike. So we decided to walk the additional 4.5km+ to the Fortress Ridge carpark, then do the normal 4km walk to the exposed rap station for Tom Thumb. It was a good day out though, back through drizzle in the dark.

Anyone else got stories of epic approaches? One I have had in mind for a few years is to climb the western face of Jagungal - looks steep enough from the S, and it would entail a ski in from Guthega power station at Munyang, probably over 1.5 days.

evanbb

10-Jun-2008
2:01:10 PM

That's hillarious.

I'm recovering from a shoulder reconstruction and not climbing for a bit. So went on an overnight walk instead. First trip out post op, so we took it easy and went up Mt Hay proper. We got there, found the gate locked, and walked out to Rock Lilly Ridge instead, then down that for 4ks or so to spend the night. It rained a lot.

But that got me thinking. Like placing pro, packing your gear properly, buying goretex and a good tent are all precautions for something. If you are going to bother doing it, you might a well use it. hence it was good to walk in the rain and live in a small tent. When I'm climbing again I'm going to fall on gear more often.

Wollemi

10-Jun-2008
2:09:51 PM

We used everything we took, and did climb the last 2 pitches of Tom Thumb after the ~50m rap in.
Hope your shoulder gave you no problems.

Phil Box

10-Jun-2008
4:12:21 PM

Mt. Warning's Wollumbin Shield has the most heinous walk in I have been on. You can get lost sooooo easily. I have been in there several times now and the second last time I went in we got bushed. It was at night though, a simple error put us an hour behind. One has to use a compass whenever one walks in that way thick rain forest. The wait-a-while vine is evil and you have to dodge the Gympie trees with their giant stinging leaves.

Step off the indistinct path and you will be bushed until you regain the path. You have a 400 metre wall staring you in the face all the while on the way in but you cannot see it for the thickness of the scrub. The wall peeks at you occasionally giving tantalising glimpses once in a while.

The tortuous nature of the volcanic floor of the subsided crater can completely bamboozle the unwary. On our first walk in to the wall Grant asked me on the way out if the wall should be over our left shoulder or our right, about face, quick march. Ya gotta hate when the cloud obscures the sun and every tree looks like any other tree that you thought you would use as a landmark.

Heading in there on Friday to spend 4 days scoping out a new route.

evanbb

11-Jun-2008
9:57:56 AM

On 10/06/2008 Wollemi wrote:

>Hope your shoulder gave you no problems.

Thanks for the concern but the shoulder's feeling bomber. The rain was a small hinderance, which caused the hip flask to be used to it's limit of operation.

Back on topic I love a good long walk in. We had an epic the first time we 'tried' Tom Thumb (doing a new route instead), which was part of the charm. The walk ins in the Wolgan are fantastic, leaving just enough time between dawn and dusk to do 2 or 3 routes.

And I dream of Frenshmans Cap. A 2 day walk in for a 400m crack is my ideal climbing holiday.

Cool Hand Lock

11-Jun-2008
10:47:37 PM

On 11/06/2008 evanbb wrote:
>On 10/06/2008 Wollemi wrote:
>And I dream of Frenshmans Cap. A 2 day walk in for a 400m crack is my
>ideal climbing holiday.

A 400m crack is called a valley/gully.

Andrew_M

14-Jun-2008
6:36:36 PM

Jagungal certainly grabs the eye and would make a good little target. Coming in and out from Munyang can definitely be done over a weekend and if you want to test yourself you could go light and do it in a single push, but it would be more comfortable to take a tent or bivy and split it over the 2 days. Alternatively you could go soft and get a 4WD in close from the Eucumbene side but that would kinda defeat the purpose. Another one that I've wanted to do is to do Watson's crags, either by skiing from Guthega, then down the crags and climbing out, or to come in from the north(?) through the Lady Northcotes (I think-don't have a map here). Either of those would be a solid day trip with a bit of everything.

As for long walk ins...does alpine count? A few years a go we got out to the Olivine Ice Plateau on the W coast of NZ. It took 8 days to walk in (with a few days lost waiting out bad weather). After doing no climbing whatsoever because we were running out of food, it then took 5 monster days to walk out the other side. Most of the trouble was caused by the craaazy west coast scrub. In one valley it was so thick it took us maybe 2 or 3 hours to go a single km. Add to that some serious height gain and loss, route finding, river crossings and bad weather all squeezed into back to back 12-16 hour days and it was, well, a bit of an interesting trip.

Below the plateau in the Joe Valley there is a really wild looking 300-400m overhanging granite(?) prow. I was perving on it through the tent flap one morning and fantasised about having the skills (and balls) to climb the thing, but couldn't for the life of me work out the logistics of getting enough aiding gear and food in. That would be a true mutha of an approach and a challenge for any hardmen reading...

Wollemi

14-Jun-2008
10:22:56 PM

Hey Andrew,
my partner last Monday on the little epic out along Fortress Ridge was Michael - who was with you on the Olivine Plateau trip. Funny how he doesn't let on much detail, but slips in some throwaway lines when least expected about the challenges of your trip.

The west face of Jagungal is steepish/stepped, and I have wondered about lugging ice tools up there, to climb from that side. I have twice camped in Jagungal saddle it in summer, and have XC skiied up en-route from Derschko's hut to Adam's hut/Eucumbene (the summit was in white-out, alas). A fellow who I have skiied with in the NSW Nordic Ski Club once spoke of summitting Jagungal in a day and return to Munyang on XC metal-edged gear. Pre-dawn to post-dusk. This certainly is on my to-do list.

I have an old copy of an ANUMC publication of rock-climbing at Blue Lake - which also has a picture and brief description of climbing out of Watson's Crags in winter, using a few long ice/snow stakes.

Andrew_M

15-Jun-2008
4:58:47 AM

Hey Gary, I forgot you know Mick. The guy is crazy enough to sleep wedged under a rock in a pool of water for like 3 nights and still be cheerful so he's crazy enough to actually enjoy that extra bash along Mt Hay rd.

Jagungal and back in a day would be a big one but it can go if you're fit. It would be nothing like as physically or mentally as hard as your Bass Strait solo if you're half decent on skis. There's a brilliant run down from (just below?) the summit to the saddle that I've done on skinny pattern based jobbies with leather boots so it wasn't a lot of fun, but if you're on something a bit shaped with good edges you could probably pack them up the west face (says me not having done it) and make some great turns on the way back down. It would be sweet. Kinda makes me wish I was back in Oz for winter...

Phil Box

20-Jun-2008
7:52:36 AM

Bac now from our recent Mt. Warning adventure. You can read all about it on qurank trip reports. Short story, 6 odd hours in and 3 odd hours out. Crazy spiky Wait a while vines had to be snipped on the way in to clear the track. Put up new 220 metre grade 22 route on fantastic rock full of pods. Crux was of course grade 22 but rest of climb was much more moderate. Almost 2 pitches reminded me of Apline at Coles Bay Whitewater Wall. Awesome rock.

There are now 5 known routes on Mt. Warning's Wollumbin Shield. Many more possibilities for interpid adventurers.

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