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Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Buffalo	Gorge	(General)	(General)	[ Gorge Guide ]

Topic Date User

Ozymandias and water 24-Jan-2014 At 1:51:33 PM Justcameron

Message

The description on thecrag and in the guide recommends splitting the pitch to big grassy at the ledge beforehand to avoid rope drag, that's what we'll probs do.

http://www.thecrag.com/climbing/australia/buffalo/the-gorge-north-side/route/13015939

Have bought some ladder aiders from the states, just got to hope they get here in time!

Have been doing a little bit of practice aiding and jumaring around the local Adelaide cliffs.

Still to practice hauling.

It sounds like a 2 day ascent could be difficult with both of us new to aiding. Not sure of the best way for a 2.5-3 day ascent. We don't have a portaledge.

Considering the following:

Day 1 afternoon: Walk down south side, climb first pitch or two, fix ropes and sleep on the ground. (not sure if there is anywhere flat to sleep? saw a post from a couple of fellas who struggled to find somewhere. We would have 1x hammock so only need 1x flat spot, can use ropes/gear to build a nest)
Day 2: jug fixed ropes, haul bag, get to big grassy, climb 2 pitches above and fix ropes. (if we were going faster I'm not sure if we could fix to the gledhill bivvy and rap back, or if it's too overhanging)
Day 3: jug fixed ropes, summit.

There are a couple of unknowns with this plan, and also the unpleasantness of repeatedly abseiling and jumaring up again.

The alternative would be spending 2 nights on big grassy, and starting the haul with 3 days of food/water

Day 1: Start early, descend south side, get to big grassy. Bag heavier with 3 days of water/food. Keep climbing and aim to fix 2 or 3 pitches (again question about whether we can rap from gledhill bivvy to big grassy)
Day 2: If we were fast and efficient on day 1 and we were able to fix 2 pitches above BG, then leave extra water behind, jug ropes and then climb to the top.
If we were slow on day 1 and we only just reached big grassy, day 2 will be fixing ropes to the gledhill bivvy and rapping back to the ledge, and then day 3 we get to the top.