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Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Grampians	Halls Gap	(General)	(General)	[ Grampians Guide \| Images ]

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Where's Crock Wall? 28-Jun-2014 At 12:02:50 PM BA

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THE OBSERVATORY (PART 1)

New access allows the unpleasant descent gullies to be avoided by an abseil descent. The Workshop descent gully is not nice and the gully between the Sundial and the Observatory is death with knobs on (alluded to in a very understated fashion in the guide). The abseil access is no faster than descending the gullies but it is safer and more environmentally friendly.

The pick of the climbs here to date are Bitch City and Xerxes.

From the duckboards on the Sundial Track, continue for about 300m. After the duckboards there is a section of wood-retained steps, a section of stonework, another section of wood-retained steps and then a solitary stonework step. This step is 50-70m before the turn-off to Delley's Dell. If you reach this turn-off go back. From the solitary stonework step go east (left if heading towards the Sundial) and follow cairns to the top of the cliff. This is less than 5 minutes walk from the track. The cairns finish at an abseil tree (with slings). 35m abseil down steep wall to ledge with tree and abseil slings. Further 35m abseil to ground. The start of Titus Andronicus is just to right (facing cliff). All existing climbs finish close to the abseil tree. (Take your own slings to back up the abseils).

Note that the Workshop access described in the guide is no longer accurate as the View Point signpost no longer exists. The original access cairn exists but this access is superseded by the new Workshop and Observatory access routes. The cairns on the right of the track for the new Workshop access no longer exist. Try step-counting from the end of the duckboards and then look for the cairns.

Going left to right from the abseil descent, facing the cliff, the climbs on The Observatory are:

First Derivative/Titus Andronicus Major black, mossy corner just left of prow of cliff. The First Derivative looks particularly disgusting. Titus Andronicus has cleaner rock and would certainly go free but the lower pitches are unattractive and the final pitch (the first abseil goes down this), while on an impressively steep wall, has poor, sandy rock.

Cyrus 80m 20
The first pitch provides a superior variant to the first pitch of Darius and the finish breaks out into exposed territory. With a little attention from above to straighten out the 2nd pitch and clean up the 3rd, it could be a great route. Gear: #l Rock to #4 SLCD. Start as for Darius. 1. 25m 20 Go directly up the line, keeping left of the roof with bold and spectacular bridging. Easy ground leads up right to 1st belay of Darius. 2. 25m 18 As for Darius. 3. 15m 18 Traverse back right from the belay block to right-leading ramp/comer. Up using wide cracks for protection (rotten, sandy rock) and step right onto face. Up face (dirt/mud, detached block, hollow flake, dubious protection) to lovely belay spot. 4. 15m 18 Superb technical crack. Keith Lockwood (1, 4), Kieran Loughran (2, 3). May 1994

Darius About 8m right of FD/TA.

Good first pitch. Final pitch is a wide crack up the same wall as the finish of Titus Andronicus and features the same unpleasant, sandy rock. (First Derivative/Titus Andronicus share a second belay).

Bitch City 5-6m r of Darius. Right-facing corner just off ground passing small roof at 5m and then the major corner high on the cliff. It is possible that this climb frees Fruity Tutty.

Xerxes "Obvious Line". Presumably the line a couple of m right of Bitch City. This is quite good though the crack on the last pitch is not much fun. Correction to pitch 3 description in guide: 'up the thin corner and past the roof on the right".

Fruity Tutty Exactly where this climb goes is not certain. Looks like it starts as for Bitch City and then moves into the right hand corner at about 7m: the features match but the climbing doesn’t. Maybe they used aid or had long arms. Nothing else on the cliff matches the description of the first pitch. It may also be that Bitch City frees the aided section on pitch two of Fruity Tutty (not at all sure about this). Alternatively, the final two pitches of Fruity Tutty and Xerxes may be substantially the same except that FT aids past the left side of the nose and Xerxes takes the chimney on the right.