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Havachatwithhexy... 13-Jan-2005 At 1:20:13 PM oweng

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On 12/01/2005 HEX wrote:
>---------------------------------
>oweng
>12/01/2005
>>Looks like the perfect excuse to drag out the explosives to me! Sad to
>ruin such a >nice boulder though....
>
>Maybe Oweng can confirm/confide/concur : Circa 1990, a boulder, roughly
>half that size, parted-company with Hobart's Organ Pipes, and rolled/skidded/bounced
>about 300 metres down the scree/scrub slope, and landed fair-BANG-smack
>in the middle of the summit road, not far from the climbers car-park !
>
>
>' Rock-away Gully ' is named after the event ...
>
>But wait ! --- there's more ...
>
>The South side of this gully is constituted by a high rocky spur, on top
>of which stands none-other than the Slap Dancer free-standing pillar ...
>
>Apparently, directly below Slap Dancer , on the wall of the gully, there
>WAS a classic hand-crack called Punk (19) , which , since the boulder-event
>, has become a fist-crack ! --- the rocky spur is VERY rapidly, ( in geological
>perspective ), in the process of peeling itself off the side of the mountain
>...
>
>Alrob --- ya better hurry-up and send SD --- it may not be there much
>longer ...
>
>As for the boulder ? --- the council DID use explosives to blast it off
>the road ...
>--------------------------------

Ive only been in Hobart 1.5 years, so can neither confirm or deny. The Mt Wellington guide certainly tells that story though!

In addition to 'Punk' I think the guide also mentions an aid route up a crack, either on, or very close to Alberts Tomb. The description in the guide recomends that the pitons be tapped in very gently towards the top, as the crack tends to widen and spit out all the gear lower down if you drive the pitons in too far....... Sounds great!

According to a report on my desk, amongst other instances, the Council has blasted a big rock of the road below the Pipes in 1986, and had a 15 tonne boulder roll across the road below the Pipes in 1996 (glad I wasnt driving along at the time).

All in all not a great endorcement of the rock quality!