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General Climbing Discussion

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New Zealand Climbing 28-Jan-2003 At 12:52:27 PM oweng

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I was in the south island for 10 weeks last summer, and although we took the full racks we really didnt do much roped climbing at all. The bouldering at both Castle Hill (Arthurs Pass) and at Elephant Rocks (Duntroon) are super. Either or both of these destinations are well worth a visit. The only roped climbing we did was a route up, and traverse of the Double Cone on the Remarkables near Queenstown. This was a great experience which id recommend if your interested in some alpine climbing, with easy access and great views. From what I saw, the roped climbing on the South Island is really pretty poxy. There is supurb bouldering and alpine climbing, but the crag climbing seemed to be a bit lacking. Paynes Ford didnt look that good (I say looked because we got rained out and wern't able to climb there, it might be good in the right weather) but it does have a campground were you can always meet other climbers which is a plus. Some of the crags in the Christchurch Hills also looked ok (although as with most crags we saw, the rock looked a bit loose). In short if your not going to NZ just for climbing, and if your weight and bulk concious, dont take your rope and rack. Definitly take your bouldering gear though.