Blog from October, 2011

The side of the candlestick you dont normally see:

Some of the slings on my older cams are getting a bit tired looking. I came across this thread on Chockstone that seems to offer a reasonable solution. I was wondering if anyone has any other ideas?

Cheers

Doug

Hey guys it time for reel rock again.  Anyone who caught last years film will be happy to know there will be more extreme climbing, hard knocks and big falls.  On the 31st october 2011 at the Stanley Burbury Theatre.  This years features Dean Potters attempt to break the speed record on the nose of El cap yet again,  Boulding with a climber who when she grows up will take the climbing world by strom,  The worlds first overhanging ice climb,  the most insane slacking lining by a almost as insane Andy,  as well as much more mountaineering and climbing  films,  not to mention the short films that won the reel rock short film comp.

There will be great deals and give aways throughout the night. drinks and snacks will be avalible.  Dont miss out on tickets as last years was a sell out.  

Tickets are avalible from The Jolly Swagman 107 Elizabeth st Hobart. 62343999.  $15 pre-sale or $18 at the door.  31st oct 2011 7:30pm Stanley Burbury Theatre Uni Tas Sandy bay.

Any qusetions contact

The Jollyswagman 62343999

Or myself Kristian 0408778999 

How far are the caves underwater then?

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/10/19/269881_tasmania-news.html

Looks like rowing is back on at Oatlands....

For those that havent seen it half the content in the latest Rock Mag is Tasmanian. Two articles by Simon Young, one by Will Bartlett, one by Bob McMahon plus an interview with Crazy John and the the cover and inside cover photos. Awesome!

The bottom tracks look good and basically replicate what has been there in the past. The top ones need some care and I am not in favour of signs or reflective stuff as you will confuse tourists at the top who all follow them thinking they go to the bottom (they do but not in the way they think). In addition may be unsightly and somewhat unnecessary.  Cairns?  

Good work but lets be careful.

This is in cornwall. Plenty of cliffs in tas this will happen to sooner or later!

Tony, Phil and I have been working with the Council to provide improved facilities for climbers to the Organ Pipes in Wellington Park. The objective of this work is achieve the following outcomes:
-          Formalise a network of tracks to the base of the Pipes and to abseil points above
-          Install signage to assist Emergency Services in locating injured climbers
-          Mark routes over rocky areas to reduce the number of informal tracks being formed
-          Manage erosion issues at the base of some of the climbs
 
The map attached details what the Council is proposing to do. Most of the tracks are already there, so the work will mostly involve marking tracks by gluing reflective orange markers on rocks, closing off duplicate tracks, managing any erosion issues at the base of some climbs by building steps and platforms with local rock, pruning vegetation and installing small plastic posts with signs to the main buttresses and abseil points.
 
The Council would like to hear our thoughts on this proposal. Please write your thoughts down as all comments will be considered to ensure that an adequate track system is produced and managed from here on. Please provide comment by the end of Monday 31st October, then we’ll send in all of our comments to the Council.

Doug Bruce

Came across this great collection of aerial photos of some of Tassie's coast line: http://www.abovephotography.com.au/Aerial-Photos/

You can see where they were taken from and buy copies on the map on that link.

Here's some of the more interesting shots as a gallery - hope these inspire someone!

CCT members: if you're trolling and not logged in, please log in and read the new post re developments with the Organ Pipes track network. We need your feedback ...

Cheers

Doug

howdy,
After many years of effort in our spare time, I'm happy to announce that Arapiles Selected Climbs by Mentz and Tempest is now available in an interactive digital form for the iPhone / iPod touch. Hopefully a few of you Tasmanians will find it useful on a pilgramage to the main land.

Here's a video of it in action (embed link doesn't work for some reason):

http://www.youtube.com/v/tsXQO6pY1k0?version=3&hl=en_GB

Our website (http://icragguides.com) has an overview of the app etc. The web site is a work in progress, so please excuse any issues with it.

The actual app is available directly from:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icrag-arapiles/id460930171?ls=1&mt=8

25% discount off physical guide books if you buy an app (unfortunately we can't discount in the other direction due to Apple shenanigans).

Love theSarvo app by the way Jon, it will be getting a work out next time I'm down in Tassie.

cheers
Cam

The local re-bolting fairies tell me that south hobart rivulets finest crag now sprouts even more shiny stainless steel. Play Launch(24??) has new bolts. Unfortunately it hasnt had a proper clean yet, but feel free to do so. It should scrub up into another mega-classic sandstone route, possibly the best that follows that line of bolts...

picked up a pair of sunnies left behind at waterworks on Tuesday evening.Got a fair idea who they belong to .

If they're yours, let me know. They'll live in my pack and I'll be at w/works or Freu most Tuesdays and Thursdays

I've got to do some work on the guide code in the next couple of months in order to upgrade the server etc. I will also probably at the same time cut new versions of the print and iphone guides.

At the moment I'm going to add one new feature - the ability to easily comment on individual climbs/problems, including fields for opinions on the grade and stars, with a summary of this that is off by default but can be shown. In the commenting feature I may include a 4-star option for best-in-Tas climbs, so these can be searched for, but not planning on introducing this in the actual guides. Commenting through the iphone app may make it.

If anyone has any ideas or requests for new features for the web/printed/iphone guides let me know - if they arent too hard and I have time they may make it.