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<guide><header
access="Access by air or sea is difficult but the way to go if you can get permission for a chopper like Bob, (unlikely now) or a boat from Port Arthur if the swell is low enough. By foot, there is a 4-5 hour walk to Perdition Ponds, and a further 1-2 hour walk out the Chasm. From Hobart, take the Arthur Highway (A9) 3.5km south of the B37 junction at Taranna and turn off on the Fortescue Bay Road (C344). After about 9.6km, leave the leave the car and follow the marked track. See Tasman National Park Map and Notes (1:75000 Tasmap) for more information. Phytophthora (root rot) is in the Park and climbers are asked to clean their boots at the wash-down station at Lunchtime Creek. Park entry fees apply."
acknowledgement="Thanks to Neale Smith, Tony McKenny, Dean Rollins, Lyle Closs, Peter McHugh, Gerry Narkowicz, Mendelt Tillema and Joe Goding for information and photographs. Original route descriptions and additional information on the Cape climbs are available in Rock #42 and #67. Details on the routes are as yet incomplete and further information would be welcome. Treat the accuracy of all route descriptions with caution: none of the climbs at the Cape appear to have been repeated and some of the information was only written up twenty years after the event. In addition, there are a few discrepancies between the accounts in the Rock magazines, so be warned!"
history="Not surprisingly, given the difficulties of access and the seriousness of the climbing, there have been very few visits by climbers to the main cliffs on the Cape - and most of those have turned into epics. After a number of reconnaissance visits, a team from the CCT made the first ascent of Cathedral Rock in the summer of 1967. Reg Williams, Mendelt Tillema and Peter McHugh pioneered the way down to the base of the Trident cliffs in 1969 but on the way back up sustained casualties from falling rock including broken fingers and toes. Mendelt returned in 1972 with Mick Flint, Graeme Boddy and Ian Lewis to make a memorable first ascent when they traversed over the Trident, bivvying on the way. Lyle Closs and Ian Lewis were in the Chasm in the early '70s but an accident resulted in an unplanned swim and a badly burnt hand after holding a 16m lead fall, while an enormous storm broke the day after they retreated with waves breaking a 100m up their line. Chris "Ditto" Rathbone and Basil Rathbone (no relation!) teamed up in 1979 for an attempt on right hand wall of the Chasm, but it was a year later that Chris, along with Ben Maddison and Peter Morris pushed through with the ascent of the Original Route (21), a remarkable effort which blazed the way for subsequent climbs. Maddison was back with Neale Smith and Phil Cullen in January 1982 and together they added the Cullen Route (20). 
<br/>"The whole thing was a bit of an epic as they are. Getting down was achieved without any abseils which amazed and pleased us. We headed out ... to the broken ground out to the right ... and managed to scramble down to the wave platform. It was a beautiful day so we swam across the gulch to the platform on the left to suss out a line. It seemed obvious where we had to go. We had fortunately taken a rope down with us and a few bits of gear so we swam to the line and soloed up to the ledge and fixed a line back to the platform on the right so we could get our gear across the next day without getting it wet. Back to the top for a bit of bouldering (rolling huge stones down the chasm causing big splashes). Day 2 - Up early and scramble back down. Fixed line still in place - a magnificent day. Something we did not want to see which demonstrated the folly of our bouldering session the previous evening, was that the fixed rope had a significant cut through to the core. Problem solved by agreeing that the 3rd person would climb on this rope each pitch. The refreshing swim was followed by re-dressing and gearing up on the ledge. Disconcertingly, the water from which we had just exited revealed the clear and undeniable presence of a white pointer - no way were we retreating. 14 hrs after leaving camp, we were back there - a bit stuffed actually. Grade 20 but you probably need to be climbing 24 to be able to do it! Day 3 - We are out of there." (Neale Smith) 
<br/>Maddison was back yet again twenty years later with a bunch of "golden oldies" including Bob McMahon, Gerry Narkowicz, John Smart and Cameron Evans. Helicopter access, illness and injury, desperate climbing and, inevitably, lousy weather all added up to an expedition of epic proportions. A number of hard and committing climbs were made including Numbered Days (22) by Narkowicz and Maddison - "the grade 22 is not an adequate description of the fear and extreme difficulty of the jamming involved" (Bob McMahon). Get a copy of the Rock mags if you can for nail-biting descriptions by Ben, Gerry and Bob."
intro="The Tasman Peninsular on Tasmania's east coast finishes in a spectacular sweep of vertical cliffs, the highest sea cliffs in Australia. The rock is Jurassic dolerite, the remains of a drowned escarpment, with kilometres of unclimbed columns, stacks, chasms and great walls rising abruptly from the deep ocean waters. Cape Pillar itself is quite extraordinary. Phrases such as "awesome coastal scenery, once seen, never forgotten", "one of the world's most fearful sea cliffs", "the scariest cliff in the known universe", "no equal anywhere in the southern hemisphere"...are all absolutely true. Names like Tornado Ridge and Hurricane Heath attest to the ferocity of the prevailing elements as the wind can at times be Patagonian in strength - rocks thrown over the edge have been blown back up, let alone abseil ropes. 
<br/>Access is via a long bushwalk from Fortescue Bay. Poor water supplies en route and ordinary campsites add to the problems, and the sea is home to Great White Sharks; any climb here is a very serious, and a complicated logistical problem. An EPIRB is recommended. 
<br/>Towards the end of the Cape there is the traversable knife-edge of rock called the Blade (230m) and the Chasm, a huge slice cut in the cliff face. Off-shore is Cathedral Rock, a detached 80m sea stack, and the cliff-girt mass of the uninhabited Tasman Island. Like all sea cliffs, the rock is variable in quality, particularly above the storm-wave height, and loose rock can be an issue. To date this has been a "no bolt" area and visitors are asked to respect that status."
name="Cape Pillar" new="false" rock="Huge dolerite sea cliffs"
sun="Afternoon sun"
walk="Approx 14km mostly flat approach"/><text
class="indentedHeader"
new="false">Camping: At the beginning of the walk in there is a public campsite at Fortescue Bay with toilets and fire places but bookings are essential in the season and at weekends. (03 62502433). Most people will probably base themselves for climbing at Perdition Ponds (the water is drinkable but may be brackish - there have been reports of giardia so you might want to boil or treat it) or at a small tent site at the Chasm (no water). This is a "Fuel Stove only" area.</text><text
class="heading2" new="false">The Trident</text><text
class="text"
new="false">This intriguing rock feature is a short three-pronged dolerite ridge close to sea level and west of Blade Ridge. It is clearly visible from points on the walking close to the cliff-edge and was the scene of a small amount of activity during the 1970s. Access is epic. The chunderous pile of mank that guards the approach has dished out more than it's fair share of destruction -- mashed fingers, broken toes, and a brand new kernmantle rope chopped in two by various runaway lumps of dolerite. Access is by either scrambling down down the obvious slope to the east of the Trident to the base and climbing back up onto the ridge that leads out to the Trident (as done on one attempt), or by fixing a 100m long rope down the crumbling rubble to the ridge (as done on another). </text><text
class="text"
new="false">Despite this, the team of Mendelt Tillema, New Zealander Graeme Boddy, Mick Flint and Ian Lewis managed to climb the 1st and 2nd prongs in Feb 1972, the two closest to land, bivving at the base of the 2nd prong. "We walked in by moonlight to lunchtime Creek on the friday night. When we climbed the Trident we had to climb up and over the series of four pillars on the landward side. You then have a large slot with three distinct pillars on the other side, we climbed all but the most seaward one. We simply ran out of time! On the way back we managed to dislodge a large rock which hit a side wall and then feel into the blowhole which goes right under and through to other side. The whole structure shuddered. Got a shock, thought it was going to collapse on us. The bivouc is still imprinted in my mind. The light of the Tasman lighthouse swept the cliffs behind and above us casting the shadow of the many prongs of the Trident. on the cliffs. To cap this off the moon came up betrween the prongs of Trident to the sound of the waves brushing the cliffs.' Mendelt Tillema. There are no records of any subsequent ascent since then.</text><text
class="heading2" new="false">Blade Ridge
</text><text
class="text"
new="false">Blade Ridge is the prominent blade-like ridge towards just west of the end of the Cape. It is possible to traverse from the seaward side to the far end. The rock is described as mostly sound and the climbing surprisingly good.
</text><climb
extra="" grade="?" length="?" name="Blade Ridge Traverse"
new="false" number=""
stars="">From the start of the Blade Track (where the Cape Pillar Track forks to the Blade or the Chasm) it takes about half an hour to scrub bash around to the base of the ridge (which side of the Blade? East?).
1st Stage (from base to prominent notch):
The route starts up corner slightly to right (east) of centre, then emerges on the central line after two pitches and a scramble. The more direct start remains to be investigated. Continue up direct line, find a way through the pinnacles, then abseil into the notch.
2nd Stage (notch to summit):
Above the notch is the hardest pitch on the route, viz or 40 metre diedre. Pitons were carried in anticipation of a mechanical exist from the diedre; however these were superfluous and the pitch was free climbed to its top - one peg runner was placed but is not necessary. Route finishes up two chimneys, each containing a bulging chockstone, a little to the left of the upper pinnacles.
Chris Viney and Mike Douglas, Jan 1983.</climb><text
new="true"/><text class="heading2"
new="false">The Chasm</text><text class="text"
new="false">Access to the right hand side is by scrambling down with difficulty to the east of the main cliff (L as you face out to sea) via a series of down climbs and ledges to a platform at the base, or by abseil (300m+). The left hand side, with many potential lines of around the same length, is at present unclimbed.</text><image
new="false" noPrint="false" src="cape pillar1.jpg"
width=""/><climb extra="" grade="21" length="320m"
name="The Original Route" new="false" number=""
stars="">Eight pitches, originally graded 18! Approached by traversing above the shore line platform from Cathedral Rock. A little vegetated on the lower half but good quality rock all the way. Start in an easy angled corner, just where the rock platform ends and the zawn starts. Climb a classic hand-crack for a couple of pitches till the crack starts to shut down. Semi-hanging belay in the corner. Bridge up the runner-less back wall of a bay formed between two pillars. When the bay starts to overhang, a seam across the L wall allows a traverse out towards the face of the next pillar. Sling a small spike and climb to belay (crux pitch). Climb up to regain the ridge line and finish with several pleasant wall and crack pitches, reminiscent of Rock-a- Day Johnny on Ben Lomond. Chris "Ditto" Rathbone, Pete Morris and Ben Maddison, 31 January 1980.</climb><climb
extra="" grade="20" length="300m+" name="The Cullen Route"
new="false" number=""
stars="">Eight pitches. From the rock platform, swim a few metres into the zawn to a corner crack. Solo about 6m to a ledge above the high water mark which was the first belay. This was big enough for the 3 to stand on - sort of. The first pitch is "lengthy" (they all are). It heads up the corner from the ledge for probably 25m until the crack closes off. It is quite tricky being a bit greasy and progressively fingery until blankness descended. At this point make a short tension-traverse to the R across the face of the pillar (probably 2-3m) and around into the next corner/line. Up a bit and belay. The next pitch is a spearing very tight hand crack for 50+ m. The third pitch keep on going and at around the end of the 4th pitch, the ridge line of the Original Route is intersected, about 60m from the top. A couple more pitches lead on to the top. Ben Maddison, Neal Smith and Phil Cullen, January 1981.</climb><climb
extra="" grade="22" length="250m approx" name="Numbered Days"
new="false" number=""
stars="">Follows the dominant middle corner on the monster main face of the Chasm, in seven pitches. Rap down to a big, grassy ledge about 20m L of the central groove (the corners below are fused) about two thirds of the way down. To gain the groove, climb two pitches of loose, vegetated, "guano-splattered" rubble. Climb 20m of unprotectable off-width (crux) to a body-length roof, and use the hand crack to get over it. This is followed by four beautiful hand and finger cracks to the summit , although there may be water seepage and some loose rock to contend with. Gerry Narkowicz, Ben Maddison, January 2000.</climb><text
class="heading2" new="false">Other Climbs</text><text
class="text"
new="false">Two single pitch climbs, both about 40m high, have been put up on a crag to the west of Perdition Ponds. From the campsite, go to the edge of the escarpment and the routes are on the neatest face about 200m further to the west. Abseil to the lines to a ledge - below the climbs is choss.</text><climb
extra="" grade="23" length="40m" name="Winds of Worship"
new="false" number=""
stars="">A neat, thin corner crack, the best one pitch line furthest to the left. G. Narkowicz, B. McMahon, C. Evans and J. Smart, Jan. 2000 
</climb><climb
extra="" grade="22" length="40m" name="Mean Street" new="false"
number=""
stars="">About 30m to the R of above. Climbs a thin hand crack splitting the wall which doglegs to the right a little, then straightens up again, and goes over a small roof at the top. G. Narkowicz, B. McMahon, Jan. 2000.</climb><text
class="text"
new="false"> About halfway along the track between Perdition Ponds and the end of the Cape, the track goes down a fairly big hill, and when it levels out there is a neat cliff below the track. There is a prominent wide corner crack 45m high. Abseil to the line.</text><climb
extra="" grade="20" length="45m" name="Drogheda" new="false"
number=""
stars="">Climb the prominent wide corner crack. B. McMahon, G. Narkowicz, J. Smart and C. Evans. Jan. 2000.
</climb><text
class="heading2" new="false">Cathedral Rock</text><text
class="text"
new="false">Cathedral Rock is an impressive 80m sea-stack just off-shore from Cape Pillar. The first ascent of this spire was the satisfying finale to a concerted effort by a number of CCT members at the time, back in an era where the size of a climber's gonads was much greater than the size of the modern gym climber's forearms.</text><text
class="text"
new="false">Following a number of reconnaissance missions, the actual attempt was timed to be in phase with an exceptionally low tide - this allowed mostly wetness-free access to the base of the Rock via a wave-lapped causeway of boulders. An all-star team of Christie, Cross, Hinchey, Mansfield, Stranger, Terry, Walkden-Brown, and Williams made the first ascent of Cathedral Rock over the final weekend in the summer of 1967. A well planned trip resulted in all 8 members of the party ascending the spire, including the 2 that waited on shore holding the other end of a tether carried by the ascending team in the event of sudden elevated seas preventing retreat.</text><text
class="text"
new="false">The route started in the SE corner of the stack and was graded "HVDiff" back then, which means it could be anywhere from 10 to 14 on the Ewbank scale, or any grade outside of that range. Despite the grand scale of the task at hand, logistical complications, and the ensuing potential for an 'all-night vigil on the pillar waiting for the tide to drop' followed by a 'moonlight dash across the causeway through wave-flung spray', the trip was fairly epic-free:</text><text
class="text"
new="false">bq. "Everything had worked out so well, it could have been an anti-climax had the ascent not been so satisfying in itself." - CCT Circular #12</text><text
class="text"
new="false">The spire saw a number of repeat ascents in the following years, as well as issuing its fair share of retreats. Despite its spectacular and prominent location, the sea stack has been largely ignored since then.</text><climb
extra="" grade="12???" length="80m" name="The CCT Route"
new="false" number="" stars="">Access is easiest at low tide, when a causeway of boulders allows a relatively straightforward approach to the base. Start at the SE corner of the stack and follow your nose to the summit. Descend by abseil.
FA: Christie, Cross, Hinchey, Mansfield, Stranger, Terry, Walkden-Brown, and Williams; 25-26 Feb, 1967</climb></guide>
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