<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <guide> <text class="heading1" new="false" value="Introduction to Tasmanian Climbing" id="1">Introduction to Tasmanian Climbing</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" id="2">Acknowledgment</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="3">Welcome to the Tasmanian climbing guides. These guidebooks are a product of the Tasmanian climbing community. There have been several major contributions to these guides. The genesis of a large number of them was in Craglets, published by Roger Parkyn and Matt Perchard. Roger and Matt deserve a large amount of kudos for their original vision of producing simple, affordable, and updatable guidebooks to areas that nobody had ever got around to. Craglets was first published in 1991, and after six editions eventually became a guide to most of Tasmania. In 2007 Roger and Matt contributed the content of Craglets to be published on thesarvo.com and it now forms the backbone of the compendium Tasmanian Climbing Guide. Some of the other major contributors that deserve special thanks are Al Adams, Andrew Bisset, Mike Fox, Nick Hancock, Dave Humphries, Marcel & Peter Jackson, Tony McKenny, Jon Nermut, Evan Peacock, Phil Robinson, and there are many others. There are many more people who are credited in the individual guides - thanks to one and all. If you think we're missing an acknowledgment, drop us a line and we are more than happy to add them. Basically the position of this guide is that climbing information belongs principally to the climbing community, and that the more freely available it is the better. The most convenient form for distributing information is the web - so all these guide are made freely available on the web. However we also author the guides so that they can be published - as it will be a while before printed guidebooks are replaced for actually taking to the crags (as opposed to armchair browsing). The new print-on-demand technology gives us the best of both worlds - the low cost and updateability of the web, coupled with a nice hard copy format for publishing a hard copy book. These guides are "open source" - eg anybody can get the content off the web. The main condition we impose is that any derivative works credit the original source of the information, and that derivatives are also made available for free on the web. This is a "share and share alike" philosophy.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" value="Overview Map" id="4">Climbing Areas</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="5">The map below shows the major climbing areas in Tasmania. Basically the Tasmanian Climbing Guide is divided into sections based on regions - East, North East, North West, South East and West. This is somewhat arbitrary, but gives a reasonably way to organise the many different crags described. If you were to mention one thing about Tasmanian climbing, it would have to be the diversity. For such a small place there is a very wide selection of climbing experiences on offer. There are six major rock types: granite, dolerite, basalt, quartize, sandstone and conglomerate. As far as the climbing goes, there is everything between short sport routes and boulder problems up to big wilderness adventure climbs. As well as this diversity, everything is packed into a relatively small space - you can get from most areas to any other within a couple of hours driving.</text> <image new="false" noPrint="false" src="tasOverview.png" width="" id="6" height="1147"/> <text class="heading3" new="false" id="7">Travelling to Tasmania</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="8">This climbing guide book is not a travel guide. We recommend the excellent Lonely Planet guide to Tasmania for general travel tips. There is also a decent amount of information online, for instance at http://www.roughguides.com. However we will give a brief summary of what you need to know. There are basically two ways to get to Tasmania. You can fly into Launceston, Burnie or Hobart, and there are direct flights from Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. There are currently five airlines that fly to Tasmania. Here are their web sites: <br/>* http://www.virginblue.com.au <br/>* http://www.qantas.com.au <br/>* http://www.jetstar.com.au <br/>* http://www.tigerairways.com.au <br/>* http://www.rex.com.au</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="9">Alternatively you can take the ferry from Melbourne to Devenport (http://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au), which has the advantage that you can take a car. The passenger fares for the ferry tend to be more than flying, but your car is subsidized and relatively cheap. The ferry runs both day and overnight crossings. Make sure you take something to entertain yourself!</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="10">A lot of people ask if you need a car to climb in Tasmania. The answer is basically yes, unless you want to put up with a lot of grief. Public transport is pretty bad, and its not terribly easy to find people to give you a lift. For the best trip you will want to either bring your own car on the ferry or hire one. http://oodles.com gives a good comparison of the big hire car companies. There are also plenty of cheaper, smaller car hire companies. Best to Google for them, as they change all the time. There are bus services available between the cities: http://www.tasredline.com.au and http://www.tigerline.com.au.</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="11">As far as accommodation goes, there is plenty on offer from free camping up to 5 star resorts. In the cities hostels can be a good option for the traveling climber. Again, Google is your friend. http://wotif.com is a good place to scope hotels.</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="12">As I mentioned, it's not particularly easy to find a climbing partner in Tasmania. There are a few places you might find climbers: <br/>* At the Rockit gym in Hobart; <br/>* In the Cataract Gorge after work on a weeknight; <br/>* At the Whitewater Wall camp ground during busy periods (Christmas/NY and Easter). <br/>Otherwise you can try posting on internet forums at www.thesarvo.com and elsewhere.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" id="13">Weather, Climate and Seasons</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="14">The graphs below summarise the climate in several different areas of Tasmania. There are two factors which dominate the Tasmanian climate - the sea, which keeps the temperature mild year round, and the roaring forties - the constant westerly winds that buffet the west coast of Tasmania.</text> <image new="false" noPrint="false" src="max temp.png" width="" id="15" height="298"/> <image new="false" noPrint="false" src="rainfall.png" width="" id="16" height="300"/> <text class="text" new="false" id="17">From the graphs, a number of things can be pointed out: <br/>* Summer in Tasmania is quite pleasant, with temperatures in the low twenties. <br/>* Winter gets cold, but not freezing. There is snow on the peaks, but you can still climb most weeks at lower crags. <br/>* Hobart and Launceston have pretty similar climates (locals will argue about this). Its a bit warmer in Launceston, and a bit drier in Hobart. <br/>* It's warmer and drier on the East Coast (e.g. Swansea which is near Freycinet) for most of the year. This is because the eastern side of the Island is in a rain shadow from the Roaring Forties. <br/>* The West Coast of Tasmania (e.g. Strathgordon) is very wet (over 2 metres of rain a year) and cold. This pretty much sums up all the alpine areas such as Frenchmans Cap, Federation Peak, and Mt Geryon. January to March is the best time to climb at these areas, but you will still get a fair bit of rain. <br/>* So for visitors, the best time for a climbing trip to Tasmania is between November and April.</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="18">The weather itself is notoriously unpredictable. The only semi-reliable forecasts are from the Bureau of Meterology at http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/tas/ . As a general overview, here are some of the most common weather patterns: <br/><br/>Cold Fronts <br/>This is the most common pattern, the passage of a cold front, which is a breakout of cold air from Antarctica. It starts with NW wind, which is warm, and gives good weather in the east and south, there may be rain in the north. The wind gets stronger as the front approaches from the west. Once the front hits there is rain, the wind swings to the SW, and it gets a lot colder - often 10 degrees or more in a couple of hours, which is bad news in the mountains. After the front there is a day or two of SW stream which may be clear or embedded with unstable cells, which can give good weather in the north and east. Quite often several fronts follow each other in quick succession (especially in winter and spring), which is one of the reasons why Tasmanian weather is so changeable. <br/><br/>High in the Bight <br/>This is large high pressure system stuck off South Australia, to the west of Tasmania. This often occurs for periods up to a week in Jan-Mar. This means fine weather everywhere, and is the best weather for alpine climbing. The pattern is usually finished by the passing of the high over Tasmania, followed by a cold front. <br/><br/>East Coast Low <br/>This is a where a low pressure system sits off the east coast in the Tasman sea, bringing rain and misty easterly weather. This is bad weather for climbing on the east coast and Hobart, but can be good in the west. It can last several days until the low moves east.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" value="Crag Access" id="19">Crag Access</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="20">Many of the cliffs described in these guides are on private land. Since continued access is vital to all climbers it is imperative that good relations be maintained with landowners. Ask permission where practical as this tends to make landowners feel more comfortable about having visitors on their land. Respect the wishes of the landowner at all times and remember: <br/>* gates should be left as you found them and don't park in front of them. <br/>* rubbish must be taken home. <br/>* fires should not be lit at any time as many landowners are extremely concerned about the risk of fire.</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="21">Unfortunately, Tassie seems to be following the trend of law suit-mad America, and land-owners are getting more and more concerned about letting people undertake activities on their land which are perceived as risky. Two examples of this are Lowdina (which has just become accessible again with the owners permission) and Proctors Road Quarry (now only climbable after signing an indemnity form and arranging access).</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="22">Several of the climbing areas are within national parks. Access to parks requires the purchase of a parks pass - see www.parks.tas.gov.au for more details.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" value="Descriptions & Grades" id="23">Descriptions & Grades</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="24">Mostly route descriptions are ordered from left to right as seen when facing the cliff (exceptions are noted). The grades are intended to be consistent with major Australian climbing areas such as Arapiles. Grades are not boosted for extraneous issues such as death potential or "exposure"; on this issue I'll quote John Ewbank:</text> <text class="Discussion" new="false" id="25">... a single number grade doesn't take factors such as loose rock, sustained technical difficulty, length, protection, seriousness etc. into account. My response is, and always was: "That's what words are for". No combination of numbers, letters and symbols will ever convey such information as accurately as words. If pitch 4 has no protection for 20 m, what is the problem with saying, "Pitch 4 has no protection for 20 m"? ... [John Ewbank, CLIMB #6]</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="26">Remember to use your own survival skills though, as many of the routes described here have had very few ascents and consequently the information on them will be somewhat variable. The authors have not climbed every route described and can accept no responsibility for anyone plummeting off climbs and maiming themselves.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" value="Information & Corrections" id="27">Information & Corrections</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="28">Obviously these guides are incomplete. The history of climbing in Tasmania has meant that a lot of significant climbing is unrecorded or lost and more new routes are put up each year. Consequently there is heaps missing from here and much refining to be done. We need your help to make it complete. If you know of climbs/names/route details that we have missed or that are wrong let us know. There are a few climbs for which we did not know the name. These have been given an interim name and are marked with a # symbol to denote this and aid in future updating. The best way to get the editors information is to post it on the forum on www.thesarvo.com, or email it to guides@thesarvo.com.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" id="29">Guidebook Abbreviations and Symbols</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="30">The following abbreviations are used in the guides: Alt - Alternate leads BR - Bolt Runner DBB - Double Bolt Belay FA / FFA - First (Free) ascent FH - Fixed Hanger LH/RH - Left hand/Right hand SLCD - Spring Loaded Camming Device TR - Top-rope ascent Þ - Sport climb # - The name of the climb has been made-up, as FA details are unknown</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="31">Routes are also given a quality rating, based loosely on the following scale: * - route is worthwhile ** - route is very good *** - a must-do classic</text> <image new="false" noPrint="false" src="Cam_Comparison2.png" width="500" id="32" height="409"/> <text class="text" new="false" id="33">Some guides feature tables of GPS locations. For reference, all of the co-ordinates given are UTM grid references in the GDA94 datum. Note that this supersedes the AGD66 datum used on older Tasmaps, including all the original 1:25K and 1:100K maps. Check the legend section of your map to make sure the datum matches your GPS points. To convert a GDA94 grid reference to AGD66, subtract 112 from the easting and 183 from the northing. Hence if you mix up your datums, you will be about 150 metres out. If your GPS doesn't have GDA94, it's close enough for our purposes to WGS84 which is the international standard that GDA94 is based on. There is a page on the website that shows all the GPS co-ordinates for all of the guides to make it easier to load them into your GPS device.</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="34">Occasionally route descriptions refer to particular sized camming devices (SLCDs). The comparison chart has been prepared to assist relating these to the weapons of your choice.</text> <text class="heading3" new="false" value="Survival Skills" id="35">Survival Skills</text> <text class="text" new="false" id="36">A popular myth among rock climbers is that the sport is safe. The myth tends to get reinforced by the gym scene and glossy magazine photos of honed dudes who never wear helmets. Unfortunately it is a myth. Sure climbing is safe: if you've got your skills together, if your equipment is sound, if that flake holding your runner in place doesn't pop, if your partner doesn't drop a rock on your head, if that bolt you're dogging off holds, if you're not over-committed on a route with shonky gear, if your belayer is attentive etc etc. A lot of "ifs"! If, at any one time, any of these "ifs" (or a host of others) go the wrong way you'll end up as a gurgling bloody mess at the bottom of some cliff. It takes a pathetically small ground fall to render a person permanently disabled. You won't be feeling very cocky or gung-ho while lying in hospital after being told you'll never walk again. I'm not about to list all the do's and don'ts of rock-climbing (there are plenty of books that do a good job of that already). What I would like to stress however is that it's your own personal responsibility to acquire the necessary survival skills. These are the skills to deal with the myriad potentialities that the cliff environment can deliver. Acquiring these skills will take some time and effort for new climbers (and even "experienced" climbers keep learning). You can't learn it all in a weekend climbing course, you certainly can't learn it all from a book and you'll be lucky to learn any of it at a climbing gym. Use all the sources available and especially other experienced climbers to develop your own safety consciousness. In the meantime apply caution where any doubt exists (in addition I recommend wearing a helmet; even if people in the magazine glossies don't!). Acceptance of risk by the climber also applies to fixed equipment. If you are using any it is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with each particular method and its potential shortfalls. Basically all fixed equipment has been placed by budget conscious individuals (with no financial assistance) with limited equipment and is placed in what are usually arduous awkward situations. Despite "experience" an element of risk remains in any climbing activity. I would like all climbers, and particularly the newer ones, to clearly understand that when you go climbing you are accepting this risk. Although a lot of effort has gone into the production of this guide many of the routes have had few ascents and little or no verification of the quality of the information. You have to use your own nous and caution to assess each situation for yourself. In legal terms there is no "duty of care" between any of the many people involved in the production of this guide book and you the reader. If you hurt yourself, don't come whinging to us. Accidents do happen and tragically the first climbing fatality in Tasmania occurred early in 2006 when an abseil setup failed on Mt Wellington. To seek urgent help phone 112 or 000 - mobile phones have good coverage at the majority of crags. It is vital that you describe how to access the cliff, so that rescuers can quickly move to the area.</text>z </guide> |