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Hi Guys,

I will be down in Tassie for a few weeks of work near the end of Novemeber and am super keen to sample some tassie rock delights. In particular, would love to check out the Paradiso, Star Factory, or anything fun really.

Ill be working during the week but will have a few days free, namely...

Saturday 24th November

Saturday-Monday 1-3rd December

I may also be around for some local evening bouldering or route sessions around hobart/launceston if anyone is keen.

I will have a car and my gear, just need a friend. My belaying record is impeccable. In addition to never dropping anyone, people tend to send their projects when I am holding the rope :)

Hope to hear from someone. Anyone. :)

Thanks,

Philby

0413737076

Anyone know a source for kids climbing shoes, perhaps a second hand pair, or a recommendation for a Australian mail order company or store that sells a good line of climbing gear?

Last time I checked the local shops didn't appear to stock kids sizes...

cheers

From Apple's new maps in iOS 6. Has better imagery of the mountain than Google. Its good how you can pick out routes from space.

DBB at the top of pitch1 Nefertiti (trad.1st climbed 1968). What on earth for? Dragging up college students on outdoor education classes?

Are all trad. routes going to be hit by steel?

Hey y'all

my partner lost a silver ring at water works probably around three weeks ago (only realised now when checked harness). Likely happened at the far right end of the crag. Bsically it's made of silver with a tree like engraving through the middle, and it's round. Any clues please let me know 0425 743 797. Will reward with beverage of choice or personalised sonnet/ rap song.

cheers

Sam 

Hello Climbers from Tasmania,

I am Swiss/Australian coming for four  weeks to OZ mid feb to mid March. Would love to climb in Tassy.

I am climbing grade 19 to 21

my e-mail is retoredeagle(at)hotmail.com

anyone up for it?

Interested in a sea change? If you're interested in this job prospect contact Dave Payne (07) 5593 6919. Cheers, Al Adams

To give some background on the company (Paramount Adventure Centers), we have been operating an indoor climbing center since 1994. Since then we have developed the company into an adventure business running a large learn to surf & stand up paddle board School, Kayaking, bushwalking and outdoor climbing and abseiling tours and programs. We run school adventure camps, corporate and tourism groups as well as being open to the public every day.

We are a Registered Training Organization that delivers nationally accredited courses in the outdoor recreation including skill sets, certificate 3 and 4 in outdoor recreation.
What we are looking for is a person that is passionate about climbing and adventure activities. The focus would be in climbing and delivering climbing courses and tours for clients both in our climbing center and outdoors. We would also want them to assist in delivering climbing training to new guides through our RTO. This would require them to teach vertical rescue and anchor courses as well as developing them in guiding skills.

There are specific qualifications required to teach through the RTO which is the TAE40110 Certificate IV in training and assessment. We can assist with this training through other partnerships that we have with RTOs we are in partnership with. This is a real brief description on what we are looking for. If you are interested or know people who might be it would be great to have a chat with them. Dave Payne, Director.

On August 5, 2012, a fatal accident occurred on a Via Ferrata in the vicinity of Walchsee in Tirol. The climber fell several meters and both lanyards severed — a failure mode that had never before been observed. Such an accident seemed not be possible with correct use, in the absence of previous damage to the EAS, and without contact with sharp edges. The manufacturers Austrialpin, Edelrid, Edelweiss, and Singing Rock have issued recalls for affected EAS.

 For more info see;

http://www.alpenverein.at/portal_wAssets/docs/news/klettersteigsets_via-ferrata_recalls_english-version.pdf

Trip Report (of sorts) Dolomites September 2012 - Tony McKenny

Tom and I  got our butts kicked on the Mariakante a couple of years ago when a sudden storm blew in from the Atlantic so this time we poked Les and Pete up it and toddled off round the corner to another reputed “classic”.  Les fell off the second pitch and went to the pub but that was alright as we were already long gone by then.

South Face Route - Pordoi

So we went to the South Face Route. Judging by his description, the guide book author had never been near it but eventually we found the start. Following the trail of tat and manoeuvring up past the loose blocks, the “death on a stick” traverse led us over the steeply sloping shards of razor-sharp rock to a belay out on the wall.  Retreat was probably not going to be much of an option but then the sun shone and we had some food and the long corner was sensational up to a chimney.

 
Pitch 8-9 Corner Crack

There we prevaricated.  It said “through a hole” but there wasn’t one, just that horrible dark, dirty chimney, and neither of us wanted to go that way, so we argued a bit. But eventually I gave in - the alternatives were even worse, if that was possible - and we pushed the sacks through in front of us till we tumbled out onto a steep, juggy wall that revived our spirits.

Tom on juggy wall, 1^st chimney behind-- Pitch 10

A long corner followed, steep, open and airy but then, darn it, another chimney. Again, “through the hole and pop out” the oracle said but as soon as you got inside, you blocked off the light and it was stygian gloom and Tom was too wide to get through.  After some more animated discussion, a lot of disgracefully bad language about Guide Book editors et al, and some faint hearted excursions out on to the loose walls nearby, we resigned ourselves to the inevitable. Into the bowels of the earth.

Speleology 500m up on a big face, headlamp on in the dark – But soft! What light through yonder chimney breaks? (Sorry, Will). And there it was, a tiny hole, maybe 20m above. Sack off, helmet jamming, I indeed “popped out” onto the plateau, like a meerkat blinking in the evening sunlight.  A rock from the edge skittered down, missing Tom but leaving behind on the ledge a small, weathered, lens case that had been hidden under it.

Tom exiting the “hole” – Pitch 12

And there, bizarrely,  just metres away, was the telepherique station.  Tom squirmed and fought, and the oaths from underground were personal and colourful but eventually he morphed thin somehow and squeezed out as the attendant urgently gesticulated to us to move our arses if we wanted a ride home in the last cabin.

Back in the pub with a slightly bruised and battered Les and “grosse bieres”, we opened the old lens case and for a moment stopped being our usual raucous and macho selves, unusually thoughtful really.

 For there inside was the oddest thing.  Carefully folded was a beautifully written votive offering, a climber’s letter to his “Seigneur”, asking for his sweetheart Sylvie back, a poignant plea from a sad man to his god to salve his broken heart.

Moving the note weighed on our minds over the next couple of weeks, although of course being blokes we didn’t talk about it, and eventually we hiked it up the Alvera Route on the Col de Bois and left it in its case under a large rock on the summit.

Hope you came good, “Seigneur”.

PS.  The rest of the trip though was a hoot, heaps of long, classic climbs and via ferratas, great weather and good company. There is enough rock there for several lifetimes.

This item appeared on ABC news on Sunday night. Climbing is going to help solve Tassie's economic woes and there is a push to market Launceston as the climbing capital of Australia. Bit of a joke, but thats the spin the journalist put on it. See the TV clip below.

http://climbnortherntasmania.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/ageing-rock-stars-on-tv-promote-the-gorge/

Just over a week ago, I was lucky enough to climb The Grand Wall at Squamish. And now it's Grand Final Day, and Huey is chucking it down in Hobart. Here's what we've got just about right on midday:

It's probably like this all over the state, so I thought you might like a bit of a diversion.
First though, a bit of back story. When Di and I were at City of Rocks in southern Idaho we met a couple from Bozeman. HJ and Tammy were there with a large group of friends: kids, dogs - the whole shebang. Over the course of our stay, and through running into each other at various crags, we got pretty friendly with this mob, especially HJ and Tammy. As you do, we got talking about various climbing venues, including Squamish. HJ had been to Squamish and done lots of climbing there, although not for quite a while. He'd done The Grand Wall (a route that I'd aspired to for a long time, but thought I'd missed my chance) twice before. When I said that I really wish I'd done it, HJ said that he and Tammy were thinking about a trip out to Squamish about the time Di and I would be there, and offered to climb The Grand Wall with me, leading the harder pitches. 'Brilliant!', I thought, but maybe too good to come true? Well, sure enough, HJ and Tammy did come to Squamish and we had a great couple of weeks with them. Now, here's the report. I've copied and pasted from my blog, so please excuse any repetition (and apologies in advance for photos taken at ground level - Di wasn't using a very powerful lens).

The Grand Wall: a dream comes true!

HJ had asked a couple of days before, "When do you want to do The Grand Wall?" My answer had been along the lines of "In a few more days when I'm feeling rested." Well that time had arrived. And ... considering that way back when we were at the City of Rocks together, I'd told HJ how it had always been a dream of mine to climb The Grand Wall ... and he'd offered to lead the harder pitches for me ... and he'd come all this way ... well, I thought it was about time that I accepted the challenge. I was pretty sure that I could climb all or most of the route, but that there were a couple of places that I might fall and have to try again. I was nervous but really, really wanted to try this climb that had been on my mind for so long.

We'd had a day climbing on The Apron and were planning a rest the next day after three days on. Di and I finished our route early, went into town and had a late lunch an then got back to The Chief to wait for Tammy and HJ. Eventually, HJ and Tammy arrived back.  I had sort of lost track of days by this stage, but suddenly realised that the next day was still only Friday, and that it would be silly to rest then and climb again on Saturday when it was likely to be more crowded. A germ of an idea started to grow in my brain ...after a bit of small talk, I asked HJ if he wanted to get on The Grand Wall the next day. "What time do you want to start?" was his reply.

To cut to the chase: after a restless night - for me, probably not for HJ - we found ourselves at the base of The Chief at 9:00 a.m. We'd decided to climb the route via theApron Strings and Merci Me before heading right towards the  right side of the Split Pillar. Pitch ratings for the entire route to Bellygood Ledge, which is where the route officially ends (although you can continue to the top of The Chief via the Roman Chimneys, another 4 pitches of climbing at 11a or 11d - depending on which route choice you make) was as far as we were going are: 10b, 10a, 5.7, 5.9, 10b/AO, 10b, 11a, AO(bolt ladder), 11a, 10a, 10c. A very full day out for me, and a pretty good workout for HJ. Our combined ages are 110 years, and I'd bet there aren't many older teams who tackle this route each year.

If you are unfamiliar with the hype surrounding the Grand Wall, here is the overview from Marc Bourdon's 2012 guide book:

When we arrived at the base of The Chief another party had just started up the route. Johnny and Shona were mere youngsters at 31 and 41 years of age, respectively. Once it became apparent - quite soon, actually - that we were climbing more quickly than them they offered to let us pass. We conferred and decided to do that at the base of the Split Pillar, as the belays between the Apron Strings and that station aren't very spacious. As it turned out, we were the only two parties to climb the Grand Wall that day, which was a bit of a surprise given the brilliant weather conditions.

Anyway, back to the route itself. Here's a topo of Apron Strings (route #14) which gets a "Top 100" rating in its own right ...

We tied in and, once Shona had arrived at Johnny's belay at the top of the first pitch, HJ set off. Unfortunately, our day didn't get off to the best of starts. Neither HJ nor I are prone to dropping gear, but HJ dropped his carabiner full of wires just near the top of pitch one. Luckily it was a great pass, hitting me right on the chest (one rib is still a little sore!). 
On the next pitch, I dropped a cam. Sadly it didn't hit HJ on the chest, disappearing below somewhere. Thankfully, that was the end of our fumblings and the rest of the climb went smoothly.
Apart from waiting for Johnny and Shona, we made short work of the next three pitches which look like this:

If you looked closely, you will have noticed that there is not a lot of protection on the 5.7 pitch - only three bolts in the 35 metres before you arrive at the belay. HJ was cruising along so fast he almost missed the third bolt! Here's a photo that he took of me nearing the end of the pitch ...

... and another at the top of the fourth pitch (if you look at the full-sized image, you should be able to just see Shona at my left (your right), the rope leading across pitch 5 to the belay at the bottom of the Split Pillar, and Johnny at the belay):

Once HJ had led across to the base of the Split Pillar, and we'd swapped positions with Shona and Johnny I rolled up my sleeves (literally: the top I was wearing has very long sleeves!) and got to work. I was really looking forward to getting back on this pitch again. It's an absolutely stunning 40 metres of climbing. As you can see, the guide says "Pumpy for the grade." Not unlike a lot of the great classic pitches at around the 18 - 20 range on Ben Lomond in Tasmania. Here's the beta:

HJ didn't get a photo of this pitch, but here's one from when Di and I did it in 2000:

How about that, eh!

Next it was on to new ground (for me), and time for HJ to shine. He'd climbed The Grand Wall twice before, via the Cruel Shoes start, and was licking his lips to get back on the Sword pitch. Here's the description and topo of it, with the Bolt Ladder that lies above:

HJ really came into his own at this stage. He led The Sword - the first of two 11a pitches - cleanly and coolly. Here's a sequence of photos he took of me following:
Near the start ...

... above the first crux ...

... and nearing the top, just before pulling back across into the second crux, which involves a strenuous layback sequence up to HJ's stance:

I got through the first crux and within two metres of the belay but had a little slip there at the second crux. Darn! A short rest and I pulled back on and made it to the anchors. Whew! The first test was behind us. 

Back at ground level, Di took this photo of us at the belay at the top of the Sword. I've marked in the two cruxes on the pitch:

We are about 210 metres above the ground at this stage ...

I wondered fleetingly about leading the Bolt Ladder to maintain our sequence of alternating leads, but having had no aid experience I quickly banished that thought! Once we'd rearranged the ropes, HJ set off. Most people go this way, but a very select group of strong climbers do a free variation to the right (visible in the topo of the Sword and Bolt Ladder). Here HJ is just reaching the top of the Bolt Ladder pitch:

He took this snap of me following:

(You can clearly see the dyke of Merci Me behind my left shoulder.)
On to Perry's Layback, and HJ came through with all aces. Here's the topo and description from the guide book ...

... and a picture of him about two-thirds of the way up the pitch ...

... and another employing the "innovative chimney rest"!:

It was a bit tenuous towards the end, but he managed to get through this very strenuous pitch without falling. You champion, HJ! I wish I could say the same! Just to make sure she got an accurate depiction of our ascent, Di took this photo of me hanging on the rope after one of my slip-ups (It probably won't wash, but my excuse is that I was carrying the pack with all of our gear) ...

... but she did take a photo of me actually climbing this strenuous pitch. Judging from the way I am standing I'm probably just about ready to slip off again:

I did manage eventually to do all the moves, and arrived at the belay all a-tremble. A rest was in order.
Now we had only had two pitches to go. It was my lead. Just a 5.9 traverse with a 10a "reach" move at the end. But was I tired. Here's what the pitch is about:

Like I said, I was tired. Nevertheless, I set out and staggered across "The Flats" to the end of the pitch and the 10a "reach".
Here's  a photo of me about halfway through the pitch:

And then I arrived at the last real move of the pitch, the "reachy crux". Yep,  "reachy" all right. A reach too far. Bugger!!! I just could not reach, and had to aid this move. Annoying, but c'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?
One pitch to go: a strenuous 10 undercling to a layback:

Even HJ was tired by this stage, but with some cunning footwork he managed to get to the top without falling. Here he is just completing the pitch:

 Taking HJ's lead - and watching his every move closely - I managed to follow this last, strenuous pitch without falling off. Hallelujah!!   It was a high five moment but we couldn't toast our success as we'd drunk all our water. Here we are at the top of our route:

Yes, I know. HJ looks cheerful and fresh as a daisy,  and I look dopey and whacked. Don't be fooled: HJ was pretty tired too, and I was over the moon!
After a brief rest we toddled off across Bellygood Ledge, which is a real hoot. It's a narrow walkway about 100 metres long with tremendous exposure, being some 400 metres or so above the ground below. Some people squirm across it on their bellies, and for a moment I feared that I might have to do the same. Then I realised that there was a great undercling at about knee level that made the traverse easy. HJ, in his graceful and poised way didn't bother with the undercling.

We made quick work of the walk back down the trail and were soon with back our darlings below, who - surprisingly - didn't have the beers open when we arrived!

Say what???????? 

Waterval Boven, News from Kim and Claire in South Africa. 

 In the north of the country at Waterval Boven is a spectacular 75m waterfall with ~600 climbs, mostly sports routes. There was a major climbing comp. there last w/e., the Boven Roc Rally 2012 attracting ~100 teams. Kim and Claire entered the Hard Route event(three most difficult climbs) instead of the more popular ‘endurance handicap comp.’ (as many routes as possible in 8 hours, handicapped by how well one had climbed in the previous 12 months). They did very well, Claire winning the women's and Kim coming 3^rd in the men’s. Earlier in their trip they also entered the Kleinmond Roc Rally, an hour out of Cape Town, coming 1^st/2^nd in the open event as “Team Tassie”. More than anything these events were a great opportunity to meet lots of people and join in the party.    Phil

Article in today's Merc: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/09/27/362708_travel.html

Am only recent to Tassie, living in Devonport.

I am looking for climbers in the north-west.

Prefer trad, leading to 19/20 on a good day at Arapiles.

A bit harder on bolts.

Have plenty of gear and enthusiasm.

Best contact is by text on 0438 127 166

Steve

Hey guys

Here is ICP’s latest product, the micro. It’s an awesome little fingerboard which can be easily installed above your doorway architraves. Created to spice up your in-house climbing and keep your finger strength strong when stuck inside.

It’s pretty gnarly!

200 grams

51cm (L) x 2cm (H) x 1.5cm (W)

2 x open crimps

2 x closed crimps

2 x Split two finger pockets (can be used as one finger if you are tough enough)

1 x One pad sloper

3 Screw holes (screws and instructions come with board)

RRP $39.00 AUD (free shipping)

For purchases or more information - Sales@icptraining.com.au http://www.facebook.com/indoorclimbingproductions

Also available at

http://www.pinnaclesports.com.au/

http://www.k2.com.au/Active/basecamp.html

http://www.urbanclimb.com.au/

http://www.upskillclimbing.com/

Regards

Indoor Climbing Productions