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i received this wild story from tony a few weeks ago, thought i would share! hope you enjoy as much as i did!

"it ain’t about high grades, just two old farts having fun..." - Tony

Email from Italy

From: Tony and TomSent: Tue 6/09/2010 09.30am
To: Old Codgers Climbing Group
Subject: Just another day on the crag…..

Hi All,

Now in Scotland, having a lovely time, wish you were here. The Dolomites are sensational, more rock than you can poke a stick at... and accessible too, apart from the queues on the popular routes. But they can still bite your bum as we found out, nearly to our cost.

You know accidents can be made up of small incidents - like the gaming machine, 3 lemons means you have hit the jackpot and are in deep shite.....


Lemon 1. Late start, lovely hot day, long-ish walk up to the Mariakante pinnacle . The climb wasn’t supposed to be too hard but at 3000m, the air is a bit thin and everything takes more effort. Tom had selected the climb with his usual cunning, neat climbing finishing at the téléphérique for a beer and a quick ride home, as befitted a pair of pensioners.

Too hot really but there was only a young Italian couple just in front of us so we relaxed in the sun. Didn’t realise they were a lemon. Actually, they were a bit of a number, young, beautiful, all colour coordinated, red helmets, red jackets, even red socks and a red rope – lovely - and with helmet microphones too.

By pitch 5 though, a long committing traverse, they were clearly going way too slow, lots of “tight rope” or the Italian equivalent and histrionics from the girl when it got too hard.

Tom was getting twitchy... “They are too frigging slow, the cloud is building, get past them before we get frigging benighted”.


Lemon 2.   Suddenly, on pitch 6, gale force winds hit, tearing through the notch connecting us to the next part of the climb. So strong it started to blow large rocks down on us, triggering continuous stone fall down the gully and across the next traverse. Hmm - how to climb very, very fast....
The Italian couple were caught in all this and desperately climbed up to shelter where they could while we went up to the left, away from the danger. They hunkered down and we took the lead, as you do. A Russian roulette traverse through the stones, past a couple of bomber threads, then an exposed belay right out on the arête.


Lemon 3. The rain/hail arrived, to add to the wind and thick cloud. Communications now difficult, waterfalls to dodge as well as rocks... sigh.
Helmet microphones shorted out apparently, given the amount of shouting behind us in the storm.
Met up with 3 young Germans at the top of pitch 8, soaked and going hypo as no waterproofs. Racing now for the last easier pitches to the top, up a chimney, with minimal pro and wet rock. Lovely, so Tasmanian....


Lemon 4. Did I say 3 lemons? A sudden scream below us tearing though the wind at top of pitch 9. Shite.

A quick reverse to find the big German lad had pulled an absolutely massive block onto his arm, jamming it in the crack, him swinging off it. So in the rain, gale, etc etc we tugged and shoved and pulled and somehow, eventually, prised the rock off enough to wriggle his arm out and he fell out onto the rope to moan quietly to himself. A minor miracle, the arm wasn’t broken, probably because of the size of his fleshy bicep but the crush injury was nasty.

We retreated upwards in chaotic confusion..... the cable car passed literally just a few metres above us, the guard gesticulating out the window the last car down would leave in “ fünf minuten” so we are desperate to get on it. 5 mins left for last 2 scrambly pitches.

Lemons all over the place now..... Germans hypothermic, quivering in the wind and stumbling, us not much better but at least still functioning as a team, miles of rope in a snarl of wet knitting, sleet, hail, loose rock and roaring wind, the injured lad shaking with shock but climbing surprisingly strongly with the help of a tight rope and an occasional push but still moaning quietly to himself.

Tom shot off up to the station, climbing over the safety barriers to “persuade” the cable car guard to wait: just standing in the door and growling quietly but menacingly at him proved to be sufficient.

Two mins later, suddenly, game over...

Quiet, warm, dry, safe, and we are winging down to the pass in the last cabin of the day. High fives and hugs from the relieved Germans as they left to get the lad to hospital. Back at camp, lots of wine and food and hot showers. Life is sweet.

Got away with it – again...... .

Tony 

PS And the young Italian couple? No idea, they were still below us somewhere in the storm....

PPS BTW, the sudden change in the weather was apparently due to a sudden “turbulent instability” over the Atlantic. Hmmm.... snowed all the next day. Don’t you love Alpine climbing?

PPPS Helmets with vents let in rain

Hi Guys,

While the Organ Pipes guidebook has a 'selected best' or similar list of the best routes at each grade, the Freycinet guide currently doesn't have this.
I think this is a great page of info for visiting climbers (and locals) and could be a worthwhile addition to the Freycinet guide, as there are many routes with stars up there.

What are peoples' thoughts on this? Is it too much hassle?

Alex

Video of mark polinski at oatlands in the rumble cave, shot by andrew geeves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaV_V24r0cc

Are you concerned about the state of tracks to climbs? What to do about it? If you want to have input, log into the CCT Members Area, click on the link to Maintenance and Environmental Work and add a comment.

Some of you may have seen it already, but I reckon this little video probably captures better than any other I've seen what's best about trad climbing.

Anyone got any others to look at while we're waiting for the mountain to come back into condition?

Hi Folks,

Tasmanian Polytechnic and the TCIA are running a series of short two day work shops aimed at increasing the skills and knowledge of recreational climbers. 

ROCK RESCUE

A 2-day workshop for recreational rockclimbers, climbing guides/instructors, and outdoor educators. Through demonstration and practice of a structured rescue system, the workshop will give climbers the knowledge and skills to competently respond to most incidents/accidents likely to occur on the cliff.

Topics covered will include:

 Climbing equipment – care, inspection and retirement

 Simple pre-climbing and pre-abseiling safety checks

 Specialist rescue knots – mariner, mule, garda and prussic variants

 Improvised harnesses, belay and descending devices/methods

 Mechanical advantage raising systems – 2:1, 3:1, and 5:1

 Use of specialist equipment – ATC Guide, Grigri, Tibloc, Mini Traxion, etc.

 Fixed anchor assessment

 Escaping the belay

 Diagonal raises past anchors

 Lowering and abseiling past knots

 Re-ascent of jammed abseil ropes

 Anchor equalisation and cordalette usage

 Rescue victims from the sea

 Lead climber rescue if lowering not possible

 Self-belaying techniques

 Improvised evacuation techniques

WHEN

Course 1: Sat. 24th and Sun. 25th September, 2011

Course 2: Sat. 10th and Sun. 11th December, 2011

Enrolments close two weeks prior to course commencement.

WHERE

White Water Wall, Freycinet National Park Trainers: Multi-pitch Climbing Guides from the Tasmanian Climbing Instructors Assoc. (TCIA)

Prerequisites

Lead climbing experience with a good knowledge of rope work, natural protection, knots, basic rescue techniques, and traditional climbing principles.

Certification: Participants who successfully complete the workshop and demonstrate competence will attain a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment and a Certificate of Attendance. Participants will have an opportunity to attain the following nationally recognised units of competency from the Certificate III in Outdoor Recreation:

SROODR002A Plan outdoor recreation activities

SROVTR001A Perform vertical rescues

Accommodation, meals and transport

Camping at White Water Wall campsite. Participants are responsible for bringing their own food, water, camping equipment and transport.

What to bring

Notepad, pen/pencil, warm and waterproof clothes, tent and camping equipment, food and water, harness, helmet, rock shoes, 2 x 60cm prussic loops and basic lead climbing equipment.

Fees and enrolment

Full fee: $299.00 Concession fee: $183.00

If you are receiving Centrelink allowances such as Newstart, Youth Allowance, a pension, Austudy or Abstudy, or you have dependents receiving these allowances then you may be eligible for a concession. To claim a concession simply produce Centrelink evidence relevant to your benefit/allowance at the time of enrolment.

For enquiries and enrolment please contact:

Tour Guiding & Outdoor Recreation Tasmanian Polytechnic, Drysdale South Campus GPO Box 2015, Hobart, TAS 7001

Tel. (03) 6233 8720

Email tourguiding@polytechnic.tas.edu.au

The Tasmanian Polytechnic reserves the right to cancel the workshop if there are insufficient enrolments

Hi all,

I am just wondering if there are any indoor climbing or bouldering walls in Launceston that are open to the general public.  I have heard that LC and UTAS have walls but my understanding is that they are not public walls per say.  If anyone can help me out then that would be great.  Cheers.

The Boneyard Face at Fingal is Tassie's answer to Taipan Wall. 8 routes completed so far including 24, 26, 28, 25, 28, 28, 29, 28 plus another 11 projects up to potential grade 32, all on a 60m wide section of cliff about 120m off the deck. Main activists are Ingvar Lidman, Gerry Narkowicz, Garry Phillips, Andrew Martin and Doug Fife. Team Fingal has decided that no new route descriptions or topos will be released until November. The area is still very much under development, but the main reason is the falcon nesting season. The entire cliff, including Sapphire Rose, Macdonagh, Supernaut Face and Boneyard Face are off limits until the end of October. There may be a partial re-opening of the cliff in November depending on where falcons are nesting.

See link below to article by Nick Mooney, a wildlife biologist giving specific advice to climbers regarding peregrines and wedgetail eagles at Tasmanian crags.

http://climbnortherntasmania.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/raptor-info-and-advice-to-climbers.doc

Just to let everyone know that climbing at Fingal is on halt as the falcons are nesting . 

 It was pretty cool to watch one hobble along the ledge and peck at my haul bag in order to check its old nest site.

Anyway it won't be to long before they are finished, hopefully by the end of November

Garry

Hi every one

Im trying to get a hold off quite a few climbing shoes to donate to the schools for when they go climbing out side etc.

The main problem being is that its hard for students to climb on rock with such big shoes.

Any sizes welcome.

thanks Garry

May be a good drop off point could be Macpac in hobart

Back from our mainland trip. Di's doing a tidy-up and tried it on for me to get rid of some of the old climbing mags that are hanging about the place. So, randomly, the first thing I pulled off the shelf was Peaks 3. Flipping through I was delighted by the wealth of "stuff" that's in the magazine. For those more recent to the scene (this edition was published in 1980  ) and who aren't aware, this mag was published here in Tasmania. Didn't last very long, but was very rich and dense in content, so much more than we get with Rock. Great value for a yearly subscription of $12. Unfortunately, not enough people saw its true worth, and it very quickly faded from view, probably because of the predominance of Tasmanian contributions and the mixture of content - poems for example! (What was Bob thinking: we occasionally get this sort of stuff in Alpinist, but mainstream mags like Climbing are too afraid to touch such esoteric material.)

A few short extracts to give a glimpse into what was going on at the time:

Sphinx Rock by Phil Bigg

"Until recently this little crag had only three recorded climbs ... after a little remodelling the number has tripled ... Sphinx Rock still holds several more potential routes which will only be a matter of time before their secrets are unlocked". (Boy, was he right about that!)

Hazards Traverse Update - An Adventure For Everyman by Tony McKenny

"And what a route! Curtains of red granite sweeping up out of the sea, sliced and sculptured by storm waves into massive crescent overhangs and sharp corners, stretching as far as the eye could see. Magnificent scenery, truly awe inspiring - if a little unnerving in the unnatural quiet. The bushfires of last summer had swept right down to sea level leaving no trees, only the black twisted branches of bull-oak, with not a bird to be seen or heard". (What lyricism, Tony! We'd like to see more of this!)

Mt Field (poem) by David Bowman

"Below him lies the valley/ The distant green carpet is rent/ It is transfixed by the cold steel lance of economics/ The terror of normality/ The forest is haggard/ It dies the death of development" (Still timely, don't you think?)

There was a great article on developments at Fingal, news posts from other states, an article about climbing in Poland, an article from Nick Mooney about peregrine falcons with photos, New Zealand, the Alps and so on.

What I am thinking is that it would be great if we could see a bit more of the richness of our shared climbing experience in thesarvo. Some more write-ups of the excellent adventures that people are having. A gritty little poem or two. People posting photos in blogs too - here, in thesarvo rather than elsewhere  - to whet our appetites. Here, in a communal site for all of us to own and enjoy.

Ian Ferrier's post on his recent trip to Cradle was great to see, especially with the subsequent photos added. More please!

BTW, Di's attempt to get me to toss out all the old mags has been retracted once I shared with her some of these snippets. 

Hi Guys

Just back from a trip to the mainland and have finally realised that I just can't fit into a pair of shoes that I bought - optimistically - quite a while back. I've tried to make them fit, but they just won't, at least not at the comfort level that I'd prefer. They've only been used a half dozen to a dozen times at the absolute most. A few times in the now-defunct Climbing Edge, a couple of times at Freuhauf and Waterworks and only a couple of short routes at Arapiles are the only instances that I can think of where they've been laced on. Just a little bit tight and 

They are sized at Euro 42. As a guide, I have been wearing size 41 La Sportiva Miuras, which are just about right. Here's a link to these particular shoes at Evolv's website: http://www.evolvesports.com/PONTAS-LACE.htm

They are in excellent - and very clean! - condition. I think that $75 is a very fair price, but will consider something lower if they don't move quickly as they are of no use to me. I'll have them at the Stanley Burbury Theatre on Thursday if I've still got them by then.

Call me on 0407 310 287 if you're interested.

Here's a couple of photos to whet your appetite:

So with summer fast approaching its time to cast your mind forward to all those classic new rock climbs your going to put up. i have for sale my battery drill for your new-routing/rebolting pleasure.

its a 24v Ramset DD524 Hammer Drill (the real deal!)
it comes with two 2.4Ah ni-cad battery packs in good condition, you'll get about 16 holes in dolerite per battery
am thinking $250 ono is a fair price

more than happy to give a bolting lesson to the buyer if your not sure you have the skills but wish to learn!!

dont hesitate to call me for a chat about it!

simon young
0407 356 556