The Horn

The Details: The highest point of Mt. Buffalo is a great option for the hotter days because it catches more wind and the extra elevation (1700m compared to 1300m at the Chalet) helps too. Access: Drive to the end of the road, then wander up for 10mins to join the hordes of tourists at the lookout. Descents: For practically every route you descend before climbing. There are a few options. Descent Option 1 is the best: draw admiring glances as you pull the rope out and rack up, then glory in the oohs and aahs as you casually leap the fence, set your helmet at a rakish angle and smile for the cameras on your way down the abseil. A single 50m rope tied off will get you down for all routes, please use the new DBB (bring brackets) and NOT the fence so that we don't annoy National Parks. There’s only the one bolted anchor, and limited options for a trad anchor (bactrack 15m from the lookout to find an ok anchor over the fence) ... so expect to have your rope used by other climbers if you fix it here. Peroxide Blonde is easy to find, not so much the other routes - first timers, bring your guidebook. The Pintle is a 45m walk L round the bottom of the buttress. Descent Option 2 is to walk down. There's a tricky chimney descent, jump the fence where the track goes under a large angled roof for 10m, with faint steps carved in the rock, and drop steeply down to quickly emerge below Buttocks. This is probably best used only for unencumbered scrambling, or at most if you're racked up, but certainly not with packs. It's also possible to walk from further W. Basically, leave the trail at the last point where you can drop down into some trees. Push through these for 20m then it's 130m of boulder hopping around the bottom. This way you'll end up quite low, below some small lower slabs. There is a groove you can solo up just down and R of Buttocks if you want do a route at the R end, otherwise continue round to below the Pintle, from where you can easily step back R to the base of Big Fun etc. The view of The Horn as you approach, with Peroxide Blonde following the high sharp arete just R of the bleached white patch of rock. Initialled routes are: Hoi Polloi (16), Big Fun (15) and The Pintle (14), with the Pintle L Hand Variant (16) following the superb cracked arete below the bleached white patch of rock. Buttocks 25m 10 (OS) Nice easy ramble up a groove with some footjams to remind you of Angels, then pleasant easy slab L to belay at the base of Hoi Polloi (thread and cam). * Hoi Polloi 20m 16 (YP, RP) Lovely slabby arete. The tricky bit is past the 1st bolt, but it's rather an easy tick for 16. ** They Dance Alone 18m 22 (YP) An absolute ripper of a route, taking the face a few metres R of Big Fun (see the last photo below). Surprisingly steep to get established onto the face, and then superb sustained and thought provoking slabbing moves for the upper half. Mark cranks the massive jugs on They Dance Alone, belayed by some bumbly. Mark almost done crimping on They Dance Alone, with the beautiful alpine plateau stretching off into the distance - the main hill is The Hump and The Cathedral is at far left. ** Big Fun 20m 15 (YP, RP) Great for the grade. Best found by reference to the fact that it finishes up the worn arete to belay directly below Peroxide Blonde. Start off elevated boulders just L of a short wide crack, step up past horizontal (#1.5Fr) to a BR. Step R to big chockstone in wide crack (big or small cam, extend it). Step R under chockstone to sustained ramp past 3 BB to step L to a good rest under the top arete, which goes easily. Visible in the photo of Pintle LHV below. ** Peroxide Blonde 20m 20 (OS) I've given it "only" 2 stars mainly because it has been over-hyped, so it didn't live up to its reputation when I did it. It's also a bit short! I put gear in the Pintle to protect the clip of the 1st bolt, then it's tenuous to the 2nd, which is clipped while standing on polished little dyke edges. The crux is some sustained and slightly runout moves off little nothing holds to gain a good stance at half height. The top half past the final 2 bolts is good fun with better holds and a slightly easier angle, so you can really ham it up for the inevitable groupie tourists who will coagulate at the lookout on top (posing, grunting, chalking up, tech-talk with your belayer etc ;). My fan club had grown to ~20 by the time I topped out, and I even got a round of applause - I just wish I'd passed my helmet around for contributions!! Peroxide Blonde - me nearing the last bolt (© Ben Cirulis) Peroxide Blonde - the view from the base The "bumbly" says "I could do Peroxide Blonde with one hand behind my back" - and promptly did. HB makes the top of Peroxide Blonde look just as easy as the bottom - still one handed. Jackie tries out Address for a Haggis (18), which by all reports ain't too bad. It starts a little further down the "gully" (the second pitch of the Pintle!) from the base of Peroxide Blonde. * The Pintle 70m 14 (OS) Excellent 1st and 3rd pitches with an ordinary looking crux pitch. 1) (** 20m 12) Start up the L of the 2 parallel cracks, past the odd tuft of grass and plenty of good pro and pleasant climbing, constant at grade 12 or so. Belay under the overhang off a fixed thread and gear down in a small flake/crevice. 2) Didn’t do. (Pulls over the offwidth roof then doddles up the gully). 3) (* 25m 13) Another good pitch up the stylish crack at the back of the ramp, up the main face under the lookout. Takes great wires and hexes all the way. Belay off the trad gear - using the fence will piss off National Parks, so don't! The Pintle pitch 1 (12). Pintle Left Hand Variant (16) takes the lovely flake on the arete above The Pintle pitch 3 (12). Peroxide Blonde is the obvious arete on the left. *** The Pintle L Hand Variant 35m 16 (OS) Bloody excellent! An easy choice after you see the offwidth roof move on the original! Step up L to ledge, below the little corner out on the airy arete. Steep and smooth smearing and desperate laybacking to start is protected by a stonker #5 hex. A gutsy reach off rounded laybacks gains a good jam, then gear and off again up the brilliant little corner. Sustained grade 15 climbing leads to the top of the corner and a few microwires, then run it out 15m up the slab to the belay. Either downclimb/rap down right to the 3rd pitch, or go round behind through a desperately tight squeeze chimney. Pintle LHV (16), Ben on the crux. Peroxide Blonde (20) is the obvious arete up high, while Big Fun (15) is on the right with a rope on it, and They Dance Alone (22) is the face just right of Big Fun. Last I thought I'd include this view of The Horn as viewed from Dreamworld: the routes described above are at far left of this shot and beyond. The walk-in to The Horn winds up the flank from further right (out of shot). Apart from the summit areas at top left, I haven't fully worked out this side, not least because there's not many good routes! But I thought I'd put this photo up so you can try to work it out for yourself with guidebook in hand. © 1999-2007 Will