Watchtower Area

The Word: Beaut big slabs - Arapiles' best.
The Crag Classics: Arachnus (10), Brolga (16), Skink (18)
The Hidden Gem: Walking down instead of rapping - it only takes 10mins whereas the rap can take forever depending on queues.
Sun/shade: Sun until 4-5pm. In summer you'll get 3-4 hours of shady climbing time in the evening - but don't get benighted!
Wet weather options: None on the slabs, but Kitten Wall and Tjuringa Wall are steeper and may offer one or two options.
Style & Length of Climbs: 70-100m slabs, low angled juggy beginners classics, and some shorter vertical/overhung walls.
Available Grades; Best Grades: 3-31; 3-28

The Watchtower Faces Area
Araps R

Described L to R.

The Pinnacle Face

The Details: The home of long easy climbs. Tiptoe Ridge easily gets the most traffic, however there are several other long easy routes in the area which look just as good.

Access: 5min walk up from the Watchtowers carpark, or a 12-15min walk from the Pines.
Descent(s): Solo off up and R, then exit down the Pharos Gully.
*** Tiptoe Ridge 130m 3 (OS, alt)
Well worth the effort, even if it is 20 grades lower than what you really want to climb! Plenty of gear, spacious ledges, and a fair share of exposure mean that it's quite fun. I romped up this in bang on an hour, so it won't deprive you of too much climbing time! Start from large elevated ledge around L of the buttress. 1) (* 30m 3) Step R from ledge, trend R around onto front of buttress and up, belay where convenient. 2) (** 40m 3) Up front of buttress all the way to the top of the pinnacle. 3) (** 45m 3) Move belay down behind pinnacle. From L end of ledge, head generally straight up wall, although you’ll trend L around bulge/overhang at about 8m. 4) (15m 3) Trend R around overlap then pleasantly back L and up to belay. The last 2 pitches can be combined if you've got a 60m, making a really good final pitch.

Pinnacle Face - a pretty obvious name from this angle! A climber can be seen at the second belay of Tiptoe Ridge (3), on the back of the pinnacle, showing how big a buttress it is. Mitre Rock is down right.
The Pinnacle Face, Mt Arapiles

The Watchtower Faces

The Details: Another fantastic area. Long, well protected classics, with a good range of grades. They tend to be a suntrap, which is great in winter! e.g. I did Hot Flap entirely in a t-shirt in July! They can be atrocious on a hot summers day, but if you're quick, they get shade from about 5pm in summer, leaving 4 hours of daylight to get up.

Access: 5-10min walk up from the carpark. Or a 15min walk from the Pines.

Descent(s): There is a rap route between Skink and Brolga (45m, 45m), which can be used whether doing routes on the LWF or RWF. However the Watchtowers Gully (at the far R end of the slabs) is a quick 10min walk down.

Left Watchtower Face

** Hot Flap 198m 14 (OS)
Start as for Introductory Route (up easy face, 15m down L of obvious undercut flake (Tauraroa Direct Start), which is the L edge of the LWF proper). 1) (30m 4) Doddle to ledge, traverse 10m R to ledge beside LWF. 2) (** 35m 14) Great rising traverse R the whole way. Nice slabbing, good gear and the odd enjoyable runout. Belay at single rusty BB. 3) (* 35m 14) Continue R, crux (small cams nice), then straight up. Doddle to big ledge below major corner. 4) (* 36m 9) Up the lovely corner for 25m, then easily up R to semi-hanging belay about 100m off the deck (nice!). BB can be backed up from break above. 5) (* 32m 14) Nice moves off the belay with great gear, then easier up and R to ledge/ramp for the belay. 6) (* 30m 14) Continue R up the ramp to crack, then follow crack back L to 2 foot roof, past tree to top.

Note: Hot Flap pitches 2 and 3 can be linked with a 60m to a convenient stance and good belay 10m lower than P3 belay (much better than a single bolt!). Pitches 5 and 6 can be linked with a 60m, by following direct line (still 14) - step L at base of ramp, easy ground, then shallow corners to roof. Superb rising traverse on smooth slopers gains the roof crack (run-out and scintillating, 150m up!). Roof crack and up as for P6. Also note increased pitch lengths compared to guide - learnt the hard way! (Unless my rope has shrunk....)

Hot Flap - The opposite view, me 50m up the pitch after doing a direct eliminate of the fifth belay - note the scintillating 12m runout below the roof!! Great stuff.
Hot Flap (** 198m 14), Mt Arapiles Hot Flap - looking down pitches 5 and 6, about 150m up it. How good does Siren left face look?!?!?! (The protruding buttress down right).

** Take Five 135m 20 (OS)
An outstanding first half, but merely pleasant up high. 1) (*** 60m 20) A great rope stretcher to a good ledge. Yes the first 15m is light on for pro (notably a shithouse #1 RP is the only thing between you and the deck for a while), but it's only about 17-18. The gear is then great for awesome grade 19-20 climbing for the rest of the pitch. 2) (* 20m 19) Trend a little left to a weakness in the overlap, which is a little tricky, but keep an eye out for a small R hand undercling/sidepull which makes for a straightforward rockover. Slab up R to one more move onto Rotten Row and belay at the tree. 3) (* 40m 18) Step down and traverse L below bulge, then up it (17-18) without pro. Easy slab then leads up R to a nice 20m headwall finish. Walk 50m R to RWF rap.

Adam cruises the crux of Take Five, with the Left Watchtower Face expanding out left.

James' turn on the crux of Take Five. Fantastic rock.
James pulls over the unprotected bulge at the start of the last pitch of Take Five, with the huge expanse of Left Watchtower Face below.

The Watchtower

*** Arachnus 123m 10 (OS)
Great. Take plenty of wires! 1) (* 30m 10) Up juggy crack, then traverse right. Tackle bulge as soon as it looks possible, then slabbier to belay in recess. 2) (** 38m 10) Step R and up under steeper rock. Head diagonally up and R, through bulge and up to horizontal recess (some belay here). Pull onto wall using crack on L, then traverse insecurely R in great position, almost to arete, then up unprotected wall to small ledge - keep #1 ish cams for belay. 3) (*** 55m 10) Step L, pull bulge, then wander up wall to steepening. Float effortlessly over steep section on jugs with mega exposure, and continue to top. Take care stepping back onto the mainland.

Arachnus - Peter cruising up the juggy steep section on the third pitch. (He's on the skyline, near an orange section of rock). Exposed, eh? THE line is the Watchtower Crack (16) - the most distinctive line at Araps, and an awesome looking route it is too. Skink (18) (yet another classic) follows the corner, then up the chimney to the roof, then follows a hand traverse R out on to the face, then stays under the diagonal overhung flake - great stuff!!
Arachnus (*** 123m 10), Mt Arapiles

A view of the Watchtowers on the perfect winter day. Mid-August, with everyone climbing in t-shirts! Brilliant! A party can be seen on Arachnus, while the mega-classic Brolga (16) follows the ruddy orange streak at far right.
The Watchtower Faces, Mt Arapiles

* Stumpy Tail 113m 23 (FA)
Pitches 2 and 3 are both good, but the start of pitch 4 detracts. 1) 33m 12 Take Watchtower Crack, Pumping, or Flamingo to large ledge. 2) (20m 20) L up orange face past FH. Join diagonal crack to small ledge, then follow ramp to pedestal. Step up L onto short delicate face, then L to good belay cave on arete. 3) (10m 23) A great little pitch! Up flake then over the L end of the roof. Traverse R past FH to big undercling move, then some steep moves to another good belay ledge on arete. 4) (50m 18) Step up R onto higher ledge, then the reachy lichenous face 3m L of Watchtower Crack, adequately protected by small-med cams. Slab easily up L until forced around the arete onto the Arachnus face for the last 20m. Will Monks, Kevin Lindorff 1.11.05

Topo of all the new climbing on Stumpy Tail. The red line at top right is Ingvar's variant on Watchtower Crack (26?).
Kevin takes on the second pitch (first new pitch) of Stumpy Tail.

Kevin moves across the funky techie traverse towards the 3rd pitch crux of Stumpy Tail.

Kevin powers through the awesome undercling crux on pitch 3 of Stumpy Tail. Both his arms are totally straight!

Right Watchtower Face

*** Skink 140m 18 (OS)
Possibly the best 18 at Araps, and one of the best Araps climbs I've done of any grade. Long, challenging, exposed, and sustained. Take a bolt plate! 1) (* 33m 13) As for Watchtower Crack. Bugger all pro up easy slab just R of corner, then pull over L onto spacious belay ledge. 2) (20m 14) Continue up blocky corner by path of least resistance to small cave. 3) (*** 28m 18) Nice chimneying for 5m up to the BR below roof. A little tricky to gain hand traverse line, then a bloody awesome traverse out into the huge expanse of slab. Make sure you look down! Continue out to bottom of flake, PR. Great climbing, with sparse pro, up to tiny foot ledge just below where flake kinks R. Hanging belay on med-large cams. 4) (*** 45m 18) Cruxy off belay, so get gear in quickly. More good climbing out to lip of flake, beware drag here. Then it eases as you get close to the top. The rap anchor (DRB) is about 10m R of the obvious dead tree, disconcertingly close to the edge.

Skink - the view en-route, from mid crux - a good view of the lovely flake you follow. This is Peter enjoying the semi-hanging 3rd belay, smack bang in the middle of 40m of brilliant climbing.
Skink (*** 122m 18), Mt Arapiles

Skink - Peter enjoying the wonderful juggy traverse on pitch 3, as viewed from the 2nd belay in the chimney. There's about 60m of air below him!
Skink (*** 122m 18), Mt Arapiles Skink - me seconding the same pitch, a few metres higher than Peter in the photo on the left (and where I took the photo above).

* Gecko / Salamander Connection 100m 14 (OS)
Three good pitches, but overall it doesn't quite earn a second star. 1) (45m * 14) Up the obvious deep crack 15m R of Auto da Fe (Gecko), then really cruisy slabbing for about 35m all the way up to the rap chains. Generally, go straight up from the crack until it's easy to go diagonally L all the way to the belay - funky rambling wherever you like on a vast expanse of slab (beautifully clean thanks to the RWF rap route!). The final move is a bit committing, you're 15m runout except for a dodgy wire at your feet, facing steep moves on slopers onto the belay. 2) (* 25m 13) Follow the obvious big flake leading up R to Brolga's 2nd belay. Much nicer than it looks, with a few tricky moves and great positions too. Save small-med cams for the belay. 3) (* 30m 13) Step R and up over bulge on thin flakes (microwires), then easy slab (staying R of dirty ramp/gully) up to lovely steep headwall.

*** Brolga 113m 16 (OS)
A stunning route - the pick of the R Watchtower Face slabs, and another one which is possibly the best route at the grade at Araps. 1) (** 30m 16) Start past horizontals, trending slightly R to crosshatched surface cracks at 13m (good wire). Step L to stand on flake, then tricky moves on slopers over blank bulge to gain stance on break. Step up onto flutes, then slightly left and through thin section to good holds and steep rock, then to belay. 2) (*** 40m 16) Totally brilliant. Well protected if you take doubles of small-medium cams. Thin start to good gear at 6m, then excellent continuous climbing for a long way, trending slightly L for the final 10m. Save one cam (at least) in the #1-2 Fr range for the belay. 3) (* 30m 13) As for Salamander. Or, a slightly easier but less pleasant alternative is to step L past bushes onto wall, then a few tricky moves up to step R to dirty ramp/gully - watch for loose scree at the top!

Brolga - Nic negotiating the surprisingly tricky initial moves on pitch 2 - what's also surprising is that the moves don't get easier for another 35m!
Brolga (*** 86m 16), Mt Arapiles Brolga - Nic delicately overcoming some of the hardest moves. This is really a fantastic pitch all the way up this beautiful clean orange streak.
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** Mantle 94m 14 (OS)
Good stuff. Lots of slopers - 'real' slab climbing - some cool semi mantles and lots of trusting your feet and your balance. 1) (* 30m 14) The start is probably the crux, with slab technique required immediately. Follow surface crack for 10-12m. A good cam or two and then 8m nice steep slab climbing to a good belay ledge. 2) (** 24m 14) Tricky move off ledge then dodgy wire to 'cam heaven'. Head up left for 5m to BB or dodgy wire, then some good tricky moves to a good #3 camalot. Another 15m or so of easier slabby stuff past only one more cam led to a hanging belay - duplicate #0.5 - #1.5 friends VERY useful!! 3) (** 40m 14) More mid range cams needed. Up and right to a good #3 camalot, then a tricky 10m section over bulge. Much easier to the top and a nice little headwall.

** Panzer 95m 12 (OS)
Excellent! The Watchtower slabs again provide a great climb, concluding by blasting straight up the soaring turret high on the right end of the slabs. 1) (35m 11) Looks mossy but the holds are fine. Nice climbing up slight streak up and L to break in overhang at 30m. Pull overhang onto big ledge. 2) (** 30m 12) Crux up beautiful handjam/stem corner, to good #3 camalot on R lip. Run out up easier wall above past 2 dodgy pitons, a #00 RP and a dodgy #10 wire. Belay in orange recess. 3) (** 30m 11) Easy, but awesome! Traverse R under roof to shallow corner. Extend gear at this point to minimise drag. Blast straight up magnificent steep wall above in an awesome position, to good belay on top of turret. Carefully off.

There is a popular bouldering area down and R of the turret finish of Panzer.