| Will's Rock Climbing Page > Crags > The Grampians > Hollow Mountain > Van Dieman's Land |
Last updated: Jan '07 |
Sun/shade: Sunny until 1-2pm - which makes it one of the best options around for winter mornings and summer afternoons.
Wet weather options: Yep, quite a lot, especially Beaver Wall.
Best Season(s): Year round, if you follow the sun/shade properly.
Rock type: Beaver Wall and Pocketed Wall have great rock, while on Tribute Wall and Bad Moon Rising it's not perfect but is still more than adequate. The Bad Moon crimpfests are probably going to wear down over time.
The Hidden Gem: The second pitch of Suicidal Tendencies is bloody good.
Guidebook(s): Grampians Selected Climbs, Mentz/Tempest, (pages 90-93); North Grampians, Andrews 1990 (pages 158-163); and North Grampians Update Andrews 1994 (pages 19-23); and the VCC website (link below) for recent updates.
Access: 20-25min walk. Drive to the Hollow Mountain carpark at the far northern end of the Grampians, next to Mt Zero. 3.5hrs from Melbourne, 30mins from Horsham, 10mins from Stapylton campground. Follow the signposted trail to Hollow Mountain for about 10 minutes, until it deposits you at the base of the incredible overhanging Sandinista Wall. Head L along the base of the cliffs for about 500m, with a reasonable amount of rock-hopping and finding your way.
Grades: 18-24
The Details: Check out the full ACA Tribute Wall Online Guide.
* Jet 14m 24 (L)
Was on the first ascent but really don't remember much about this route except that it's fingery and sustained.
* In Halen 14m 20 (OS)
I'll give it 2 stars if the start gets bolted! The original grade of 18 might apply then too, because the wires take some fiddling to get in, on quite tricky ground. Beware - one of the wire slots has a gap down the back and at least one person has had their wire fall down through it. Good pumper though.
** Lines 'n Noses 14m 18 (flash)
A real little beauty. Far and away the best warm up in the whole VD Land area. Clip and pump your way up the nice little arete.
Grades: 8-24
The Details: Ignored for many years by those heading for the original VD land who wanted steepness and steel. But once this wall got some attention in the mid naughties, it turned out to climb really well. See the Chockstone Bad Moon Online Guide, or the ACA Bad Moon Online Guide.
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* Raunchy Rooster 15m 22 (flash) Has a reputation for a scary second clip - but it has been bolted so that the clip is from the first decent post-crux stance - the lower clip would be f'n desperate! Provided you use a long (~1.2m) quickdraw then you can clip at your waist and will never be on a grounder - but if you use a short draw you will have 2m more slack out and you'll be very close to decking if you ping. The nice thing is that the rest of the route has a bunch of really nice climbing too - enjoy the final bulge!
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Bitten Finger 15m 16 (FA) Quite a fun ground up ascent, and without the bolt at the crux it felt more like 19! It's the first line of features left of the central blank section of rock. The rap station is 5m to your R when you top out.
Headless Chickens 15m 15 (YP)
Octohexarian 15m 8 (OS)
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Bite the Hand 15m 11 (YP) Another nice one. Stay R of the top of the corner for a nice little slab finish.
Bad Moon Rising 20m 14 (OS)
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Grades: 24-28 (not counting Dope Man)
The Details: A lovely little glade down in a pretty cool fissure of rock, and with a bunch of really high quality sport routes. Most bolts are now 10-15 years old or more, so quite a few need replacing. Also worth checking out the ACA Beaver Wall Online Guide.
** Suicidal Tendencies 22m 25 (PP p1, L p2)
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Barely worth a star if you just do the first pitch, but I give it 2 stars if you include the second pitch. It's best done as a single pitch provided you extend the 2nd bolt and the first anchor. (1) (15m 25) Clip the first 2 bolts on Body Count (extend the 2nd or backclean from the ledge) then move R on the ledge to below the steep blank face. Blast a few pocket moves up this (very cool crux) sequence, to gain the juggy flake leading up R to the first anchor and hands free rest on the ledge. (2) (10m 24) steps up L off the ledge to a superb airy and steeply overhung layback flake on immaculate rock, to a spectacular final dyno over the bulge. Marred by old bolts.
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*** Body Count 20m 24 (RP) Probably the best sport route I've done in the Grampians. Really superb and much more interesting than the similarly graded thugfests at the Gallery. [Beta alert - skip this paragraph if you're preserving the onsight!]. First time you'll probably hate the offwidth past the first bolt, but this can actually be avoided by some elegant and not too hard moves in the 'blank' corner (find the secret holds). Then you get a ledge rest, before heading up the spectacular corner at juggy 22-ish past several bolts, to the fairly high crux. You will need to find the sneaky kneebar just below the crux bolt (it's in the little cave on the R, and takes some working in - the best way I've found is to stick my left knee in and to face over towards Suicidal Tendencies, which is not at all intuitive but really locked in for me and I got a 100% recovery). Without this rest the crux will feel bloody hard! I find the key to the crux is to get a R kneebar in the wide-ish crack beside the bolt (toe on a little edge on the arete), which keeps you on while you reach up to get the best part of the sloppy crux layback fingercrack, so that once you release the kneebar it's just one or two quick pulls back into jugs. Then jug on upwards into the chimney to the very bizarrely placed chains up the back (the victory whip from beside the chains (make sure you move out to the front of the chimney so your rope is clear!) is about a 12m fall and will leave you at the second bolt and your belayer at the first bolt! Trust me, I know! :))). Hopefully it'll all get rebolted soon and the anchor placement will be moved out of the chimney away from the rope cutting edges. But don't wait for that because it's a super classic and you should get on it!
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Grades: 22-25
The Details: This wall looks really great, but the little scramble to the base is SUCH a pain in the butt. Not to mention quite dangerous - the last bit is a low teens grade corner which you have to solo facing a 8m+ fall onto ledges and down into a chasm. The silly 1 bolt belays at the base of the routes also annoy me - if you're going to put in an anchor, make it a decent one! For more, check out the ACA Pocketed Wall Online Guide.
** Terminal Insomnia 15m 22 (OS)
"Amazing", "mega classic", "fantastic" ... if you believe the hype. Just a good honest 2 star sport route if you ask me. It's a bit too cruxy, then some really nice pocket climbing. Nuff said.
Grades: 15-25
The Details: Scrub bash and boulder hop past the Pocketed Wall. Or better, don't.
Physical Graffiti 12m 21 (OS)
Routes like this make you wish there was a negative star rating system. Years later it still stands out in my mind as probably the worst route I've done in the Grampians, if not Victoria. I spose it just goes to prove that sport routes will get climbed no matter how shit they are. At least a dozen holds ripped off when we did it. Can't be bothered describing it. And by now so many more holds have probably come off that it will bear no resemblance to my ascent anyway (if you're foolish enough to actually go and do it).
Victorian Climbing Club (VCC) go here to check for new routes, and/or upcoming trips to this area. Bureau of Meteorology Navigate to "Wimmera" - Horsham's weather is the closest. Australian Maps Enter "Reservoir" as the road and "Laharum" as the suburb (and Victoria as the state). Chockstone The best site on Victorian climbing, has a few good pics and video of Amnesty Wall, plus links to a Sport Climbing Guide. Parks Victoria Park information, downloadable maps, etc. Parks Victoria Education Resource Kit A fascinating explanation of Grampians climate, geology, wildlife, vegetation, soils, history, park management, and visitor impacts. TheCrag.com As always. Record your Van Dieman's Land ticks here, and see what everyone else is climbing. 
© 2007 Will