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Arapiles and the Grampians in a Nutshell
The following trip took place during Spetember 2000 (yep, we skipped town during the Olympics!).
A really quick summary of what Andrew Duckworth and I got up to while down at Araps and the Grampians:
On 11 climbing days, we did:
- 33 climbs (Andrew did 36)
- 48 pitches (Andrew did 51, not counting redpoint attempts)
- Grades 11 to 22
Highlights
- Brolga (16) - AWESOME!!!!
- Oceanoid (18) - Two great pitches - the second pitch (17) is probably the most exposed pitch I've done at
Araps!
- The Bard (12) - I thought everyone just blabbed on about it being a classic because of it's historical
significance, but it's actually a great route as well!
- Mt Rosea (despite the fact that it was mostly a waterfall, and the one route we did was wet on the crux pitch
(Tourist Buttress)). It doesn't exactly grab you on first impression, but after doing a couple of pitches, I
can easily imagine that this crag contains some great routes.
- Booty gear. Araps kicks ass for beefing up your rack!! :-)
Anti-highlights
- Almost continual threat of rain for the entire time.
- Plimsoll Line (22) - Poorly protected and mossy - at least it's sustained at the grade!
- Blimp (20) (at Bundaleer). VERY overrated - it only gets one star from me. In fact the entire crag was very
unimpressive. It was seeping like a bastard when we were there and the place looks and smells just like Mt
Keira!! To be fair, Pathos (21), was a great route and stayed dry, but I doubt I'll be back there in a hurry.
- Eurydice (to some extent) - a good route (2 stars in my book), but the bird crap and loose blocks on the first
pitch didn't excite me much.
- D Minor (to some extent) - not a bad route, but certainly not a 3 star classic, IMO.
- Summerday Valley - the aptly named "Wall of Fools" was overrun with a commercial abseiling group who set up a
flying fox across the valley and then encouraged their clients to scream, shout and generally kick up a big fuss as
they whizzed 30m above the valley floor. Bloody idiots!
- Andrew's Subaru overheating all the way back to Sydney! Still, we made it back in the fairly respectable time of
12 hours, including stops.
Sandbags
- Mari (17) - This slippery little number is bloody desperate at 17 - more like 18 I reckon.
- Tootsie Piker's Variant (19) (Summerday Valley) - More like 20.
- Megalomaniac (14) - A thrutchy move to gain a ledge at the start is a bit goey for the grade, I reckon.
Probably more like 15 (although it could have been because it was quite damp and mossy when we did it).
Overgraded routes:
None really, although some pitches (eg. 2nd pitch of Tourist Buttress) were a bit overgraded.
Not sure if I'll get a chance to write up a more detailed TR, so here's a quick route list with brief comments
instead.
Day 1 - Arapiles
***The Bard (12) - Excellent!
*Megalomaniac (15) - Better than it looks
**Mari (18) - Bloody hard for 17!
**Golden Fleece (18) - Bouldery crux, protected by RPs
(Pedro) (10) - Backed off because of rain
Day 2 - Arapiles
**D Minor (15) - Overrated, but not bad
**Aardvark (18) - Really nice moves
***Muldoon (13) - Excellent fun!
**Surface to Air (17) - A fun little jaunt. Only about grade 13 after the first couple of moves.
Plimsoll Line (22) - Unpleasant and poorly protected
**Piccolo (11) - Lovely passive pro!
Day 3 - Arapiles
***Brolga (16) - Unbelievably good climbing!!!
**Auto Da Fe (1st pitch only) (21) - Barely adequate pro (2nd pitch is apparently better protected, despite what the
guide says). Quite cruisy (~19) up until the last 5m or so, then it gets bloody hard.
*The Mantle (14) - Quite good climbing, but pro is barely adequate in parts. Last pitch partially led and completely
seconded in the rain.
Day 4 - Arapiles
**Eurydice (18) - Two good pitches, although first is spoilt by bird crap and loose blocks. Exciting final moves on
first pitch!
**Missing Link (17) - Really pleasant climbing, and a very engaging lead.
Day 5 - Arapiles
**Chinese Algebra (21) (1st pitch only) - Lovely rock. A strenuous crux protected with a wire that just won't stay put!
:-O
*Trapeze (11) - Not a bad little jaunt, if a little loose.
*Chameleon (12) (1st pitch only) - We thought we were on Panzer!
**Panzer (12) (2nd and 3rd pitches) - Lovely exposed climbing up the tower.
Day 6 - Arapiles
**Resignation (14) - An excellent and outrageously steep 2nd pitch (3rd, according to the guidebook), but the last
pitch is loose and unpleasant.
*Scorpion Direct Start (17) - Biting jams to start (tape up!), but a good challenge if you like cracks.
<shameless plug> I'd like to point out that I seconded this pitch clean (and with a pack on), after Andrew rested
on it on lead. :-)
***Blockbuster (11) - A lovely little excursion. Shame about all the snapped off pitons littering the crack.
*I'm a Little Dinosaur (18) - Not bad, although almost not worth the epic jungle adventure and friable rock solo to get
to it. Very Blue Mountains in style (complete with a bit of fossilised Narrowneck at the top!).
(Rest Day) - Arapiles
Day 7 - Arapiles
***Entertainer (18) - Superb rock and moves. Avoided roof due to rain and traversed right to lower off above Comic
Relief (which Andrew then onsighted).
**Coming on Chris (16) - A pleasant little jaunt on lovely rock.
***Oceanoid (18) - SUPERB!! A route we only did because of the rain (it's quite protected), but an absolute stonker.
The traverse on the 2nd pitch is probably the most exposed climbing I've done at Araps (except maybe for Agammenon!).
GO DO IT NOW!! :-)
Day 8 (rain) - Arapiles
The Mantis (14) - About all you can say is that it's protected from the rain where it matters...
Day 9 - Summerday Valley
*Overkill (17) - Not a bad little number. Nice and sustained.
Tootsie Piker's Variant (20) - Andrew had a good go at the direct finish (22), but ended up doing this instead. Bloody
easy then bloody hard - a bit stupid really.
Day 9 (cont) - Bundaleer
**Pathos (21) - Excellent rock and moves, and it doesn't seep like the rest of the crag.
*Blimp (20) - Vastly overrated. The top of the corner and the roof were running with water and slime, which might
explain why I didn't enjoy it much. The rock is also pretty poor - Andrew snapped off at least one foothold while
leading it.
Day 10 - Mt Rosea
The new tourist track makes things a bit confusing - we ended up doing a 1 hour walk all the way to the top, before
heading back down the Giant's Staircase to get back to the bottom of the cliff!
*Tourist Buttress (19M1) - A surprisingly good route - probably worth 2 stars when dry. The 2nd pitch (17, although
the guide gives it 18) has a great crux sequence off the belay - it looks bloody hard but it's actually not too bad and
well protected to boot (which is good, cause if you fall off, you'll get a belayer enema!! :-) The 3rd pitch (19) was
running with water, which made the crux a bit hard (both Andrew and I used one of the bezillion pitons for a foothold
at one crucial spot). For a bit of variety I led the 4th pitch (13) entirely on RPs!! :-) I just wished I'd taken
Martin's duplicates, cause I ended up having to run it out!! :-)))
Day 11 - Stapylton Ampitheatre
**Trident (14) - I was in absolute agony for most of this pitch from my rooted elbows, but I think it would be quite a
nice pitch otherwise. Certainly pretty sustained, bloody steep and surprisingly exposed for its length (only 40m).
Double ropes strongly recommended if you want to lead it in one pitch.
I then took on belay duties while Andrew had a lash at a poxy 22 to the right of Trident and then the grade 21 1st pitch
of Sirocco (on Taipan Wall proper).
And that was about it!
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