Blog from June, 2014

I was gobsmacked to witness the number of climbers up the Pipes on Sunday (22/6). For mid-winter, the air temperature was certainly mild and the rock warm... well at least while the sun was out!  I counted no less than seven parties on various Northern Buttress trad routes and another rope on Third Bird (Central Buttress). The climbers' carpark was chocker and there was even a queue waiting to climb Centaur.... An unbelievable mid-winter phenomenon!

I have added 4 bolts to the 4th pitch of Into The Mystic at Bare Rock. This excellent route has 5 pitches with grades of 22, 25, 24, 22 and 24 and goes up left of Sapphire Rose. The 4th pitch is grade 22 and probably the best pitch for the grade on the crag, however I originally bolted it with a few run-outs on easier sections - were talking 5m run-outs on grade 18-19 climbing. While repeat ascensionists will no doubt cope with the difficulty of this pitch, having done more difficult pitches below, the rock at Fingal is potentially suspect on most routes. So in the possibility of friable rock and broken holds, wisdom has prevailed and now the bolting on this pitch is consumer friendly. A terrific link up can be done by doing the first 2 pitches of Sapphire Rose, then a 15m traverse pitch (grade 22) to the start of the 4th pitch of INto The Mystic, this creating a super sustained 4 pitch route in the 21-22 range.