< Avalanche Couloir | Broken Buttress >

<guide version="3">
<header access="Access via Organ Pipes Track, head straight up to the buttress. An alternative access is via the Sawmill Track from the road (about 1.5km from the Springs, very limited parking), which meets the Organ Pipes Track (GPS MTW080) directly below Triclinicity. Descent varies, with some routes requiring scrambles back into Avalanche Couloir. There is a rap station above The Way." acknowledgement="" history="" intro="University Buttress is the area immediately L of Avalanche Couloir. Its RH end presents a narrow, vertical face of clean rock. The LH end is of less interest and is broken into a complex of minor features. Splitting the RH end is a striking large 60 metre high corner (Ozymandias), a feature that is easily discernible from the Organ Pipes Track." name="University Buttress" rock="Broken dolerite buttresses up to 60m" sun="Morning sun" walk="20 min" id="1"/><text id="17" class="heading3">Ozymandias Buttress</text><image src="UniversityButtressPrint.jpg" width="700" id="2">null</image><climb extra="" grade="22" length="60m" name="Blank Generation" stars="***" id="3" fa="G. Child, K. Carrigan, 1978." number="BG">No intellectual ability required, just pure grunt. The pumpy number up the steep RH wall of Ozymandias.
1. 35m. Climb straight up the wall, following the thin crack (crux).
2. 25m. Continue up the wall.</climb><climb extra="" grade="16" length="60m" name="Ozymandias" number="OZ" stars="*" id="4" fa="M. Douglas, J. Whelan, R. Williams, Oct 1966.">"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand, with wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command." The big lichenous corner on the front of the buttress that provides a thorough work out.
1. 20m. Climb the corner and belay at a small stance above the bulge.
2. 40m. Continue up the corner, taking care not to come a cropper on the moss and lichen.</climb><climb extra="" grade="16" length="20m" name="Triclinicity" stars="" id="5" fa="P. Robinson, K. Bischoff, Mar 1981.">A total pile of choss. Check your life insurance policy before starting. On the buttress 8m L of Ozymandias, at the corner crack on the LH end that exits through a small overhang. Up the corner, jam through the roof and continue to the top. If you haven't died, descend by climbing down the other side.</climb><climb extra="" grade="19" length="70m" name="Pete's Power Plummet" number="PP" stars="*" id="6" fa="Pete Steane, D. Fife, Mar 1992, to within 5m of the top.">The scene of a 30m factor two power dive. Starts on the front of the Triclinicity buttress.
1. 25m. Climb the hand crack up the front of the buttress.
2. 30m. Up the nice looking but a bit lichenous wall, then the corner above, stepping L at the roof to a good belay ledge.
3. 15m. Up the steep hand crack in the corner, then step L and up the mossy ledges and corner to the top. This pitch is not actually a doddle as sometimes reported and is worth protecting in case of a slip. The normal method of descent, for normal people, is by abseil (tape) or by traversing across to the rap station above Carpe Diem.</climb><climb extra="" grade="16" length="55m" name="Sisyphus" number="SI" stars="" id="7" fa="P. Robinson, D. Drake, Feb 1982.">Starts on the south side of the Triclinicity buttress. From Triclinicity go L to the prow and around L for 6m to a gully.  Scramble up the gully over pineapple grass to a large ledge.
1. 30m. Up the clean chimney-crack to the top of the buttress.  Climb the black streaked grooves up the wall directly above the chimney and belay on a large grassy ledge.
2. 25m. Climb the blocks to a crack on the L, which is climbed to the top.  Abseil off (tape) or scramble L to pitches 4 and 5 of Prodigal.</climb><climb extra="" grade="21" length="50m" name="Two Angry Young Men" stars="*" id="8" fa="N. Deka, M. Ling, Feb 1988." number="TA">Starts 15m L of Sisyphus underneath the black and orange streaked prow with two cracks that diverge at a small roof. Takes the L hand line. (1) Trend R up the steep wall to the top of a loose pillar. Climb the hand crack above, past the roof and up the line to the vegetation. Move R to the nose and ascend this to an off width corner that passes L of a roof. Climb this to a large ledge below twin cracks. (2) Climb the thin L hand crack (crux).</climb><text class="heading3" id="9">The Good, The Excellent and The Ugly Buttress</text><text class="text" id="10">This buttress is a bit of effort to get to, but has some excellent climbing. Continue up left up a rough track from  Two Angry Young Men to another orange and black streaked buttress, which overlooks Fools Couloir.</text><climb extra="" grade="21" length="35m" name="Blind Faith" number="BF" stars="*" id="11" fa="Sam Edwards, Feb 199">Start 20m R and up from The Good the Excellent, below a nose of rock. Climb the steep wall (crux) to an easier crack. Finish up the hand-crack on the L side of the nose. Abseil off a bollard (take your own sling).</climb><climb extra="" grade="15" length="125m" name="Prodigal" number="" stars="" id="12" fa="G. Kowalik, P. Robinson, Nov 1981.">A rambling route with sketchy route details that starts at the Good, the Excellent, and the Ugly, traverses R, crosses Two Angry Young Men and finishes up L of Sisyphus. Scramble L up the vegetated ramp to the Good, Excellent etc. buttress.
1. 35m. A long traverse up and R over grassy ledges leads to a short crack below a big grassy ledge.
2. 10m. Up the crack and move R past Two Angry Young Men pitch 2, to belay on the ledge below two easy cracks.
3. 25m. Climb the cracks, taking the R one near the top. Scramble up to the small buttress with a thin clean crack.
4. 15m. Crux. Climb the enjoyable crack.
5. 40m. Follow the ridge easily until one can scramble down Fool's Couloir (abseil at bottom) or Avalanche Couloir.</climb><climb extra="" grade="22" length="30m" name="The Good, the Excellent and the Ugly" number="GE" stars="*" id="13" fa="D. Stephenson, N. Deka, 1988.">Takes the line on the R and front of the buttress. Climb the finger crack to the bulge, surmount this (crux) and continue up the dirty R hand crack above to the top. Abseil off.</climb><climb extra="3Þ ↓" grade="23" length="35m" name="The Light" number="" stars="*" id="14" fa="R. Parkyn, Mar 1995.">Start on the face between The Way and The Good etc. Technical climbing past three U-bolts leads to a crack (about grade 18 to finish). Rap station above The Way.</climb><climb extra="10Þ ↓" grade="23" length="30m" name="The Way" number="TW" stars="**" id="15" fa="R. Parkyn, Oct 1994.">Pumpy face climbing up a slightly overhanging wall 10m L of The Good, the Excellent and the Ugly.
1. 20m 23. This pitch could be 24. The difficulty (but not necessarily the pump) decreases with height. Can also be done by traversing R after the first U-bolt and climbing a crack-line to the R (clipping the U-bolts by reaching L) then re-joining the route between the 3rd and 4th bolts. It's a pleasant enough variation, and one or two grades easier, but avoids the meatiest part of the route.
2. 10m 20. Ascend via the corner and buttress (the 2nd U-bolt on this pitch is not visible from below). Rap station.</climb><climb extra="8Þ ↓" grade="22" length="20m" name="The Truth" number="" stars="*" id="16" fa="R. Parkyn, Nov 1994.">Un-obvious, bizarre and interesting. This route is 2m L of The Way, following the seam just right of the arete, climbing to the ledge. Fully bolted. Rap station above The Way.</climb>
</guide>

< Avalanche Couloir | Broken Buttress >