The big news from Easter was of course the drama at Arapiles. No, not any actual climbing, rather the series of accidents as one million climbers congregated at the Mount for the annual pilgrimage (made worse by the Grampians closures no doubt). The most publicised accident was not so much a climbing accident as a caving incident, with one unfortunate young man managing to get stuck in the Squeeze Test boulder below Tiger Wall for ten hours. He was eventually…
One of my first climbing trips was to Falcons Lookout, a slick patch of rock carved out of the hillside overlooking Werribee Gorge and Victoria’s Western Freeway. Here, one of the first routes I ever climbed (on top-rope) was Persecution, an old-school grade 12 – jamming 101 followed by, from memory, a bridgey sort of exit. Having wasted myself on the first half of the climb, I pulled into its chimney feature with my back pressing on one side and…
As any father will already know, apart from the biological imperative of passing on your valuable genetic material for the Greater Good of Mankind, the other main point of having a child is for them to succeed where you have failed. Thus, as a VORC (Very Ordinary Rock Climber) it’s only natural that my dream for my first born is for him to succeed in the endeavour of rock climbing where I have failed. From the very first (in fact,…
Last night Vertical Life received an email from an anonymous but clearly passionate climber who claims to have removed the infamous glued-up ‘bird-bath’ hold on Punks in the Gym at Mt Arapiles. The email included some images of what the climber claims are the remains of the famously augmented crux hold, we’ve included the photo here and it does look to us like stone from the Mount. The email went on to say, ‘For too long now Punks has been sullied…
You’re a Victorian climber and you can’t get to the Grampians? Sick of the heinous undercut starts of the Omega Block at Camels Hump? Scared of the ant colony bumblies of Werribee Gorge trying to kill you with torrents of clumsy-footed rock fall? Do you like your atmos-fear? Can’t decide if you want to surf or climb? Looking for adventure*? Then get your arse to Phillip Island and the mostly-forgotten and long-maligned Cape Woolamai – sea-cliff climbing within an hour-and-a-half…
