Angie Scarth-Johnson goes way back home and, under the watchful eye of maestro Lee Cossey, bolts her first ever route WORDS: Angie Scarth-Johnson & Lee Cossey IMAGES: Lee Cossey Developing new routes is hard yakka. Developing new routes when you have never bolted anything before, on a tropic island, thousands of miles away, under time pressure and the glaring lights of the movie cameras even more so. Late last year Angie and Lee headed to Tonga, the country of Angie’s…
Some climbers have expressed concern or confusion about who the people or organisations are that are representing climbers’ interests. As a user-group, we’ve flown under the radar for a long time, which has meant we’ve had a lot of freedom, equally it means that we’re not very well prepared for an event such as the banning of climbing in some areas in the Grampians. However, that situation is changing, and there are a lot of people very busily working to…
On Tuesday this week various members of the climbing community, including representatives of the Victorian Climbing Club, Western Victoria Climbing Club and others, met with Parks Victoria. There we were informed that eight areas in the western Grampians are going to be closed to climbers. In the next two weeks, signs will be put at the closed areas and the closures will be policed with fines. We were not given the specifics of what areas are to be closed or…
Editor’s note to issue 27 of Vertical Life. Download the issue here. Climbing has always been about newness. We have been obsessed with who climbed the hardest thing and who got to the top first, both of which are just shades of newness. When we look back, it is exploration that’s the main thread running through the lore of climbing, and exploration by definition is about charting newness. You can see that from the early science-driven ascents that sought to map the world…
For many climbers, the recent rumours of climbing being banned in the Grampians’ Victoria Range came as a huge shock. And the anger and confusion on social media is testament to this shock. The whole incident might have been poorly handled and communicated by Parks Victoria, but for those who have been following access issues in the Grampians the threat of this has been rumbling away for some time. Given that there is so much hearsay and a chaotic lack…
DMM is coming across the globe from Wales with a bunch of its toys for all climbers to try or test out – at the crag or at the gym this November (see the event list below with links to each event’s Facebook page). Come along and join in the fun of who can place gear the fastest challenge, plus DMM will have a pull testing machine to break your old gear or stuff you have found at the crag (except at the…
