Ascents of Taipan having Beta

Would be scary to lead. Small fiddly gear.

A tad heady on P2 but nice climbing and enough good gear. P3 variant was great exposure on jugs...definitely worth it!

Seconded P2 of taipan. Rested to hammer out a nut. Face climbing with strenuous gear placing positions

What a climb!! Couldnt believe the movement up top that the description says is 'unpleasant'. Insane position. Will yim and i had rolled up to a sunny zig zag after overshooting the walk in and almost ending up in lithgow. Jumped on black bart and shakes and flakes. SF was fantastic through the middle section after which it is named but yim and i wasted no time aiding the diabolocal move at 7m. We are still nonethewiser as to how that gets done. Relatively happy with our little sport foray, johnny came and scooped will up for his first gear lead, leaving yim and i to multi it up! Despite the arvo sun gleaming on the orange face, Taipan had a certain allure, especially the top. I trucked up the chimney and brought yim up. He took little convincing to jump on his 1st gear 19 up the daunting p2 face climb. After some careful gear substitution, he pounced through the crimps and up to the ledge, an impressive onsight with gear safe as houses. I snapped a photo of him midcrux with my hand never leaving the rope, using the forehead phone stabilisation technique. Im not sure how impressed he was. Thankfully i didnt need to work too hard with the nut tool getting the wires out and got to enjoy what was a delightful pitch! I got to lead the romp through the roof. The secret hand jam above the boulder then cringe out left is mindblowing. Chimneyd the final move out just as the sun dipped below the hills. Will and johnny came past at the perfect time to grab our shoes so we bashed out the top. Steves leftover barra was cooked for dinner! Boys on tour day 1 ended up pretty good.

Not a lot to say really, a nice enough warm up. Fer de Lance is by far the better line

spicy and nicey

Done on just nuts. A beautiful face climb with great protection I thoroughly enjoyed it

Awesome climb, the second pitch is really good. I didn't like the sling to start with but there were bomber bits of gear on the way up.

Seconded p1 and OS p2. Probably the most fun I've had on a single pitch of trad. Not to hardest or the best, but super fun. Reminds me of climbing in Pembroke - exciting face climbing protected (well) by small cams and wires. I found it relatively crimpy, but not cruxy?

Bring extra small nuts.

aww yes what a solid pocket, lets just shove my fingers deep in there..a little run out but this pocket is solid..ok lets put a stopper in this pocket..oh hello mrs.funnel web.

second

committing moves round the arete, followed by superb face climbing up a crack!

So good, gonna come back and lead it with the extension. Such an awesome looking wall!

With George. Nice enough but not sustained. More like an 18.

Led Pitches 1 and 3, but Pitch 2 is the moneymaker. Pitch 3 has some awesome rooflet exposure, but is pretty easy.

One of the best trad moderates in the Mtns. Linked all in 1.

Ask Bundy about this one. I had done it before.

Fantastic

Just what I like- a crack that face climbs.

getting easier

as part of taipan i guess...

Good fun

Did this in 97 also. Easier now, more like 18

maybe 1 star...

with Dave Duke

AI 2nded, Josh trad lead (very nicely!). Looks blank from below, but good pockets when you stick your fingers in them. Difficult placements in crack at bottom of face

nice!

with Cate

2020 - day after the accident, upon Hugh's insistence. Ensued the most redundant gear stitching I have ever witnessed in my life. Still very commendable.