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Muline Crag
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KML- Description:© (nmonteith)
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If you can climb grade 30 this cliff is the mecca of all meccas. One of the 'Big 4' sport crags of 'Victoria'. An amazing impressive cave of mindblowing features.
This is also one of the best "four season" crags in the 'Grampians', for the same reasons as 'Sandinista' Wall:
in winter the sun is low in the sky and stays in the north, reaching in under the big overhangs to warm up frosty belayers;
in summer the sun is high in the sky and both the routes and the base spend most of the day in shade;
the very steep headwall keeps off the rain.
Naturally, if its cloudy and wintery this crag is miserably cold, but it should at least be dry (and hey, no other crag in 'Victarctica' will be any warmer). Also, the routes have enough slopers that temps in the 30s will be a problem even if you are climbing in the shade (on days like this it's probably better to try 'The Tower' just down the road).
A quick history lesson from Simon Mentz:
"Steve Hamilton dragged me and a few others into the cliff many years before it started being developed. I think he had discovered the place with Baxter and came back raving. I recall him telling me about this line that looked like three Sandinista's stacked on top of each other. I went in there expecting to climb mega-routes routes ground-up. Although the cliff was impressive, I was actually disappointed. Most of the cliff looked ridiculously hard. I remember saying to Steve, 'Where is the triple 'Sandinista' line?' 'In fact, show me one line that we can actually start climbing?' In the end I began rap-bolting the steep line of what is now 'Krankandangle'. I faffed around for ages getting in position, then my hand drill kept getting stuck, and finally when I got a bolt in place... I wasn't happy with it. We eventually walked out and never bothered to return. It wasn't until years later that HB mentioned this amazing cliff that he and Noddy had visited and their suprise at seeing a single bolt halfway up one of the lines, that it all clicked. Malcolm had established a few other routes and asked me whether I still planned to do that particular route. 'Yeah, of course!' (What a crock - I had completely forgotten about it). I took a power drill next time I visited the place and finished bolting the line (replacing my old dud bolt). The ascent was a formality, although I recall Sylvia finding the crux moves a bit reachy and falling off a few times. So there you go... another absolutely brilliant cliff (along with the Gallery) that I visited prior to their development and which I failed to see the potential of!"
Bear in mind that no rebolting has yet occurred at this crag so all bolts are the originals, and some are starting to show their age. There's quite a few spinning hangers, and the hangerless carrot bolts vary from "worrisome" to "completely shit". (Take bolt brackets). Perhaps the greatest concern is that the fixed hanger/bolt combos used are mismatched metal types and suffering from galvanic corrosion as a result, which can be particularly dangerous because of the tendency for the damage to be localised around the metal/metal interfaces, i.e. largely out of sight.
The best warm up is the bouldering around the base of 'Desert Rose' - neither of the "easy" routes are good options if you're still cold and haven't been on them before.
- Access Issues: inherited from Grampians
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National Park
- Approach:© (nmonteith)
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Drive north for a kilometre (approx) from the Mt Fox carpark on Red Rock Rd until you hit the obvious creek crossing (Muline Creek). 50m south of Muline Creek is a carpark on the east side of the road (which, as of Oct 2008, has a big tree fallen across it) - park here. Walk up old fireroad for 100m to T-intersection. Walk right (south) for 50m to rock cairn marking track into Muline. The well worn track is pretty flat at first, but gets progressively steeper. The track is easy to follow and the walk takes about 25 minutes. The track meets the cliff at After Midnight.
The crag is marked "kid friendly" because the base of the cliff is generally ok for kids to hang out, especially around the base of 'Eye of the Tiger', and 'Desert Rose' (but beware the 6m drop-off separating these areas, just left of Pocket Full of Dreams). However, the walk in will tax little legs (or the adult carrying them!).
Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)
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Nearby Classics
| 24 |  Krankandangle |
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| 27 | Desert Rose |
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| 29 | Eye Of The Tiger |
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| 23 | Pocket Full of Dreams |
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| 26 | After Midnight |
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| 28 | Middle Path |
Nearby Icons
| 24 | Krankandangle |
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| 29 | Eye Of The Tiger |