Ascents of Cornerstone Rib having Beta

An interesting day where we started with 5 and ended the day with 3 (no one fell off! 2 members bailed at the top of pitch III). We started at around 8am and returned at 11pm for a 15 hour day.

Initially this was climbed as 2 parties of 2 and 3. Marlee and Erika were the first party. I was with Anna and Jessie. We did not climb the pitches as numbered here. I will number the 'official' pitches in Roman and our pitches in Arabic numerals.

Excellent climbing. Loved the exposure on pitch IV! I would argue the climb is sandbagged because the move on pitch IV is harder than 14. Perhaps a grade 15/16 move? The rock quality on much of the route, especially the final 2 pitches is somewhat dubious, but good quality placements can be found with a little investigating.

Anna led the first 2 pitches (combined pitch I/II/III).

Marlee then made an attempt at pitch IV, but was a little spooked by the moves off a directional nut she placed and retreated. I then had to catch up so the full party was on the belay ledge. I led pitch IV (as pitch 3) while Erika and Jessie elected to bail due to anticipated time constraints. This later proved wise.

Rope drag was substantial on pitch 3 and 4, but otherwise uneventful. Anna led pitch 5 (combined pitches VI/VII) and earned the glory of summitting first.

Descent down the Green Glacier was confusing. Our beta is as follows.

1. Descend the gully until you find the rap chains.

2. Abseil off the chains for around 35m until the terrain eases off.

3. Walk down the Green Glacier for a while, navigating some steep bits.

4. Once the greenery ends, you should keep walking until you end up on a ledge with rap chains on the left side (facing out). This is beyond the tree with chains and containers of radioactive water attached.

5. Rap down to another ledge, follow the track into the trees on the right (facing out), initially down then up briefly until you see a cairn on a rocky outcrop. There should be some chains there.

6. Rap down to the ground ~50m.

Great climbing, mega classic. Nicer to climb with cool temps

Awesome day out. Well paced and easy enough climbing but committing and adventurous. Lovely day out. Crux pitch is certainly exposed, climbing with a pack is never fun. Good day out! Linked the last two pitches into one. Baby's first trad anchor!

So stoked to tick this climb after first seeing this line on a bushwalking trip almost 3 years ago. We decided to rack up at the hut and departed at 7:15 with 2x sets of wires, cams 0.3-3 with doubles 0.3-2, some hexes and 16 alpine draws. We lost the track a bit when crossing the side creek as we were too far from the confluence but were at the base by 8:15 and climbing as a party of 3 by 8:30. Pitches 1-3 were combined into two pitches with minimal gear placed putting us ahead of schedule. P4 was the one to remember, traversing out onto the face to gain all that exposure, putting in some gear and trying to follow the path of least resistance up was a highlight. Michael bravely look the lead at P6 after lugging the backpack up the 1st 5 pitches for a 2:30pm top out. Leisurely lunch on the summit with the skinks and chatted to a hiker on the return to the hut for a 10.5hr day total. The descent took longer than expected however it was not helped by me tossing 100m of rope off the 1st 10m down climb/rap into a big tangle in the bushes below. The radios were very useful and our 2L of water per person was adequate.

What an incredible adventure! Excellent leads by Rory Hentshel and Michael 'Monty' Burns, with sherpa Jordy in tow! Crux pitch, slung horn, deep breath, traversing face left for a few m, climbing direct to regain the rib, MAGIC!!!!!!

Honestly this was an amazing adventure, completely lives up to the hype! It’s a great line, awesome position with nice climbing the whole way and solid pro.

Very cool descent through the Canyon too, although worth noting that the last abseil with a 70m rope only gets you to a small ledge approx 3m above the large one, requiring a largely safe but still exposed down climb

From Balor Hut, we had a 1hr approach (including some route finding), 5hr climbing, 45 mins at the summit, 2hr descent and 45 mins return for a 9.5hr day.

An excellent alpine outing. 10.5 hours car to car from Pincham Camp Carpark.

Probably wouldn't recommend this as anyone's first 14... Also wouldn't recommend doing it in approach shoes. There's fuck-all gear on it either so maybe don't bring the rack at all.

Simul-climbed pitches 1-3, first time climbing with progress captures. Bottom to top in 5 hours. Beautiful seeing the Green Glacier in daylight this time. Took a more left/arete route on the grade 12 pitch this time for better rock quality and easier climbing.

Lovely day out in a beautiful location. Left Melbourne lunchtime Friday, arriving at Pincham shortly after midnight. Departed from the carpark at 0630 after a few hours sleep and a much-needed coffee. Climbing was straightforward and enjoyable despite questionable rock but we were slowed somewhat by route finding to/from Dagda saddle and a wet descent. Led P1/2, 4, 6/7. Around 11 hours car-to-car then a few hours drive onwards toward Frog before a comfortable roadside bivvy.

Late start as we woke up at 7:30 due to the grueling hike the night before, trad gear is heavy!!! Nicole and I chose cornerstone and Yim and Rob went up Lieben. Talks from Yiom claiming he would climb so fast he would also get up cornerstone in the same day. The day was gorgeous with no clouds and pristine blue skies and thankfully cornerstone is in the full sun to make it warmer with that cold breeze constantly blowing. We scrambled up the first pitch and roped up at the base of the second pitch. There are some scary moves on the second pitch so I was happy to be attached to a rope. Pitch 4, the crux, and quite a few scary moves, thankfully Nicole found great pro and we had made some headway, although it was starting to get later than we had hoped. This being my first big trad multi I was quite scared to lead and so Nicole did most of the leads, I jumped in at the end and linked the last 2 pitches. A solid tree anchor at the top and we toped out with enough sunset to finish the rappels. Yim and Rob toped out at the same time as us, got down the mountain just as the dark was descending and walked back by our led powered suns, portable enough to be carried on our heads. Why did we decide to do phoenix the next day after we got back in the dark for a much shorter multi...

2nd time up Crater Bluff, beautiful feature! 2/3

Fond but sad memories from my previous ascent of this with Nick. Did it today from Blackmans camp with Dave and Jonty. The rocks average but the experience is great.

Great day out and awesome climbing line. Descent was pretty fun too. P1+2 and 5+6 linked.

Spectacular. Just as good the second time.

After being munched on by bed bugs, depleted by Frogs, and drenched at Kaputar, finally we made to the 'bungles hoping to not get Bungled. We woke up early at 5am and were rewarded by a solid layer of ice at camp Blackman (must be -4C or so, wtf). Powered by two tea bags each, we made it to the base of CR by 8:15am. Mark combined P1&2 in 12 mins. I led the third and in usual fashion took forever to make an anchor. Unfortunately, it felt like the Antarctic was just a stone throw away, with icy winds on top of P3. Mark lead the spicy 14 and I combined the 5&6, which seemed like a choss factory but was really a lot of fun. We topped out at 1pm and soaked in the sun. The heavy downpour the day before meant the Green Glacier was wet af. We took our time to not lose our limbs in the sea of loose rock and ferns. All in all, a day to cherish!

Great excursion! Scraped thick ice off the car at 5 am and made it to the base after 2 hours of hiking. Romped the first three pitches, partly just trying to keep warm. Felt Pitch 4 was slightly old-school 14... The "horn" is much smaller than I expected and really obvious when you see it. It's tempting to keep moving up and left several times after the step round the arete, but it's pretty much straight back up after the initial traverse despite seeming unlikely territory from below. Pitches 5 and 6 looked glorious from my belay vantage - could just have done with a little sun. The decent was ok but a little bit sketchy. "Green Glacier" means scree-filled gully carpeted in ferns and bramble. Everything was still a bit wet and a few large boulders are quite keen on making something more of their lives. Still, it added to the adventure and I've yet to do a mountains multi without opportunities for additional spice on the trip back to camp. Definitely get on it, and don't worry too much about route finding - just stick to the absolute point of the arete pretty much everywhere you sanely can.

Fuck yeah was so sick to be on the exposure of the infamous (actually famous for good reasons) Cornerstone Rib!! YEW. Cold day but did it full expedition style with Haz, Dyl, Lee, Jordy, Nick and Isaac. Squad up on Cornerstone. Returning was a mishy in the dark, limited light and in slippery gullies, but got it done and a classic late return to camp. Good fun and intro to adventure climbing. I'm keeeen to get back to the bluies and send it on more mad missions!! so much to do there

Man what a day, such awesome exposure and climbing, really fun despite the hectic wind we had to deal with on belay ledges. Started on who knows what to the right of the actual start but got back on track after that. Highlight was definitely waiting around for 3hrs for sunset only to realise half your party didn't bring fuckin head torches. Sick

great mission with the whole crew up this thing. was going to do an 8 person simul train up, but decided best not to, with some of the guys being their first Bungles climb here. was a full day and got back late, but its only a true trad mission if youre back at camp in darkness, with the moon lighting your way home.

Left Balor hut early at 6am to beat the crowds. Luckily we did, because we managed to get lost on the way there. Started up wrong pitch (stiffer than 8) off to the right of actual. Realised when we got to start of 3rd. High winds in the morning were very chilly, easing up a bit when we went higher and became more protected and the sun came out. Absolute classic, choss and all. Standout pitches for me were pitch 4 and 5. Waited around at the summit until sunset, when the entire party made it up. Descended via Green Glacier as it got darker, totally benighted by the time we got to the second rap. Made it back to camp at 9pm.

8 person simul up cornerstone rib baby. Unfortunately it was not. But a KILLER day! Climbed with my man Baron St Battler khsuhdogmillionaire Super flowy climbing and good to repeat with the fellas who hadn't done it before. Beautiful scenery as always and an awesome walk through the green glacier.

Woo! First big multi above 40m, and I only cried once! Hectic mish and fun climbing.

Lives up to the hype! Pulling onto the crux in a total whiteout and 50 km winds was pretty damn memorable

Weather was great. Relaxed introduction to the bungles.

Noice

5 pitches. The crux pitch horn felt looser than a few years ago

A nice day out. We started at 6am and reached the base at about 7:30am. The track off the hiking trail is getting overgrown. I'll link the GPX trail we did without getting lost. We simulclimbed the route in 2 pitches with microtraxions every 30 meters, stopping at the end of pitch 4 to belay my seconder up the 14 crux & reset gear. I took a double rack of cams from 0.2 to 3, 18 alpine draws, and 4 microtraxions. Back at the car by 1pm.

GPX Downloads: https://caltopo.com/m/F8F4H