Ascents in Mt Maroon

Nice route...evil approach..even eviler descent...benighted with Brendon and Allisa, thank God for LED features on cell phones.

Got half way up the 3 pitch when a thunder storm hit so we had to down climb pretty fun outing

again but never again!

Ruby of ledges

First trad multi-pitch, props to hipyhop for the route finding and leading. Great adventure! However finding the path down from the summit was difficult.

"Yeah mate, was here 48 hours ago. I know the approach, the start, and where the rap is..." - John Sullivan

We set off on a late start, confident of what was ahead. But this wasn't how it at all went down. Met at the Boonah bottleo at 10:30 cause I promised Johnny I wouldn't make him do the Maroon approach sober. 30 degree day, condis on. Rocked up at the carpark at 11:30 after overshooting the turnoff by a large margain. Carpark VBs x2 and rack sorting. Left the carpark at 12:30. 1 beer for the walk in, in high spirits with our pace as Johnny swore off the sprint to the start of Beau Brummel that he was subjected to 2 days prior. Kept veering down riht on the approach certain we knew the way only to choss bash our way back to the main track several times. Eventually got to the scramble point (where you're meant to turn right on the faint track) for Johnny not to remember any of it, so up we went until the brain was jogged and he was certain that we were in the wrong spot. Jack on the phone looking like he was having a a comparatively lax day, telling us how we were off track and running out of light. The smugness from this call stoked a fuel in Johnathon's heart that meant we absoltutely had to do this climb no matter what. We eventually found the start and geared up. Pitch 1 was the smoothest of the day, no wukkas. Overshot the belay but wasn't an issue. Rope drag on pitch 2 is absolutely fucked, worst pitch of climbing I've done in my life. Grade 2 choss bashing with 1 ton of rope pull behind you, places 1 token cam on the entire pitch and gave up ensuring the belary was right because moving was near impossible. Johnny started effectively soloing the pitch to help out the drag. Decided we were in the right spot after much debate on the characteristics of a "gnarly tree" and how many there were, johnny started up the crux pitch, placed my black totem, decided it was not the right start. Downclimbed , left gear in the wall, untied, pulled rope, retied, scouted for the real start and found it 2m to the left around the most awkward boulder mantle of our lives. Found some more gear, went back for the totem, then reloacted the belay.

Pitch 3- 5:00pm Johnny sets off again on the real pitch 3, slowly but steadily. Pretty gearless in sections. Spends roughly 45 mins working the crux but screams with delight at the top. I start secondsing at around 6:30, lights fading rapidly. We link 4-5. Give Johnny a courtesy call to let him know there's about 2m of rope remaining. We do a bit of chossineering with some grigri work and manage to free a bit of rope up and he says he'll call me back. 2 mins later I'm getting a 9pm call from a mystery number. "MOSHI MOSHI IT'S YIMIN". "Shut the fuck up yimin im waiting for a call from Johnny" sorry fella, was a stressful time. Another call that he's out of rope but mid mantle on the top out. NOTE: 70m link up means 70m not chopped 67m rope. So the call is for me to take apart the anchor and climb up a few meters simul in order to build belay. Goes smoothly then we set off on the final climbing, which flows alright. Best part of it all? We're climbing in the clouds for the entirety of the final 2 pitches in the dark. Worst part? Clouds aren't fluffy, they're very wet. Top out to the ominous red light that's been staring at me for 70m at 10pm.

The descent Part 3 of Johnny's knowledge, the rap. We wonder around for about 45 mins looking for the chains at the top of Phaedra. No luck, decide to walk. We choss bash in every direction across mount maroon until we finally decide on a gps direction to walk. More choss bashing, find the fuck off big forked gum and the creek, then the trail. It's 11pm. Shoes off, barefoot descent down to the start of ROI where we left our approach shoes. Johnny goes off to get the shoes, gets lost again, requires guiding after looking for the trail back for 30 mins. 45 min near silent walk to the car. Ipswich maccas for 2am dinner, In bed at 3. Glad I start 1pm starts at work this week.

Honestly, overall 2 star climbing, way too much choss. 4 star experience.

Sensational! One of SEQ's best multi-pitches. Beautiful winter climbing but was chilly with wind and is in the shade from 10am - 4pm. 9 hours from car to car for us. Start was a bit tricky to find but once we located Egg Rock (look for the painted P) we managed to scramble to the start and the route finding was pretty good from there. Be careful of rope drag on pitch 2 (easy climbing but a lot of drag through the zigzag). Pitch 3 is the money pitch, but pitch 4 and 5 are good fun as well. Accurate grades, lots of gear placements and generally stunning scenery. Highly recommend!

Climbed with Scott Braithwaite & Joel Kite. Been wanting to do this climb for a long time. I lead pitches 1, 3 & 5. Scott lead pitch 2 and Joel lead pitch 4. Great day, Great Trad climb.

Nice airy climb and moves on pillar

Presuming bridging is allowed at this grade

Hmm, may have been first climb of the day syndrome, but There were about 4 good metres in this. Too much of a bolt matrix

A few bits of trad wouldn’t go astray.

Not sure what the description means with the “aid“, lots of good crimps to go straight up

Felt pretty soft for the grade, and I’m not just saying that because I seconded, Dave felt the same.

You wouldn’t want to not on sight this. A fall would be rather dramatic given the spaced bolts and crap gear

Pleasant warm up

The first half was nice, then we went around arete quite high, above final bolt on Fidelity. Dave put some side runners in the crack, otherwise the snap factor seems too risky. Definitely not a classic.

Led half the climb. A busy day, we were the middle of 3 parties so spent more time waiting than climbing. Should have got up earlier Nevertheless it was a really nice climb that exceeded expectations except for pitch 2. Continued to the true summit before walking down. The 2 pitons people have stressed about recently on p3 are both old and rusted And clearly been there for a long time.

I like cracks.

Great climb! Hugged the cave. Sharp little finger pocket and up you go. Had a whole lot of fun on this one with a variety of moves.

Nice cruisy climbing. Bit of endurance.

I would have to agree with it being somewhat terrifying!

I did the climb then went and proposed to my wife!

A very bold lead

Rain nearly ruined our day, blind persistence won again though.

Great day out in the mountains, not sure I would rush to repeat it though.

I did the 18 variant this time, head of fun. Although I did lead the last pitch in the dark and the walkout took ages because one of our party didn't have a head lamp.

Great climb, lead every pitch.

Must do at VPB!

Hard to find and get too. Awesome chimney double crack.