Ascents in New Zealand by John Pitcairn

Nice bridging in the chimney until halfway. Exit before the roof and move right then up, whereupon it starts to feel like some old Arapiles classic.

A bit of a sit at the 2nd or 3rd piece before angling right. Should have toughed it out. There is plenty of gear low down.

Was aiming for Self Directed Learning Tool, placing gear, but took the (somewhat) cleaner exit. Really grubby at the top.

Enjoyable enough. Grant led it first.

Think this is new, not in the 2014 guide. Somebody is being cheap, could use another bolt or 2 at the grade. There is another new route to the right starting on the stepped ledges.

Not sure whether we were on this or Climb Into The Unknown. A hard start and some decent climbing after, but very poor bolting means you are looking at a groundfall from the crux between bolts 1 and 2, be careful, do not high clip bolt 2, belayer pay close attention. Grant came off...

Easier than it looks, good bridging, plenty of gear. The 2 bolts at the top are totally unneccesary and should be chopped, there is adequate gear right next to them.

Aesthetic thin crack that screams "climb me". Small but bomber gear, and the top is not runout if you have the right gear.

Draws on. Unmemorable.

Not sure on the grade so top roped it first. Shouldn't have.

There's perfectly decent gear all the way with a miniscule runout to the anchor. Crux getting out of the crack and over the lip. Solid 16 or soft 17?

Meh.

A few dicky moves at 1/3 height but otherwise straightforward and fun. Don't put your gear in the finger locks. Friendly jams up top.

Hardish start and balancy clipping, keeps you working.

Oops. Cocked up the moves off the pedestal and found myself back on it without weighting the rope. Counting that as a fall.

Much better. Managed to bang my head too. Thank you helmet.

One of the best grade 14 trad lines I have ever climbed. Good rock, excellent pro, compares very favourably to Arapiles.

First pitch is a fun trad crack, just clip the first bolt to protect the start. The other bolts in reach are for other routes. P2/3 fully bolted, Allen ran them together. Third pitch easy and rather exposed. A grand new years day outing with Allen and Graham.

Nicely run out. Demoralised and running out of daylight after a horrendously and hilariously off-route FAIL on DB Eh?, had to bail without doing the top pitch. Rats.

We asked Guillaume where we should be going and he indicated straight up, but he was further up the boulder field and parallax was in play. What James started up was definitely not DB Eh, it was somewhere well left of that. After some desperate runout slabbing, not much pro, a #5 cam in a creek, and a sketchy directional-only anchor at about 50m, I climbed up 20m while still belaying and taking in so I could lower James through gear, then we downclimbed to lick wounds. Dodgy-as. Must revisit.

Quite good and absorbing for a face climb.

First climb of the trip after flying into Queenstown. Details a bit hazy. Grant forgot his rock shoes and climbed Get Up, Stand Up in Dave's approach shoes.

Nice broken crack line with good pro. Skipped the first 2 bolts at the top, there is gear nearby. Linked into P2 of Bon Anniversaire.

Tricky start leads to fun moves through the roof. Terry pulled a jug off seconding through the roof, I hadn't discovered it on the way up anyway.

P1 only. Crux gave no trouble this time, just a bit crimpy. Grant didn't want to go through the roof so we didn't do P2.

Most of the bolts have been removed (good stuff Guillaume), making this a great single pitch trad line. There is pro near the bolt in the upper quarter, if you have brass offsets...

First pitch great, second pitch runs over a few ledges. Grades may be incorrect?

Accidentally attempted a direct start, straight up out of of La Belle Vie. Ha.

Stupidly hot and demoralised after a 1.5 hour belay-only session in the sun on Fata Morgana. Good crack that doesn't need anything bigger than a #2. Managed to get the rope semi-trapped in 2 notches behind me, to finish up the excellent headwall crack with stonking rope drag. Would give it an extra star if I wasn't so hot.

I think this is the 15 we did.

Current guide claims it's 17

Shade! Gear at the start is spaced and less than ideal, then you get to yard up on a large detached block, oo-er. Top crack protects well and leads to an amusing beached whale topout and ledge crawl to the anchor.

Meh, face climbing. Fun move right at the top.

Hardish start then nothing to get excited about.

Bloody great! Slick right wall makes for some fun alternative moves. A bit of jamming goes a long way.

Draws on to roof. Can't see how you'd pull the roof at the grade, turned it on the left. No small amount of loose choss under it and dirty above it.

Made the first clip harder than it needed to be. It's all over after bolt 2.

Ok I guess. Anchors a long way back, hangers only. Traffic noise makes this crag unpleasant.

Awful awful wet weetbix.

Some confusing bolting on P1. P2 has a potential ledge fall with the lowered first bolt, but felt soft for 17.

Deserves no stars. Crimps and high-steps again. Not as good as Heart of Darkness, just harder but more repetitive and ultimately more boring. Got off just as the sun hit like a bomb. Lots of choss above these routes just waiting to come off, wear your helmet!

Pretty good, not just crimpy face climbing for a change.

Short evening session at the end of a rest day. Did it the wrong way, straight up the arete until 2nd bolt then right. Draws on.

Good short fun, some kind of slappy nonsense at the top arete.