Ascents in Tāmaki-makau-rau / Auckland by John Pitcairn

Not bad. Didn't use the bolts. There is a shallow but OK nest of 3 micro nuts and a #0.2 cam left of the crux bolt, a good stance to place those before you tiptoe around the nose, then a good #1 nut after the crux before you head up 2m of easy climbing to the anchor. No runout. I call 17, in no way is this 18/19.

A top rope nudge. Niggly left shoulder really didn't like the big palm off pressure moves. Decided not to wreck it pre-Arapiles, backed off. Then lockdown happened and Arapiles didn't.

Bouldery start, the low bolt is not at all silly. The weetbix out right is sufficiently disturbing. Softish 18.

More or less alzheimers onsight again. Good thinking fun though had to wait a bit after the traverse due to a little rain en route. Still a tad slick up top. #2 & 3 ball nuts, 2x WC zero #2s.

There's gear. It's not great gear but it'll do. A #3 cam would probably go in the drill hole but I didn't take it up, duh.

Hand & toe crack jams. Forgot draws so just cams, er...

Good fun, jammy start, exciting wee traverse, nice moves above. Ball nuts were handy. Not sure its 19 though.

Better overall than Frenz, and the bottom moves are harder especially if you stop to get a high piece in before committing.

Bottom is good but top is not, seems a tad loose up there. 18 is very generous, thought 16 perhaps?

Procrastinated at crux. Chalk helped.

Summer mornings are way too hot here.

2 hexes, 2 small nuts.

Without the cleaning rest this time. A really good route spoiled by some dubious rock.

Plenty of gear in the thin crack, avoid cams in the wide crack at left. Nice.

If you don't step in from the right after the first bolt it might be 17-18. If you do it's 15-16. With sketchy extended traverse at the top to retrieve a quickdraw from the crippled Peanut butter Jam anchor.

I reckon 19. A nut on one of the top anchor bolts has come off, there is a 1 bolt & chain anchor there right now.

Sans sunblock

Another go for fun.

Direct start, makes clipping the first bolt tricky, more 18 ish done like that.

Almost onsight. Flailed around a bit initially getting off the ground, with a dead end foray out right before reading the moves well up left. Second clip a bit nervy.

Pulled through the lip this time, that's probably a bit harder than 16 if you lack reach. Lots of suss rock and guano under the roof, definitely an adventure, lots to think about apart from the moves. Get on it now before it falls down.

Grunt up past the drill hole then delicately up the headwall. Mind the gorse.

You'll get down on a 28m rope on stretch...

It totally goes on gear, and the stances are solid. RPs useful for the top crack. PS: it's more like 17.

Sat on the 3rd bolt to clean a pile of of little chips off the crucial handhold but otherwise clean. This is actually pretty good I reckon, sustained through the middle and nice moves through the face topout. Unfortunately you may need to trust bridging onto a dodgy pillar out right through the middle, don't put too much weight on it!

Fell after a handhold came off. 16 might be a bit generous, but then again you need to be very suspicious of many many holds. Park your belayer a long way off. The dry tool route makes use of the rather more solid and much blanker left buttress by the look of all the chipping and scratching.

It's either overgraded or a bit contrived (if you aren't supposed to jam the obvious crack) or both, but quite nice. Would go on gear.

Overgraded, more like 17. One nice move on the arete.

A lot less nervy if you clip the bolts. The big flake handhold up on the left has come off, but its absence leaves a lower handhold.

Good fun, just be a bit careful where you put cams, prefer passive gear, and you'll want plenty of extension.

Greased off a low handhold after sunblocking up. Chalk please. It's all over after about 4 metres of prancing around on a face climb.

On gear with one bolt.

One rest on the bolt at the arete but pretty good.

The arete is not as sequency as I thought, and handled the top better too.

Fun, pretty easy but keep your head together getting across and up to the second clip.

Belayed Grant's onsight without paying sufficient attention, then had a go myself. Quite small holds getting past the second bolt, spent a while going up and down before committing.

Rested on the top bolt figuring out the feet, but handled quite well in the end. Maybe next time. The gorse adds spice to the top-out, as does the loose handhold out right over the lip.

Nicely balancy in places. Better than just average, but perhaps not quite good. Hm.

Finally on some actual rock. What a slack winter.

Several rests.

Yup its good. Less complex than bad behaviour, nice balancy moves up to the groove then good bridging until you can step across above the wee undercling roof.

Smooth, really varied, fun.

On to bad behaviour anchor, a tad vegetated up there.

Top rope. Mostly figured out the bottom, had a good go at the top but ran out of steam after the bolt and lowered.

With scary traverse and downclimb to Gothic Groove anchor. Ok for the leader, really nasty potential consequences for second.

Leading something to prevent vague sense of slacking.

Good lead Grant. Yellow HB cam has perfect size and reach for a high piece from the initial ledge.

Gerald led. Think we need to paint large white Xs on a couple of blocks below the ring bolt.

Some kind of weird back/hip injury making today troublesome.

I think this is immediately right of the Satellite Spies buttress. Did the left tips crack only variant, 17 seems about right for that.