A Crag Guide gives an extensive view of all sub areas and climbs at a point in the index. It shows a snapshot of the index heirachy, up to 300 climbs (or areas) on a single web page. It shows selected comments climbers have made on a recently submitted ascent.
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Contributors
Thanks to the following people who have contributed to this crag guide:
Philip Jakobsson
The size of a person's name reflects their Crag Karma, which is their level of contribution. You can help contribute to your local crag by adding descriptions, photos, topos and more.
Table of contents
- 1. Mt Chaos East Face 1 in Cliff
- 2. Index by grade
1. Mt Chaos East Face 1 route in Cliff
- Summary:
-
All Trad climbing
Lat / Long: -44.610561, 168.267803
description
Remote alpine style big wall offering a true adventure. Parties need to be confident at the grade with sparse protection, have good climbing fitness and be capable of handling tough conditions. Access across the Dart may be impossible after heavy rain. Route is typically only good in mid-summer conditions (mid Jan - mid March, needs a couple of days to dry & the wall seeps).
Gear: A double rack of cams to #5, at least one #6, one set of micro-cams, one set of nuts, 2x60m ropes, 12 quickdraws and aiders, maillons & some tat.
approach
From Chinaman's Bluff road end, walk the first 15 minutes of the Dart Track until the riverbed is reached. Cross the Dart River at a safe place and follow the track into the Deans Burn Valley for about 1.5hrs until an open tussock flat is reached. Continue across the flat to the bush edge on the far side which has been used as a base camp.
From Base camp continue up the valley on the track until the second stream (as of 23/03/2024 there's a cairn) - about a 5 minute walk. Climb up the dry stream bed for 2-2.5hrs until you reach the first big ledge. Locate a fixed rope about 6m long (be careful, the fixed rope is on its last legs, so don't trust it) then scramble a further 15m up to a second fixed line (missing as of 23/03/2024, but an easy scramble). Traverse left for 20m to locate the third fixed rope (also missing, but also an easy scramble) and to the right you will see the bottom bivvy ledge, "The Kea Terrace". This is last place to collect water.
The start of the route is 30m past the bivvy at an obvious crack system on the left side of a buttress.
descent notes
Most parties descend from the top of the 17th pitch. There are bolted anchors for rapping. A comfortable bivvy ledge can be found at the top of the 11th pitch.
From the top of pitch 5 (single bolt rap station), raps are straight down, even though they look diagonal in the "Queenstown Rock Ice & Boulders" guide. Many rap stations are a single bolt, or a single bolt joined to a manky piece of gear by a suspicious looking bit of tat.
/73/05/73051fc79e0ec5b8c5053b9bf68442416faaf11e) |
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| Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
★ Chaos Theory
If you want to try this climb just be aware that there are runouts on wet/vegetated rock 15-30m between gear! P1 (16) 55m - Climb the grassy gully to the right of the small roof above the bivvy. The anchor is a bolt and a very manky nut. P2 (16) 55m - Continue up the crack to a small grassy ledge. P3 (16) 40m - Traverse left underneath the overhang and a parallel crack for a natural belay. P4 (17) 60m - Traverse left and up smooth face with good but spaced pro on small flakes. The next anchor is a bolt and piton above a ledge. P5 (9) 60m - Traverse to right and scramble up the steep ledge. Single bolt anchor. P6 (9) 60m - Easy scrambling to find a bolt and a nut anchor (this anchor seems hidden/non-existent - we set up a trad anchor at the base of P7). P7 (13) 60m - Easy climbing up a buttress to a trad anchor point below a steep section. P8 (16) 40m - Dirty crack. Keep on the ridge side of the corner to a single bolt anchor (you can back it up with a #4). P9 (19) 35m - Bouldery start on a sharp-edged corner to a ledge, then up a crack to another. Watch out for loose blocks. Go left off the crack to a DBA. P10 (19/A2) 40m - Head to the off-width. Must have at least one #6 and doubles of #4 & #5. Free climb the end of the chimney to DBA below a roof. P11 35m - Easy traverse right to bivvy ledge. Use the bollard at Big Rock for anchor. P12 (13) 60m - Walk across to the other end of the ledge and go straight up buttress to DBA. P13 (13) 60m - Easy slab. P14 (19R) 40m - Traverse left a little and go up the crimpy face to a DBA on the right. P15 (19R) 35m - Slab with scarce placements. Veer right to a vertical crack and a DBA. P16 (18) 35m - Aim for the roof through the crack system. Set up trad anchor below the roof. P17 (16) 60m - Skip roof through the right side, then a full rope-length straight up to a DBA. Descent: 13 double rope raps following a direct line from the top (not all anchors are rap points) will lead you back to the bottom of the route. FA: Stanley da Costa, Reese Doyle, Alan Bischoff & Danny Murphy | 19 AID:A2 R | 830m, 17 | |||||
2. Index by grade
| Grade | 
|
Stars | Name | Style | Pop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 A2 R | ★ | Chaos Theory | 830m, 17 |