Routes in Free State for selected grade

shares anchor with TP

There are various fun and easy problems on the south side of the boulder climbing the well featured face.

Start sitting with both hands on a big ledge and top out.

Stand start to COW CORNER.

This route starts right of STICKY WEEKENDS and veers left to join that route.

Starts in the middle of the boulder on the west side.

Line on right hand side of west face of boulder. Good balancy face moves.

A good route not in the usual vain of Swinburne in that this is a Trad route with bolts when and where there is no Trad gear. The abseil and belay stances are also bolted. The line uses natural lines of weakness to get to the very top grasslands of Rensbergs' Kop. The summit beacon is 15 mins hike from the top stance.

It however remains essentially a Trad route and climbers need a good sense of mountain craft and Trad skills. The first and second pitches need 3 or 4 size 5 and 6 cams. For the descent a minimum 2 x 50m ropes and 4 abseils. If using 60m ropes it can probably be done in 3 abseils.

Route

1. 23m (17): Climb up the wide crack to the foot of a narrow chimney. Move up this, passing 2 bolts in a narrow section then exit onto a ledge. Move 1m right, then up a slab to a ledge. This is with a huge crack to the left and an a overhang of rock above. Two bolts on this pitch.

2. 23m (16): The money pitch. Climb the slab with several large cams for protection. Then right over easy slabs to below a bolt. Climb delicately past the bolt to a semi-hanging stance below a bushy recess. One bolt on this pitch.

3. 25m (15): From the stance move right into a V shaped recess, then diagonally right up a slab to a step up in a recess and past a chock-stone. Then up left to a vegetated ledge and chains. (This is the final abseil point on descent if using 50m ropes) Note: the large cams are no longer needed and can be left at this point and fetched on return abseil. Three bolts on this pitch.

4. 23m (12): From the chains, move left 9m to an easy ramp up a small buttress. Then around the left and pull up onto the platform on top of the buttress to chains. Three bolts on this pitch.

5. 48m (14): A long and easy pitch, but requires good rope management, as rope drag can be an issue. From the chains, climb up the easy slab for 5m to a long ledge. Move 18 m left to a scruffy recess and step over this to a bolt, then up easy slabs till it steepens. Climb the juggy face, then right to a bolt and up to chains. Five bolts on this pitch.

6. 35m (18): From the stance move right to a bolt and then up easy stepped slabs with trees on either side. Then right to the edge of a bushy recess. Climb pasts bolts up the steep face to a bolted stance just under the final overhangs. Five bolts on this pitch.

7. 18m (18): Scramble into the deep recess, then back left using a tree to stand on (this becomes much easier if able stand as high as possible on the tree). Pass 2 bolts and pull awkwardly onto an easy slab. Move up and then traverse left. Gain another ledge and then up to another to the final chains. Five bolts on this pitch.

Descent

1. 45m From the top of pitch 7 to the top of pitch. It is best to pull the ropes down from the left (facing the rock) of the trees or they may tangle in them.

2. 48m Top of pitch 5 to the top of pitch 4 on the small buttress. Take the straightest line possible to avoid rope friction. It is best to pass above the trees in the gully - this line will take you past an older set of abseil anchors and this may be a good place to stop as there will be less friction when pulling the ropes.

3. 10m Short abseil to the vegetated ledge. This will be longer if you stopped at the older anchor mentioned above.

4. 45m to the ground.

Note:

From the top of pitch 7, it is possible to hike up to the summit beacon then hike and scramble south to along the mountain until able to descend and back to Appin Farm. This is a fairly long walk and navigation is not entirely straight forward.

Climbs the crack-line starting 4m left of the corner chimney on the right hand side of the inverted V slab above the forest. The route is left of HONEYCOMB.

1. 17/18 35m Follow the crack-line for 35m till the anchors.

Note: A 60m rope just reaches the bottom with a bit of a stretch, take care and put knots in the rope. Possibly safer to use 2 ropes.

This is actually quite a moderate route and is over-graded in comparison to other routes in the area (and country, in general). The fourth pitch, currently graded 15, is probably 9 and no other pitch harder than 16/17.

Note that the route is laid out in a manner entirely different to other routes in the area - some pitches are in excess of 50m long and require as many as 20 quickdraws. A 60m rope is necessary.

It is possible to avoid the final pitch by walking off towards the left. Descend by hiking around the back of the mountain and down the gully between Eagle Crag and Eagle's Head.

Be aware that there are chains in the vicinity of the top of the route that appear to be abseil chains, however, it is unclear whether it is possible to abseil the route and at least one party has been rescued after becoming stranded on a ledge.

Start just to the right of the previous route. Step up off the block and climb the steep face by starting up the stem of the Y-shaped crack line. Move up the left-hand crack line at the fork and continue up to the chains. This line uses the anchors at the top of the previous route - see note above.

To the right of 'Siesta' there is a deep, wide crack in the boulder. Layback up the right-hand side of the crack as far as possible, step out to the right and then continue straight up to the anchors which are shared with the next route.

Climb the line of bolts up the black water streak. The bolts are quite widely spaced.

Climb up just to the right of the black water streak. Tend slightly right towards the top. Climb the higher crux by laying away to the right. Apparently some of the holds have broken off near the top of 'Tundra' and 'Polar Crossing' making these routes more tricky than expected.

Start towards the right-hand side of the north face. Pull up awkwardly onto the rock then move diagonally right to the arête. Continue up, on or next to the arête. There is a thin move near the top but going left up the diagonal break is just as tricky.

Start just to the right of 'Chill Out'. The start is tricky and the next few moves are also quite thin but the climbing eases off higher up. Be careful clipping the second bolt

There is only 1 chain at the top

Shares the anchors with S&M.

Ascend from the lowest point on the wall and then through the shield near the top.

Right next to the dead tree stump.

The route follows a prominent open book crack for its entire length.

Hanging belay route on the left of the main vertical face.

1. 17 3B A

2. 17 6B A

Follow the bolts just to the right of the black streak left by water.

Absail down the ramp and start from a tree on a small ledge. Climb the on angle slab.