Ascensioni di Xanthene

Alternated pitchs. Quite an adventure.

Great climbing, both 17s were thought provoking and consistent with just the right amount of runout to keep things spicy!

as per comments for TMWF, the descent route (and the base of the right hand face of Jawbone) is horribly overgrown now with awful needle scrub. Definitely marred our experience! Still pulling out splinters...

Topo is hard to follow (especially from the bottom of the crag) due to numerous scrub that is now growing on the faces. Photos were clearly taken after a recent bushfire.

2nd go, still epic adventure. Everything's so overgrown now, like climbing through a forest. I led all pitches. I combined pitches 1+2 and 4+ 'Xanthene Direct' . Since the alcove belay point on the left side after pitch 2 is still completely overgrown, and since I last time created a hanging belay right under the first overhang, I this time climbed above 'Speigal's Overhang' 's 2nd belay to a tree about 8 m right of the 2nd bolt of Xanthene's pitch 3. From there, I traversed to the bolt—thrilling traverse, totally enjoyed it—and clipped it, then went straight up to the crux on the 2nd overhang. Had to sit until I remembered how to do it. Overall, mega classic route! Highly recommended!

Hard crux...not 17. Fall could see your fingers in bad shape on that move so think carefully about gear and appropriate instruction to your belayer.

My first trad outdoors, 3 pitches - looks nails from the car park then good when you stand at the bottom - great day out.

An epic trad adventure! Superb slab climbing due to awesome rock quality.

• 1st pitch is a good warm up. It also gives you an idea of how many shrubs and (very spiky!) bushes there are to deal with.
• The 2nd pitch, described in the guide as an 8, is totally overgrown. The crack in the middle, which would provide easy holds to make this climb an 8, is almost not reachable anymore, making this climb more like a 12 or 13, with some runout sections. At the end of the 2nd pitch the guide suggests to traverse left to a “large ledge in the corner”. The corner is totally overgrown, no ledge accessible anywhere. Instead, we built a hanging belay right under the overhang (bomber anchor points).
• 3rd pitch is a proper 17 if it did not have this crux. Michael negotiated that thingy for 30 min on lead (and made it up there!). Even when I seconded this pitch, I struggled big time. The crux is more like a 19 or 20 move. It’s also very hard to do if you don’t have a less than 2 m wingspread. Great belay spot right above the crux, though. Makes it great to watch the seconder struggle
• The 4th pitch is great sustained 17 slab climbing with very delicate holds. Could do more with some pro, though. I loved the traverse on the “wave”.

We found the guide deceiving, since Xanthene ends about 69 m above ground, leaving another 40-60 m to the top. So, if you want to climb this route, you actually climb 5 pitches altogether.

We decided to climb 'Xanthene Direct' (16) after the 4th pitch, linking both. Ended up with a 65-m long climb and some rope drag at the top.

Totally deserves 3 stars for the crux and everything above it, i.e. super great grade 17 slab climbing.

What an adventure! Wet feet made pulling the lip a bit of a struggle! Couldn't quite do it on second. Pretty sure we messed up the length of the actual pitches from the guidebook, and we had a major prickle bush traverse.

Awesome thin slabbing.

Quite run out and insecure on the grade 17 pitches.

Run out fun!

Lots of vegetation, first 17 pitch is very good, the second is a bit runout but also interesting.

Fantastic crux pitch. Fun for the whole family. A little toasty in the sun.

With Mark M. Fantastic friction slabbing and some tricky overlaps.

Led 2nd pitch. Great route!

With Tirnh and my new muscle top. Sustained climbing with a mega crank around roof..

really good

Rad climb up really fun terrain.