Friday, February 03, 2006
Mount Buffalo 29th Jan 2006
Set off from Albury at 7.15am and went via a shortcut along Carroll's Rd. First up we walked up to Le Seouf Peak and found Peaches En Regalia (10). I figured I might lead this one so off I went. A reasonable RP protected the first 3m which was a corner - just when I got a bit too high a great #3 Camalot went in. From then on gear was sparse and the climb followed small cracks up a slab. I'd definitely recommend doing this climb if you're in the area as it's only a 5 minute detour on the way to the Castle.
Next up we headed for the Keep, and ran into some VCC folks who had just returned from there. One of them was kind enough to take us there and point out some climbs. Andrew started up Drawbridge but the gear wasn't good enough for him to go past the initial flake. I managed to get an extra cam in up higher but I'm not sure how good it was and I wasn't confident enough to commit to moves above it. Andrew ended up toproping it.
By now the day was very warm - we had been sweating a lot while on the climbs. We had lunch and then headed down to the Gorge to toprope Beowulf, which both of us did. Last time I tried it I hadn't been able to get over the initial bulge but I got through that this time and fell off on the crux. Eventually hauled myself up it - I got the impression that it would require a good level of fitness due to the strenuos laybacks.
Anyway after that we were both of the opinion that it was too hot, so we went down the hill and had a pot at the Porepunkah Hotel before heading home.
Good to get out climbing!!
Next up we headed for the Keep, and ran into some VCC folks who had just returned from there. One of them was kind enough to take us there and point out some climbs. Andrew started up Drawbridge but the gear wasn't good enough for him to go past the initial flake. I managed to get an extra cam in up higher but I'm not sure how good it was and I wasn't confident enough to commit to moves above it. Andrew ended up toproping it.
By now the day was very warm - we had been sweating a lot while on the climbs. We had lunch and then headed down to the Gorge to toprope Beowulf, which both of us did. Last time I tried it I hadn't been able to get over the initial bulge but I got through that this time and fell off on the crux. Eventually hauled myself up it - I got the impression that it would require a good level of fitness due to the strenuos laybacks.
Anyway after that we were both of the opinion that it was too hot, so we went down the hill and had a pot at the Porepunkah Hotel before heading home.
Good to get out climbing!!
# posted by Stephen Gordon @ 7:44 AM 
