Mount Arapiles

Oli on Kachooong!

Our first climb at Arapiles was called Arachnus, a grade 9 climb that goes straight up the Watchtower Face on the eastern part of Mt Arapiles. What is this place you ask? I asked myself that same question continuously, this mysterious, perfect rock that rises up out of flat farmland in Western Victoria.

Juggy juggy juggy!

Geologists have several theories about the origins of Arapiles-- my favourite is "The Asteroid Theory," basically that a giant asteroid fell from space and hit the sandstone that was underwater millions of years ago. Over time, and will the help of seawater, this fusion of rock has formed the sandstone/quartz that you find at Arapiles...there are other theories. But it's hard to find rock this good quality anywhere in the world. Arapiles is one of those mythical places that travelers will go, planning to stay only 2 weeks, and a year later they're still there. I can easily see why-- there's over 3,000 recorded climbs at Arapiles, and still counting. The history of climbing, starting in the early 1960s, is also fascinating. I found it very fitting that the last climb I did there with Nath was the second climb recorded at Arapiles (Siren, grade 10).

Nathan leading Agamemnon, a fun but scary chimney

I had had only one day of practicing to climb trad with Nath at Mt. Piddington in the Blueys, but this was the place to learn. Some of the most classic climbs at Arapiles aren't especially difficult, which means everyone (including me) gets to enjoy them. This is not at all the case in the Blue Mountains, where most of the classics are graded super hard, 23+.

Placing gear: how to protect yourself while climbing trad. I placed that bomber wire!!

A few of the climbs we did: Piccolo on the Organ Pipes (a section that actually looks like organ pipe), Agamemnon Chimney, Muldoon with 3 stars. The day we climbed Muldoon, we were climbing next to one of Australia's greatest climbing legends, Louise Shepherd, who made a name for herself back in the 70s and 80s. She lives in the local town of Natimuk, and climbs everyday, and she's over 60!

One night, it was unusually warm and we decided to go night-climbing. We strapped on our head torches and set out from camp to the Organ Pipes to climb a 2-pitch grade 11 in the moonlight. The stars were unreal, but under the full moon it was so bright you barely needed a head torch. The climb was great, but unfortunately we got super lost at the top to get down (few anchors in Araps, so you can't always rappel back down). In the darkness, we couldn't find the track to lead us down the back, so we spent 2+ hrs bushbashing our way through the woods, trying to spot cairns and lead us to the next one. At one point, we were so lost, we were in a small canyon that was clearly another dead end. But we finally found a trail down the back, and by 2am we at last made it back.

We were teaching Nath some French, while Oli learned/improved his English. He's improved a lot, at forming phrases, asking questions, and especially cursing in English. When the 3 of us climbed, Nath would say all the protocol in French, like "Départ!" or yell the colour of the rope he was climbing on, "Jaune, c'est moi!" It was a good way to practice his French.

Me leading the first pitch at Tiptoe Ridge

I did a few leads, one practice one on a small little crag separate from the Mount, an easy but steep grade 5, just in time to lead Tip Top Ridge the following day, in 4 pitches. The boys practically solo-ed the entire thing since it took me so long to place gear and build an anchor at each belay spot. But still, it was good practice to learn to build anchors, and how to belay on two different ropes through your ATC.

Belaying the boys from the anchor

The wildlife is all so incredible! There are kangaroos everywhere, cute little rock wallabies, and wallabies. I even saw an echidna 50m below when Oli and I were climbing The Bard (it was a momentary and much-needed distraction from the terrifying traverse I was on). The birds are insane-- you hear them all, especially in teh morning. Kookaburras even sound like monkeys-- plus lorikeets, parrots, cockatoos, wedge-tailed eagles (known as wedgies), kestrels, magpies, and other little fat birds.

The not-so-fun side of the wildlife here were the mice. No matter where we stashed our food, they would find it. First we tried in Nath's tent, then the car trunk, then discovered that the mice had gotten into the car and were eating through all the bread. We thought we had devised the perfect plan to store it in a Tupperware--until someone left the top too close to the stove and melted it. Back to square one. Finally we did like in the Smoky Mts (with da bears) and strung up a bag on a rope on a tree (possums, anyone?)

An echidna, we spotted this cute cuddly little thing one day

One afternoon Oli and I climbed The Bard, a classic at Arapiles, 5 pitches at grade 12 ("Grade 12 my ass! So much harder.") with two truly terrifying traverses. In retrospect, the traverses weren't really that bad, it was the mindset that it was a grade 12 and would be easy. In fact, for the first traverse there are no hand holds, so you just have to rely on your feet to get you across....except there are no footholds either. When I started the traverse, I started full-out panicking, something I haven't done in a while--- the kind of panic attack where you just want to cry like a 5 year old, stomp your feet and say "I want to go down!" (It was at this moment by the way that I saw the echidna below, and almost forgot about my predicament!) But the last two pitches of The Bard were gorgeous, Oli did a fine job leading them. Nath sat this one out, but asked me to translate "Have Fun!" into French so he could spell it out on the ground while we climbed 100m above. We played a joke on Oli and this is what we wrote instead:

French lesson #34: "Oli-- va chier"

On Monday of our second week, we did a half day at the Pharos, a big block of stone fully detached from the Mount, and some of the most gorgeous rock in all of Arapiles. "Lamplighter" was a grade 14, known as "a 25 for the price of a 14". Gorgeous arêtes, lots of funky climbing and traversing across the back of the Pharos. There were a few hard moves but luckily Oli was right behind me, showing me how to shift my weight and reposition to optimize the hold.

Kaiser Resignation (or we call Kaiser Regeneration) was a blast, straight up through the heart of Tiger Wall in 5 pitches. The boys took turns leading the pitches, and I led the 12 at the top which was great because I felt like I was actually contributing. To get back down off the cliff from Tiger Wall, you have to pass through Ali Baba's cave, a cool cave at the top of the Mount, that leads you through to the other side where you can abseil down. It's like a castle!

One night Nath took the time to teach me how to do a few rescue maneuvers, such as how to use a prussic (a simple cord that you wrap around your rope to pull someone up). I built a practice anchor, then built a super simple pulley system to hoist up Nath (playing my dummy, who's supposedly knocked unconscious); as well as Nath showed me how to prussic up the rope on my own, if I were ever stuck--useful stuff if you or your partner is ever stuck in a crevasse.

Discussing anchors on Eskimo Nell

At night around the campfire, the boys would exchange and teach other different knots, while I would practice mine in the corner (and fail miserably... )

On our second to last day, Oli climbed "Kachoong!", an epic and picturesque roof, grade 21. He didn't go the right way out of the roof, missed the piton and took a hard 10m fall against the rock. We thought he might have fractured his heel bone; Nath whittled him a crutch.

My last climb was with Nath on Siren, a gorgeous grade 9, like an easier Watchtower Crack with nice moves. The last pitch was epic, good gear the whole way except for the last crack which was a bit run off. But the thrill of leading it was priceless. It all clicked!

Oli, me and Nath with Mt Arapiles behind us