Routes in North Grampians for selected grade

The straight up problem off the slot and edge.

Same start as previous problem but head right through the twin pockets then up through twin edges and top out.

Starts right of 'Inspector Gadget'. Sharp pocket (LH) to slopey edge, then pocket to jug. 2016 guidebook grade

Sit start 3m left of 'No Sex After Mushrooms'. Up to double pocket and beyond.

Sit start with the a left edge and right hand pocket and head straight through the roof via a slopey rail followed by a big move to a deep pocket. Make another big move to the good edge on the lip, then directly up for the jugs.

A variation within the Butthole Cave. Starts just left of 'Butthole Surfer', then heads directly out through the roof in the direction of the No Sex With Mushrooms boulder.

Sit start at lip on LHS of cave and up left side on good holds

This problem is located on a seperate boulder behind the Da Lai Lahmung area. It takes the major line from a sit start then through the roof.

First cracked bolt has now been replaced (2022), fifth bolt on the route is now also cracked(2024). Best to stay off until all the bolts on this line have been replaced.

Possibly the best route at the Guardhouse. Wave to the scout hoards at Staplyton Campground as you pull to glory through the ceiling. Located on left side of wall. Reachy orange goodness to start to reach prominent roof cave. Over roof and up right side of subtle arête to final juggy wall. 5 UBs and double UB lower-off.

Short punchy number. The 4th bolted route from the left with the white stained scoop in the middle. Up slopers to roof heuco. Over this on incuts then one final tough move to jugs. Chain anchor. 4 RBs.

Named after George the baby gecko, that hitched a ride on a backpack all the way to Brunswick... causing havoc at Jac's place for two weeks before being returned to the Grampians! Follows left-trending line of four ringbolts in centre of crag just right of big scoopy hueco in rooflet. Stroll through delicate start just left of first bolt, locate the secret hold at second bolt, and march your way to glory over steep juggy terrain. It can be extremely difficult to put a draw on the third bolt because the ring is recessed quite deeply (it depends on what type of 'biner you use, some skinny ones go on easily, others are impossible). Double RB lower off.

Start off block, head left under 2 bolt along tricky rail a up and back right to jug and 3rd bolt, head up to anchors shared with Tech Noir

Good pumpy workout on nice orange rock. Starts at left end of cave at small well chalked rooflet. Stick-clip first bolt. Out left across crux roof past two RB's then up scoops on jugs (2 RB's) to good rest. Step right and thug through steep territory past final RB to jugs and DRB lower-off.

An excellent bonus finish to 'Media Puzzle'. From double ringbolts monkey upside down on jugs out right along the horizontal break for 4m past 2 extra FH's then up to chains (crux).

November 2016 - first FH on extension is loose!

A long scary trad traverse from the fourth bolt on 'Media Puzzle' across to the first bolt in the roof on 'Antics'. The middle of the traverse is very un-protected, with ground fall potential very likely.

Classic steep thugging. Mantle onto slab then up very steep horizontals to final roof dyno. Five RB's and double RB lower off. Watch your back when lowering off.

A little short but has awesome sustained and technical face moves. The second ring bolted route up the middle of the clean face on the left side of the block. Sun from around lunchtime. Rap rings at belay.

Middle of the proud orange face hides a tricky move before venturing through the wild roof flake. The headwall can also be climbed for the full tick but adds significant rope drag. Use the fixed hardware and imagination to clean without too much hassle.

5m R of RM. Bouldery fun with some killer moves. Don’t let the seasonal waterfall and somewhat scrappy rock at the start put you off. Seeps at the start (to put it mildly) after rain. Final RB can be tricky to spot in the heat of the moment and is skipped by some.

The clean and pumpy ring bolted face right of the Don. Beautiful pocketed start leads through a technical sequence of quality moves before jugs to the top.

Start as for Jugged on triangular hold and head right on slopers and crimps to finish as for Jugged.

SS with pockets on right side of small but deep cave. Technically up and left via seam and pockets in face to top out .

Sit start with pockets on the right hand side of the low but deep cave. Move up to holds in the seam and left to pockets around the bulge and finish p the face.

SS with letterbox jug past small edge in roof to the lip. Mantle.

SS on slope edges under nose. Back through roof via slot and knob pinch to top out.

Direct, sustained and well protected.

Start: Start 5m L of arete

Start: Start at TPCK of TCA. Up 2m then up and Right on good pockets, to horizontal break (FH). Right to join "Energise your soul"

A very steep link-up of 'Bees Knees' and 'Spunky Monkey'. Up 'Bees Knees' to the diving board, place some optional medium cams then traverse right into the super exposed finish of 'Spunky Monkey'. Route needs to be back-cleaned or 2nded.

The overhung bolted arete just right of a deep chimney where the track first meets the cliff. UPDATE: Second last bolt is loose.

Makes 'Portland Criminals' doable for the average person - and gives good sustained climbing. Up 'Pains Ford' to third ring bolt, then traverse right (FH) across horizontal break and large pocket into 'Portland Criminals' and up this to top.

Kachoong on roids! 50m uphill from Sport Crack is a wall capped by large roofs. This route climbs right edge of wall then swings left across massive roof flake and straight through the guts of the overhang above. 7 RBs.

Starts up the amazingly pocketed wall then moves delicately left through scoop to small flake. Trend diagonally left to anchors.

For those that like their bombs dropped in a straight line we have The Enola Gay .The result being a nuclear wasteland. Starts up Uranium-234 till the 4th bolt then step slightly right to join in on the 5th bolt of nuclear wasteland. Continue up to the anchors of nuclear wasteland.

Delicately up orange wall to first overhang. Bouldery moves over overhang, up and R to second overhang. Brushed wall to top. Retro bolted with permission from the FA.

Start: Start 7m R of 'Yellow Cake'.

A bit weird with a couple of tricky moves, especially if you're short. Starts 5m left of the landmark flake of Cooking in Chernobyl. After mantling past the second bolt, move left up flake then super reachy traverse right to cross Cooking in Chernobyl. Finish up pumpy headwall. 7 RBs + fixed sling.

Steep. Boring adjective but exciting climbing.

Start: Start below overhanging wall a few m R of 'The Short Orange Corner'.

It's imperative that you don't fall (E5, 6a?)! Still, the ethic of this route is vastly superior to the partly bolted contrived boldness of Death on a Stick or 'Diazepam' (until it got retroed).

Start: Start 5m R of 'Epsilon Plus'.

Big shiny ringbolts up short arete left of 'Crossfire'. Only has about 4m of truly indepedent climbing.

Lots of interest in this climb. A long bouldering traverse just off the ground leads to a cruxy move guarding great climbing up an orange streak. It is possible to place small cams on the traversing start but they're more trouble than they're worth as you're so close to the ground - just stick clip the first bolt if you're concerned.

Start: Start about 8 metres right of the Let X=X corner and just left of the boulder on the right side of the wall.

Sherpa Tim leads the geriartrics to glory up this short but intense number.

Start: Original problem on the lefthand side of the wall, starting with a sit-start.

'The Show Must Go On' is a harder version coming in from the bottom right.

From horizontal, up and right to sharp pocket then up to break.

Very low sit-start then traverse left - then back right to finish on the good jug. The direct straight up from the pockets (dyno) is V4/5.

Sit start to right hand line through roof joining PO.

Song from Melbourne Duo 'Time for Dreams'. ...the luminous Amanda Roff muses, “when I wrote the song I was thinking of Norman Mailer’s “Ancient Evenings” where at one point in the afterlife you must swim through a river of actual human shit”. (which might explain the first pitch of AE)!?

Start as for Moon Dreams - across to FH on wall, then R to 2nd FH over lip of roof (and a hidden hold). Now up and R through steep terrain / horizontals (ignore thread on AE) and up to Arete and welcome jugs even bigger than those on the rest of the route. A pretty cool excursion. Trad belay - rap down into gully from higher rap station on pillar. Take med-large nuts and cams to size 1.

The definitive word on ethics? Wall 4m R of Zola. Originally done in 2 pitches but pitch 2 is worthless and it is now a 1 pitch sport route.

Start: Start 4m down L of 'Starstruck'.

A beautiful thin line leads to a large roof at the top of the cliff. You have to be good at placing RPs and other small wires, although the advent of microcams is a boon for this route. Take a rack up to #3½ cam, add 2 sets of RPs and plenty of microcams, a couple of extra middle-size cams for belays, thin sling and many quickdraws. A bolt was placed on the first pitch around 1996 because the original starting stump disintegrated.

Start: Start by scrambling up 'Technical Ecstasy' for 15m to a terrace on the L where the real climbing starts.

1. 15m (22) Pull onto the wall 3m L of 'Technical Ecstasy' past FH, then to flake. Continue to ledge.

2. 35m (23) Fantastic! Step L into thin line. Up wall and follow line up wavy slab to second wave, traverse L at bulge past bolt (carrot), reach past bulge and move back R to line. Up line, dodgy protection at first, to good horizontal break which is where you join 'Technical Ecstasy'. To belay you can either (a) hand-traverse L below bulge to Simpleton's bolt; (b) take the wild crack through the bulge and then move L to belay in the 'Simpleton' corner; or (c) belay on the line, on the slab above the bulge (as shown in topo).

3. 20m (22) Back R to line and up easy slab to roof. Step R a metre and monkey out the juggy flake through the 5m roof.

Might get bumped up a grade once the third ascentionist gets back from cleaning his undies to give us his thoughts. The 18m of new climbing is only 2-4m L of the original second pitch, and can be escaped at a few spots. Otherwise, this version of the second pitch is every bit as good as the magnificent second pitch of 'Missing'. Start: Start as for TE. 1) (25m 18) Do a short version of pitch 1 of TE, belaying above the great initial vertical crack, 5m below the fat flakes. 2) (35m 23) Blast up the classy seam 2m L of the fat flakes, eventually rejoining the original second pitch for it's wild final cracks. Needs a full rack including a #8 hex, plus extra draws & multiples of micro-cams and micro-wires (and a good ability to place them!). Can be very well protected but gear is quite tricky in 1 or 2 spots. The direttissima finish to this pitch, through the bulge onto the top slab, was also done at bold 19 (and is shown in the ACA topo) but the original finish is better. 3) (15m 18) As per the original.

Very reachy, add two grades if you're less than 190cm tall. The original climb bashed its way up to gain the line R of 'Mania' and followed this line until 24m below the top then aided the final pitch.

Start: The advisable approach is to abseil from the top of 'Mania' into the gully R of 'Mania' and do the final pitch.

start about 4m left of The Great Foaming Espresso Machine/ Shining Path. Stick clip the first bolt. Up past this and two more to a fixed anchor.

Upper Cave.

Sit-start on the down-sloping jug and reach out right to gain the upper rampline. Topout if you're game enough.

Upper Cave.

Sit-start in the LH corner and climb out to the good left-trending rampline to finish as for 'Smog'.

Upper Cave.

A V3 that looks like a V5... Sit-start on the rightside of the big hollow scoop and climb up to the big sloper. Topout leftwards via a better hold.

Start on the large sidepull, move left, then up to finish up Probably Dave.

Stand start on side pull in middle of face, up to crimp, then move right to the fin, to finish up Definitely.

Sit start right of the arete, then move left to finish high on the arete.

Probably not the best problem on the boulder. Sandy.

Sit start on the jugs on the arete.

Sit start on the slot before connecting to 'Some Days You Bore'.

Location: The Wiggly Boulder.

Sit-start right of 'Shattering Dreams' matching a big undercling. Slap to the small edge, then mantle to finish. Harder than a lot of other 3's in the area.

Starting from 'Sick Nutter' traverse left through the slopers to 'Paranoiac Critical Town' then top out.

Climb the centre of the highball slab up to the undercling pocket and hidden jugs at the top.

Start on the incut holds on the rail.

The Slab between 'Child of Love' and 'Sexy as a Turd'.

Sit start on the low break 2m right of "Sexy Direct". Slap up to the sloper and out to a jug. Traverse up and left on good holds to finish up "Sexy as a Turd".

Stand-start with high left crimp and low right crimp. Pull on, slap good pocket and punch to better holds on the lip before traversing right.

Sit-start as for "__" but traverse rightward on jugs and crimps to the amazing right hand pinch. From here, head slightly up and rightward to finish on more jugs.

An excellent eliminate of the jugs is possible - (like Tim Tam Traverse but harder), but still a project.

Project no. 43

A stunning highball arete that feels serious for the grade. Stand start at the base of the arete and follow the line. If you get halfway up and decide you're not having fun it's easy enough to step off onto the adjacent rising boulder.

Sit start to the left of D'artagnan. Left hand on high left crimp and right hand on low right crimp (starting foot hold of the V2). Make a big right-hand move into the jug slot and traverse rightward along the lip to finish up D'artagnan.

This line can also be exited directly at about V1-V2.

Some link-ups are hardly worth recording, but this one is notable because it avoids the cruxy moves of each route, leaving amazing sustained climbing around grade 22 with bomber pro the whole way. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a better 23 in the Grampians.

Follow Dance of Life to the horizontal break 10m below the top, step L 3m, and finish up the lovely well protected blunt arete of Clean Sweep. Needs double ropes to do it in a single (ultraclassic) pitch. Has also been done by going further L along the break to Dinosaurs Don't Dyno.

A heady megaclassic ... but also a brilliant consumer-friendly 22 if you lower off the bolts at the top of the flake (25m). Start as for The Seventh Pillar. Follow R-tending line of weakness for 18m to the major roof-capped horizontal break. Swing L into the rounded flake crack and up it. Bolts at the top protect the crux, which is followed by 8m rightwards runout to the horizontal (gear). Traverse 10m further right along this to rap rings (22m rap, can just barely lower off with a 60m rope). Extend all gear before the bolts, otherwise the flake is a real rope eater and rope drag will be hideous.

The old 15mm long (!!) bolt was replaced 2011.

Start: Start at the R end of the 'Spurt Wall' bouldering traverse, at the obvious juggy chalked L leading flake.

Easy tick - more like a bolted boulder problem.

Hard start then reachy moves on pockets. The bolts are all in the wrong places. 3 FHs.

Sandy rubbish at the far right end of the crag. It has a few ok moves but the aesthetic value is very low.

Left most problem. Sit start and move up to the good edge in the break, then gaston and undercling your way out the lip to an interesting mantle. Classic.

Start as for 'Railroad' then finish as for 'Cinema Show'.

Sit start with the good slots just right of 'Railroad' and make a big move (crux) up to the good holds in the roof. Finish as for the mantle on 'Railroad'. Punchy!

Start as for 'Slot Machine' and traverse right into 'Cinema Show'. Finish up this.

An independant and direct line right of 'Slot Machine'.

The line left of 'Kamikaze'. Could be the flakeline ending nowhere in particular.

A variation of the previous problem, but better. Starting off the sloper above the shelf (right of previous problem), make a move left to the good pocket, then cross to the prominent 2-finger pocket and span out left into 'I Must Have Been the Thief'. Finish as for this.

Awkward sit start off the raised platform from two good large pockets, then up directly via more pockets (clue - gaston) to lip jug.

Line just right of 'Anal Head'.

Dangerous. Probably even more committing than 'Kamikaze'. Start off the shelf and reach up for a prominent 'spike' jug, then climb directly out to the deep 3-finger pocket. Turn 90 degrees and place your feet on the holds of the next problem, and make a most worrying couple of moves for the big 'flake' jug out on the lip. 15 spotters and a blow up bouncy castle useful...or just pre-order the ambulance.