★★ Pisa Wall 17

Classic and sensational, it is the textbook introduction to country climbing.

Start: about 1km from the Hut along the road to Worcester, a farm road turns off to the left through orchards and crosses the river to a conspicuous bungalow, A sloping ridge immediately behind the hose leads straight up to the left of the face. After passing a large scree curving up into the face, first to the right then back to the left. Using this to cut out 60-70m of bushy buttresses. The climb starts at the first rock band encountered after following the sickle, about 45m right of the skyline of the buttress.

1. Climb an obvious chimney crack to a ledge.

2. Scramble diagonally left to the skyline and follow the ledge for about 60m round to the left hand side of the buttress. Scramble up to the next rock band at the foot of a prominent rib of rock.

3. Climb a sloping break left of the crest of the rib.

4. Climb an obvious break right of the crest of the rib.

5. Climb along the line of least resistance to a projecting rib of bulging boiler plates.

6. Traverse 10m right onto the crest of the ridge. Climb a short recess and follow two chimney cracks to a platform on top of huge blocks.

7. Step off left and traverse about 3m. Climb up a short face and go slightly right to the base of a narrow crack. Move up the crack to the top and then right and up to a stance.

8. Scramble up on the right then traverse left to the skyline. Continue around the corner for 3m, the up 3m to gain a narrow foot rail on the level of the overhangs. Traverse left around a block to gain a stance, or 2m up to a better stance.

9. Descend to the lower stance, then traverse 3m left and up a few blocks to a shallow recess. Climb up the recess 5m, then diagonally right to a small foot rail. Traverse right into a recess with a crack in it. Climb this recess then move left to a ledge.

10. Traverse 2m left, climb an open recess and out to jutting rib on the left. The stance is on the ledge that runs left. Traverse along this ledge 60m to a stance immediately left of projecting red overhangs. Note that there are several direct variations through the rock above the traverse before reaching Pitch 11

11. Pull up on a slab. Move up and then an awkward move over to the corner on the left. Traverse left to a chimney and climb up to a ledge.

12. Follow the recess above to a ledge.

13. Move diagonally left. A high handrail will enable one to traverse out left and gain a small ledge.

14. Traverse left along the ledge for some 8m. Climb a rib of square, broken blocks to a narrow ledge. Traverse 9m left under a small overhang. A step across enables one to gain skyline corner/rib and traverse to a small block stance.

15. Traverse left to a shallow depression and climb up to a small overhang. Traverse left to the corner and then up it to a stance.

16. From the stance, move left of a meter of so and continue up a chimney/crack to a wide ledge. Walk right and continue further up the chimney/cracks to a stance.

17. Two rope lengths along the knife edge lead to the summit.