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Ōtepatotu

Type
Altitude
640m
Part of

It may take a while to get a grip on the name:"O-te -pa-to-tu", or "Ote" for short.
There are some excellent routes here, particularly low-grade trad climbs which are well-protected and reasonably long. The rock configuration means that most of the better routes have a compact, knobbly lower half (nice climbing but sometimes with little pro), and a steeper, more featured upper half.
In northwest winds the crag is sheltered, though it's very exposed at the top. Avoid it in a southerly.

History

The crag was first visited by a group of wandering climbers in 1973, producing a series of excellent routes. These are the classic ***Ultimate Horror (16) - later "enhanced" with two bolts and *Deviant (17) by Tim Wethey, **Oblivion (16) by Mike Franklin, *N.S.U (14 ) by Mike Perry, and *Diploma (14) by Warwick Anderson. These visits established the crag, but the next new route was not until five years later with Hugh Logan’s **Eliminator (18). The crag’s hardest climb was produced by John Allen in 1979: Walk on the Mild Side (23). This necessitated a 7m fall due to removing hands from the rock at the wrong time! Another Allen prize was **Altar (21), the spectacular arete that gives the crag its profile. This was top-roped in 1973, but the difficulty (for the time) and limited protection preserved it for seven more years. Also climbed in 1980 were John Howard’s Falter (22) and Greenstick Fracture (20). Roddy McKenzie added Cabbage Milkshake (22). During the 1990s the crag had a few new routes put in by Hamish Dunn & Rob Battersby, mixing trad climbing in with bolts. Alan Hill and friends also put up some trad routes, mainly on the small cliffs to the left of the main wall, during the 90s and early 2000s.
In 2011 seismic events forced a re-evaluation of local climbing, and Otepatotu became a preferred destination because of the absence of damage to the crag and ease of access. A track was cut to the base, all the existing lines were cleaned, and many new routes and variations were added, the main protagonists being Joe Arts, Lindsay Main, and Hugh Logan. A few routes (The Ultimate Horror and Dead Heroes) were retro-bolted, and bolt anchor stations were established along the top of the crag. Gorse-infested corners were cleaned out and development started on the left side of the main cliff (left of Walk on the Mild Side), resulting in about 15 new routes and variations. Many of these were of unexpected quality.

Apart from the main crag, with routes listed below, there are three smaller crags to the left, the Left, Middle, and Right Buttresses. The routes on these are listed separately for each crag.

Image
Walktime
5 min.
Aspect
South West
Lat/lon
POINT (173.01474668 -43.750841)
Topo50
BX25 012 558
Access

From Christchurch, take the Akaroa highway to Hilltop and from there the Summit road. About 3km past the Okains Bay turnoff is the Ōtepatotu Scenic Reserve, with the crag as its dominant feature. A track leads to the top of the crag, which is a pleasant spot.
To access the cliff, follow the DOC track for about 50 metres, and at the top of the steps look for a marked track on the left, which leads directly to the right side of the crag (about 100 metres). Take care of the native vegetation, but there is an open season on gorse!
The climbs are described from left to right, so the first-named climbs are at the far end when you reach the crag.

Add Place Add Route

Places

Type Name
Sector Lefthand Buttress
Sector Middle Buttress
Sector Right-hand Buttress

Routes

Reference Title Grade Length Pro Quality Operations
F ** k CERA 13 5m
0
Lost In Space 15 20m
0
Alpine Arete 13 25m
0
Crack In The Wall 17 25m
1.02
Chimps In The Mist 17 25m
0
Bloodless Coup 16 20m
0
The Jungle Book 13 20m
1.02
Kipling 20 20m 4
0
SA Sequoia's Arete 21 22m 4
0
Que Sera, CERA? 19 28m
0
Ca Cornucopia 15 28m
1.02
The Dyslexic Agnostic 16 25m
0
Belle Epoque 15 28m
0
2R Second-hand Rose 23 25m 1
0
SR Step To The Right 13 25m
2.01
Barbed-wire Canoe 15 28m
0
Walk on the Mild Side 23 20m 3
0
BP The Black Plague 17 25m 2
0
CF Chocolate Frog 14 15m
0
Deviant 17 20m
1.02
Ud Undeviated 19 25m 1
1.02
Paradise Regained 16 15m 1
1.02
Paradise Refound 15 20m
0
PR Paradise Roof 18 20m
0
Paradise Lost 16 15m
0
Sticky Fingers 17 20m
0
PE The Psychedelic Era 14 20m
1.02
Addendum 14 20m 1
0
Dark Matter 18 25m 1
0
TS The Shoveller 13 25m
1.02
No Horror 16 20m
0
BE Bygone Error 19 25m 4
2.01
UH The Ultimate Horror 16 20m 2
3
A Main's Calling 21 20m 1
0
PI Pleasant Interlude 19 0m 2
2.01
Gorsegeous Groove 16 20m
0
Cosmology 20 25m 3
0
Hb Hubble 19 25m
0
SS Space Spirals 16 25m
0
SC Seismi City 18 25m 2
0
Deforestation 17 20m
0
L'Abre Day 18 0m
0
FN Flowers in the Night 16 15m
0
DH Dead Heroes 19 15m 4
0
GG Gorse Gully Left 11 10m
0
Climbing 101 17 10m
0
Gorse Gorse Right 13 10m
0
Acid Queen 17 6m
0
Da Diploma 14 15m
2.01
NS N.S.U. 15 20m
1.02
El Eliminator 18 18m
2.01
Banksy 19 25m 7
2.01
Super Vegeman 13 20m
0
FM Falaise Malaise 20 20m 5
2.01
Ob Oblivion 16 22m 1
1.02
VC Voie Classique 17 0m
1.02
Fr Falter 22 24m
2.01
Ar Altar 21 24m 2
2.01
CERA The Terror 18 25m 6
0
C Claymore 16 22m
0
Path de Pierre 19 22m 5
2.01
Cheniv de Pierre 21 22m 2
0
LV Little Vibrator 17 22m
0
Cabbage Milkshake 22 22m 2
1.02
Vitesse Terminale 19 22m 4
0
Eleanor 17 20m
0
Space Inflation 17 20m 5
0
Forewarned And Forearmed 18 25m 5
0
Space Force 16 20m 5
0
Greenfingers 17 20m
0
Space Pooh 17 20m 5
0
Retrospective 18 20m 1
0
The Constant Gardener 16 20m
0
The Tailor Of Panama 17 20m
0
Greenstick Fracture 19 20m
1.02
Comments
This place appears in
Attribution
Information by Lindsay Main & Previously hosted on website by John Davis

UUID
 
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