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Walking the Plank

Grade
23
Length
121m
9
Natural pro required
Quality
3
First ascent
Pitches 1-2: Edwin Sheppard, Greg Kolbe Mar 2015.
Pitches 3-5: Edwin Sheppard, Dave Spooner Dec 2017.
Bolted by Edwin Sheppard with assistance and cleaning by Greg Kolbe, Matt Holcroft, Jono Dawson and Alex Kiechle-Cornish.
Located on
Topo ref
2

This line follows a giant crack/chimney up the left side of the large central gully which splits the buttress. The first two and a half pitches were climbed ground-up on trad, but there are now a couple of bolts at the crux on the first pitch. The last two and a half pitches are bolted. Every pitch of this route is worth doing in its own right... no boring bits! Note the hardest moves (3rd pitch) are on bolts. All anchors are bolted.
Descent: The line is a very easy rappel. All pitches are less than 30m so it can be done with a single 60m rope. Every rap leads you directly down to the previous belay, except for the first anchor which is slightly right of the rap line but is easy to swing across to.


  • P1
  • 22
  • 26m
  • 1
  • Trad

Slabby left-hand rising traverse leads to a few tricky slopey side-pulls protected with one bolt. This establishes you in a corner/chimney system which you power up to the first belay. DBC belay.


  • P2
  • 19
  • 22m
  • Trad

A lovely hand crack turns into a mildly overhanging off-width. This pitch is awesome, bring big cams (could even use a #6 camalot! Note the thrutchy crux is run out ~8m if you do not have anything bigger than a #4 camalot. DBC belay.


  • P3
  • 23
  • 28m
  • 5
  • Trad

Continue up the corner system on good gear until it runs out and you hit bolts halfway up the pitch. Try to find a bit of a rest before you hit a challenging sport crux (hard 23). Mantle out to the belay. DBC belay.


  • P4
  • 21
  • 30m
  • 9

Follow the bolts up the shallow corner and then traverse right to the steep but juggy arete. Some small holds bring you back left to the belay on a bush ledge. DBC belay. Note there are a couple bolts missing on this pitch due to a lack of battery power! Soon to be corrected.


  • P5
  • 17
  • 15m
  • 6

Pure fun! Up the short wall with awesome features, mantle over onto a low-angle friction slab leading to the anchor a few metres below the bush line. DBC belay.


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