Golden Wall

(7 routes)

The climbs on the Golden Wall are some of the best around for their grades. It is possible to continue to the top of the crag, but most people choose to lower off after climbing the first pitch.

Altitude: 
1600m
Type: 
Wall
Aspect: 
East
Walk time: 
20 min
Reference Title Grade Length Quality Bolts Gone Natural pro Link to edit content
1 Cyclops 21 ,18 40m
2.01
wire representing trad
Into and out of the slanting pod — the Cyclops’s eye — on the line of overhangs, then up and right to a natural belay. Reasonably awkward to protect. Take CDs to 2.5, wires, and a big thread sling.
#EwbankAlpine (Technical)Alpine (Commitment)Alpine (Mt Cook)AidWater IceMixedBoulder (Hueco)LengthBoltsTrad
12118mYes
 

Into and out of the slanting pod — the Cyclops’s eye — on the line of overhangs, then up and right to a natural belay. Reasonably awkward to protect. Take CDs to 2.5, wires, and a big thread sling.

21822mYes
 

The wall above.

2 Sous Le Monde 26 15m
1.02
5bolts
Up the right side of the Cyclops bulge. Move left after the third bolt. Five bolts, double bolt belay.
Kester Brown
3 Electric Earth 24 ,17 40m
2.01
5bolts wire representing trad
Start up Sous Le Monde, continuing straight up at the third bolt. Nice rock, slightly overhanging, 5 bolts.
#EwbankAlpine (Technical)Alpine (Commitment)Alpine (Mt Cook)AidWater IceMixedBoulder (Hueco)LengthBoltsTrad
12415m5No
 

Start up Sous Le Monde, continuing straight up at the third bolt. Nice rock, slightly overhanging, 5 bolts.

21725mYes
 

Continue to the top on natural gear.

Kester Brown, Dave Kennedy, December 2004 (pitch 1); Martin Owen (pitch 2)
4 Ape to Angel 24 25m
3
9bolts
Instantly classic. Thoughtful moves on edges and slopes up the immaculate wall, then move left at the roof. Nine bolts, double bolt belay.
Kester Brown, John Palmer, February 2005
5 Kismet 27 20m
2.01
7bolts
The central line on the wall. Start as for Ape To Angel, but bust straight out through the roof on slopers and edges with a final move crux. Seven bolts, finishing at the same belay as Arturism.
John Palmer, February 2005
6 Arturism 25 20m
2.01
7bolts
The right-hand line on the wall. Grapple through the roof by slapping the sides of the huge fridge-sized protuberance. Seven bolts.
Kester Brown, February 2005
7 Trango Tragedy 22 30m
2.01
wire representing trad
Good gear all the way and heaps of exposure. Start under the obvious overhanging chimney, at the right end of the orange wall. Climb crack systems in the steep wall to gain the bottom of the chimney either directly or from the left (crux). On the first ascent, a section of hanging blocks was tackled to get into the hanging chimney. A no.6 Trango cam was lost about here, hence the name. Shortly after, Richard Turner ‘spent hours removing vast amounts of debris . . . including five or more half-metre lumps of free-hanging death’, thinking he was cleaning a new route. Take double ropes, thread slings and a full rack.
Cliff Ellery, Kevin Barratt, 11 January 2004
UUID: 
6b1818b0-9193-4692-8b23-25e205f11f8f