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Golden Wall

Type
Sector
Altitude
1600m
Part of
Whakapapa Gorge

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.

Walktime
20 min
Aspect
East
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Routes

Reference Title Grade Length Pro Quality Alert Operations
1 1Cyclops, 21 21 40m
2.01
  • P1
  • 21
  • 18m
  • 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.

  • P2
  • 18
  • 22m
  • Trad

The wall above.
2 2Sous Le Monde, 26 26 15m 5
1.02
  • P1
  • 26
  • 15m
  • 5

Up the right side of the Cyclops bulge. Move left after the third bolt. Five bolts, double bolt belay.
3 3Electric Earth, 24 24 40m 5
2.01
  • P1
  • 24
  • 15m
  • 5

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

  • P2
  • 17
  • 25m
  • Trad

Continue to the top on natural gear.
4 4Ape to Angel, 24 24 25m 9
3
  • P1
  • 24
  • 25m
  • 9

Instantly classic. Thoughtful moves on edges and slopes up the immaculate wall, then move left at the roof. Nine bolts, double bolt belay.
5 5Kismet, 27 27 20m 7
2.01
  • P1
  • 27
  • 20m
  • 7

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.
6 6Arturism, 25 25 20m 7
2.01
  • P1
  • 25
  • 20m
  • 7

The right-hand line on the wall. Grapple through the roof by slapping the sides of the huge fridge-sized protuberance. Seven bolts.
7 7Trango Tragedy, 22 22 30m
2.01
  • P1
  • 22
  • 30m
  • 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.

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6b1818b0-9193-4692-8b23-25e205f11f8f