Chorlton Crag is a very small but interesting crag along the Chorlton Road between Little Akaloa and Okains Bay, about 500 metres south of the bend in the road at Stony Beach. The crag is often used as a Plan B option when higher, more exposed locations such as Otepatotu or Starvation Gully have been swallowed by the Banks Peninsula easterly.
The crag is very small - about 10 to 15 metres maximum - but has a variety of fun crack climbs at a range of grades. There are no abseil stations, but an abseil rope can be set up using some small trees to speed up descents. If you have a short lead rope this is a good place to use it.
Permission must be obtained from the land-owners, Noel and Nicola Donaldson, phone 03 304 8703, or by calling at the farmhouse at Chorlton above the sharp bend in the road 1.5 km past McHales Road.
Best parking is about 200 metres uphill towards Okains Bay. From the road walk up about 20 metres to the left side of the crag.
Routes
| Reference | Title | Grade | Length | Pro | Quality | Operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congenial Defect, 18 | 18 |  |
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Harmless looking corner on the far left. Bridge easily up on to the platform and then balance up the short steep corner and over a sloping top ledge. Small gear. |
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| Nocuous, 19 | 19 | |
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A left-facing corner on the left of the cliff. Start among the bushes on the left and climb the easy corner to a ledge, then bridge up, place gear in the corner and pull through to the top. |
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| Couth, 18 | 18 | |
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Up a right-facing corner and pull through a small roof onto the ledge on the left (crux), and up the V-shaped corner above with good small gear. |
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| Crepit, 19 | 19 | |
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Directly up the arête on good holds to small ledges. Then climb the right-facing corner crack with tricky moves to gain the top. There is a direct start up the steep corner (20) |
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| Eptitude, 14 | 14 | |
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Start at a thin crack and pull up on to a large platform. Climb the double crack corner past blocks. |
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| Descript, 16 | 16 | |
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Same start; then up a thin crack in the face. |
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| Shevelled, 17 | 17 | |
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A thin crack beside an arête, gained by pulling past a block (left or right). Then jam up the crack. |
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| Chalance, 17 | 17 | |
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A prominent right-facing corner, with a curve to the left. Thin bridging and face climbing may create more chalance than you expect. |
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| Bilitated, 20 | 20 | |
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A steep thin kinked crack on the right side of the wall. Good protection. |
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| Sipid, 17 | 17 | |
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About four metres right, start up a crack and climb past a bush to a small ledge and up. |
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| Sideous, 16 | 16 | |
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A low-angle dirty groove which the abseil rope usually comes down. |
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| Route 66, 18 | 18 | |
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On the yellow and black wall. Climb the groove to half height, where the gear starts to run out, and move right to a horizontal crack. Pull up on to the ledge and bridge to the top past small wires placed blind. |
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| Panelbeater's Corner, 15 | 15 | |
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Just right of the tree. Up the groove by a protruding rib to a wide crack, finishing in a right-leaning corner. Good protection. |
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| Combobulated, 14 | 14 | |
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Wide left crack in a recessed double crack system. Unfortunately quite dusty from loose rocks that have been removed. |
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| Scrutable, 15 | 15 | |
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Right side hand crack starting from a pea-pod. A rock on the right arête is loose but not removable. |
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| Esoteric Arete, 18 | 18 | |
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Directly above the ngaio tree boulder the arête on its right side to small ledges. Then climb the hand crack through a small roof. |
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| Gruntled, 18 | 18 | |
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You will be by the top of this. Balance up the V-groove and pull into the niche. Jam the crack through the small roof and up the short crack above. |
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| Dolent, 16 | 16 | |
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Start just right and move onto a ledge above a tangle of scrub, then climb the nice crack. |
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| Delible, 10 | 10 | |
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From the same start move further right to a wider, easier crack and up. |
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| Evitable, 12 | 12 | |
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Through the scrub to the right by a tree. Start up the low-angled wall with no gear, and gain a crack to the right of the bulge to finish. |
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