At the bottom of this gully are the Drawbridge Slabs. These have no named climbs, but provide a lot of good balance climbing and some hard eliminates.
Routes
Reference | Title | Grade | Length | Pro | Quality | Operations |
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Cyan, 16 | 16 | |||||
Start up the groove at the right hand side of the Drawbridge slabs. Meander |
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Magenta, 16 | 16 | |||||
Start more or less as for Cyan, but at some point trend right and finally |
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Zigzag, 16 | 16 | 14m | ||||
Tucked in a corner at the edge of the overhangs. Start as for Squeezing out Sparks, but exit via the forked crack (16) or zigzag up the easier line right of this (13), stepping around the roof. Going too far right will take you onto steeper ground with increasingly loose holds. There are also three ways of starting the bottom. By increasing difficulty; up the SOS line, the crack one metre right of this, and the groove/chimney two metres right, above the undercut. The latter of these is strenuous and has scant pro. |
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Savage Slipstream, 20 | 20 | 14m | ||||
The wide crack near the left edge of the roofs. Climb easily up blocks, then right across slab to the crack. Good holds and jams. Crux is getting your body over the lip. Brute strength may not be enough. |
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Squeezing Out Sparks, 20 | 20 | 14m | ||||
The twin cracks right of Savage Slipstream. Easily into a cave then up the wall to the roof. Good holds lead to the crux at the lip. Good pro. |
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Donjon Direct Start, 17 | 17 | 0m | ||||
Start 2m left of Donjon. Straight up to join the top of Donjon. Some pro. |
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Donjon, 15 | 15 | 0m | ||||
Start at the base of the small groove. Awkward first move. Then move left and up on jugs. Quite serious and exposed. |
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The Age of Chivalry, 17 | 17 | 0m | ||||
Climbs straight up the groove that Donjon escapes from. Sparse pro, delicate moves, quite lichenous. |
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Alcazar, 13 | 13 | 0m | ||||
Nice climbing on smallish holds. On the left side of the wall right of Donjon. Pro a bit sparse – not your safest first lead. |
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Rambling Man, 12 | 12 | 0m | ||||
The right side of this wall. Exit over blocks to the top of Hellfire Gully. |
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Hellfire Gully, 6 | 6 | 0m | ||||
A truly alpine experience. Cavers can finish by grovelling under the block at the top. The main features of this route are: (1) It's a great classic ascended in 1913 by Edgar Williams. (2) It’s a usual descent route from the Keep. |
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Peter Tor-toise, 21 | 21 | 0m | ||||
Climb the crack where the first protection for Bill's Hat goes. Thin. |
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Bill's Hat, 21 | 21 | 0m | ||||
High up in Hellfire Gully, on the right hand side of the bulging wall on the right hand side of the gully. Place what pro you can in the crack above the blocks (wires, very small cam). Sloping holds lead one out right to more of the same, followed by a strenuous reach up into a layback position then easier ground. Adequate pro, improves with height. |
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Belfry, 17 | 17 | 0m | ||||
Climb the easy route up the wide cracks on the right side of the slab, then wander up on a similar line and move right below Bill's Hat. The bottom crack is the easy descent route. |
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Yellow, 18 | 18 | 0m | ||||
Destroyed in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. An alternative first half to Magenta. Start in the same groove as the previous two routes, but climb the nose of rock at about 6m and to the right, either to its left or swing right below it then up. Pro in the left hand crack just above the nose. Head up the 'slab' to the loose blocks (pro) then over these and left to join Magenta just before it heads right below the top block. Not much pro at the bottom, but an enjoyable variation. A bit loose in places. |