Every time I drive to the Glass House Mountains I get struck by the same feeling. Driving along a section of road, you round a bend and the towering Mt Tibrogragen comes in to view. From the road the south-eastern face looks like the head of a gorilla, and I always get the urge to climb and explore the exposed cliff faces seen from the road. Having only single-pitch experience I had avoided the longer climbs that the mountain offered, but today that was to change.
Leaving Brisbane before dawn we arrived to the base of Mt Tibrogargan not long after sunrise and made our way to ‘Desperation Wall’ to begin our climb. We set off under clear blue skies on ‘Zeitgeist’, a 120m multi-pitch grade. I led the first pitch, a 35m (17), then sat on a nice ledge and belayed Joel on his way up. We swapped lead with Joel climbing the second pitch, a 38m grade 13, then I finished the route by leading the final 45m grade 15 section. Not the most difficult climb, but the longest I had done by a great margin so I was happy to not exert myself too much and concentrate on my multi-pitch technique.
Arriving at the top we scrambled up past the final bolts and rested in the shade of some caves. We enjoyed the stunning view and the impressive cave formations before heading back to the ledge to abseil back down. Not having too much previous experience in rappelling down my heart in my mouth as I leaned back over the edge of the cliff and lowered myself down.
It took a longer than expected to abseil all the way back down but I was more than happy to take our time and make sure we did it safely. As we climbed with two ropes we were able to rappel down in longer sections, but it was a lot harder to manage, especially as we had to pass some climbers ascending. A few tangled ropes and a dropped belay device later (luckily we had a spare) we were on the ground and ready to return home.
I was very happy to complete my first multi-pitch climb, and can’t wait to go back for more! And thanks to Joel for literally showing me the ropes.
More photos here
Leaving Brisbane before dawn we arrived to the base of Mt Tibrogargan not long after sunrise and made our way to ‘Desperation Wall’ to begin our climb. We set off under clear blue skies on ‘Zeitgeist’, a 120m multi-pitch grade. I led the first pitch, a 35m (17), then sat on a nice ledge and belayed Joel on his way up. We swapped lead with Joel climbing the second pitch, a 38m grade 13, then I finished the route by leading the final 45m grade 15 section. Not the most difficult climb, but the longest I had done by a great margin so I was happy to not exert myself too much and concentrate on my multi-pitch technique.
Arriving at the top we scrambled up past the final bolts and rested in the shade of some caves. We enjoyed the stunning view and the impressive cave formations before heading back to the ledge to abseil back down. Not having too much previous experience in rappelling down my heart in my mouth as I leaned back over the edge of the cliff and lowered myself down.
It took a longer than expected to abseil all the way back down but I was more than happy to take our time and make sure we did it safely. As we climbed with two ropes we were able to rappel down in longer sections, but it was a lot harder to manage, especially as we had to pass some climbers ascending. A few tangled ropes and a dropped belay device later (luckily we had a spare) we were on the ground and ready to return home.
I was very happy to complete my first multi-pitch climb, and can’t wait to go back for more! And thanks to Joel for literally showing me the ropes.
More photos here
