4wding and Hiking Around Mt Beerwah

Just a few photos from my hike around Mt Beerwah looking for some climbing spots. Lots of fun 4wding and bush walking involved.

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Dog Day Afternoon, Pages Pinnacle

Summer has arrived, Lukas and I decided to take a trip down to the Gold Coast hinterlands to find some shady climbing at Pages Pinnacle. We started the day with the climb 'Party Girls' (19), a fun route up a corner wall. I was climbing well until I was within arms reach of the anchors when I peeled off the wall and took a decent fall 1/3 of the way down the route. Instinctively grabbing the rope I manage to burn through a few lays of skin on my index finger, but finished the climb in the end.

Lukas had no problems on-sighting the climb.

We then made our way further along the wall to climb 'TOS' (18). I had climbed this route before, but this time I continued past the anchors to the 'TOS Extention' (21). This was a lot harder than I expected, I took a lot of rests and falls trying to figure out the steep, pumpy, crimpy crux. Against better judgement I persisted and finally managed to finish the route, forearms and fingers devastated from the abuse. At least I got some practice in taking falls, but my stamina was severely depleted.

After Lukas climbed 'TOS' we took a short break while the sun was overhead, then attempted the slabby 'Striptease' (20). A different style of climbing, I enjoyed sending the route but couldn't finish it clean, having to rest on the bolts near the end of the climb before my hands gave out.

We then climbed 'Are We Dancer' (19) and 'Rock n Surf' (17) as a warm down for the day. Short, committing climbing with big holds right where you need them, it was a great way to finish the day.

We hiked back to the car, drove back along the road that skirted the Hinze Dam and tried to procure a coffee for the drive home. Finding the nearby cafes closed, we asked the proprietor of a small pizza shop if he sold coffee. "No I don't, but because it's not busy I can make one from my personal espresso machine". The Argentinian owner (given away by the prominent Lionel Messi posters on the wall) disappeared behind the counter and a few moments later appeared with some piping hot cappuccinos. We delayed our plans and stayed for a delicious pizza, thick with cheese and toppings. What a great guy! I'll definitely stop by next time I'm in the area.

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Mt Ninderry climbing

The long weekend had arrived! I left Brisbane on Saturday morning and drove north to spend some time climbing on the Sunshine Coast. Unfortunately it seemed like half of Brisbane has the same idea to leave town, so traffic heading north was pretty terrible and I arrived an hour and a half later than expected. On a positive note, I left overcast skies and arrived to glorious sunshine, sea breezes and the sounds of crashing waves.

After unloading fishing rods and surfboards, Chris and I went to explore a nearby crag on Mt Ninderry. After a steep, sweaty hike we arrived to the mosquito infested walls, and began our search for something to start the afternoon off with.

We settled on 'Neo Nasi Goreng' (19) a great climb up an exposed edge rock. A really fun climb to start and it had great views to Coolum once we got some height.

Feeling good but conscious of the time we decided to check another wall on the mountain where 'Three Stroke Scree Slope' (18) caught our eye. It was bolted on a really interesting looking rock formation, with plenty of bizarre looking but solid holds.

I topped out as the golden afternoon sun started to filter through the canopy so after getting back to solid ground we made our way back home feeling like we had a successful afternoon.

We returned the next morning, not looking forward to the steep, sweaty hike but anticipating getting back on the rock. We started up under a nice short overhung wall, and climbed 'Hangover Overhang' (18) as a warm up. The steep climb was a very run out after the second bolt, but after committing to pulling over the crux it was only a short distance to the anchors.

'Have Another Home Brew' (19) was a different story. It took quite a few tries before was able to find the sequence up and over the crux, my forearms were burning by the time I successfully finished the climb. It felt great to finish the route, but I'll need to work on my climbing stamina before I'll be able to finish that climb without resting.

Temporarily having our fill of overhanging walls we made our way to the 'Sunset Butress' to find some more routes. I started up 'Leo's Slab' (19) and made it to the third bolt before getting stuck. I'm almost certain a crucial hand hold had been recently pulled off, and in the process of searching for another hold I pulled loose another piece of rock. Not wanting to give up I decided to veer left, bypassing the next bolt and rejoining to line shortly before the top. I finally reached the anchors and we greeted by a stunning vista of the surrounding areas while I was tucked into a small exposed cave.

I set up a top-rope and belayed Chris up so we could rest in the cave and take in the view. An absolutely stunning end to the climb!

We abseiled down and decided to finish the day with one last climb. We climbed the first pitch of 'Fletcher in the Sky' (18) before calling it quits for another day.

Tired, sore and sweaty we made it back down the mountain, and headed back to Coolum for some well earned beers.

A phenomenal long weekend, I can't wait to return!

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Line of Credit redux

Marie, Tim and I ventured back to the Glass House Mountains to try some more multi-pitch climbing. We warmed up on 'Line of Credit' (70, grade 16) before the rain struck and we returned home.

The route has a great start to the second pitch, but the wasp's nest a few feet before the crux gave me something to think about while I committed to the next section. A great little fun climb.

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Troposphere and Line of Credit multi-pitch

After a few weekends of rainy weather I was able to make my way back to Mt Tibrogargan for some more multi-pitch climbing.

Along for the ride were Chris (from California) and Lukas (from Germany). Leaving Brisbane at dawn we arrived at Celestial Wall and started up the 115m, five-pitch 'Troposphere'. I led the first section (15), before Chris linked the shorter 2nd (17) and 3rd pitch (18).

Lukas led the 4th (15) and I finished the fifth pitch (16). It is a great route with lots of exposed climbing and some great moves. Stepping out around a massive rock slab, out into the void with nothing but a long, sheer drop below being the highlight of the section. At the top of the route be scrambled across to another rap station and made our way back to the base of the cliff.

With half the day gone we decided to finish up on 'Line of Credit', a two-pitch, 70m grade 16. Chris and Lukas led the first pitch, after belaying both of them I seconded the 35m to the rap station. I continued on and led the second pitch (16), another 35m route with some amazing moves. Tiring arms, traversing across another sheer drop while trying to find good feet and hand holds, taking the plunge and committing to getting across the void was exhilarating. Very addictive!

Rapping down at the end of the day was very satisfying, as were the two huge pizzas we devoured before heading home, tired but still riding the adrenaline high.

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Climbing Pages Pinnacle

Ekka holiday! Taking advantage of the mid-week day off, Marie and I headed down to the Gold Coast hinterland to climb at Pages Pinnacle.

We arrived the day after back-burning had been carried out, and it was a little eerie walking along the freshly burnt out trails, through the ankle deep soot and charred trees. After a decent hike we made it to the crag and began climbing the juggy, pumpy routes.

The weather was perfect for climbing and we progressively climbed routes of increasing difficulties. I had planned to test myself on a harder grade so I bit the bullet started up a grade 22, my previous high being a 20. Climbing up nicely pocketed slab that lead to a sustained juggy head wall, I eventually made it to the anchors with my hands and forearms burning, but feeling stoked!

Feeling pretty pumped after the effort I top roped another 22 (thanks to Marie for traversing to the anchors and setting up the lower off) to warm down for the day. Really happy to tick off some of the harder climbs, I can't wait to return and try some of the other similar grades.

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Return to Zeitgeist

I travelled with Marie back to Mt Tibrogargan to (re)introduce her to multi-pitch climbing. After practising some techniques at Kangaroo Point the night before we tested ourselves on Zeitgeist, a great introduction to the joys of longer climbing.

We started up in sunshine, but as the day grew longer the clouds came in. We ascended the three pitches without any problems, and sat down in the caves for a lunch break as the skies darkened.

We explored the surrounding caves for a while then made our way back to the rap station to abseil down.

We got caught in a light shower as we descended but made it down without getting too wet. After a short 4WD detour (time to hose out the chassis again) and a pizza stop we returned to Brisbane, keen to return very soon and try some new climbs.

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Winter Wakeboarding

So what if it is winter, and I forgot my wetsuit. What better way to start the weekend than with a refreshing dip in the Nerang River.

It took us a while to get going in the morning as the battery in the boat was dead. We quickly got bored waiting for it to charge so I removed the spare battery from my Patrol, jumped started it, and were almost on our way.

Somehow we completely destroyed a jockey wheel in the process of winching the boat down the ramp.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky, but the increasing breeze had quite a chill to it. Undeterred by the absence of anyone else in the river I jumped in, waited for my breath to return, and set off on my wakeboard. It was a lot of fun, but my fingers and muscles didn't last to long in the cold and after a few long rides (I was afraid to try any tricks and fall into the water) I returned to the comfort of the boat.

The other guys had a go in the water, and I braved one last chance before heading home. Halfway though my second run I got a piercing headache which I think was caused by the cold, so we called it quits and went home for a hot cup of tea.

Not the smoothest of trips but we easily replaced the wheel, found the momentarily lost single ski, re-charged the battery and didn't lose any limbs to frostbite. All in all a great morning.

Multi-pitch on Mt Tibrogargan

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

Mud crawling and rock climbing in the Glass House Mountains

Discussing our climbing options for the day over a hot coffee on a cold winters morning, Chris and I decided to head to Mt Beerwah, where neither one of us had climbed before. We decided that the crag "Wayne's World" would be the best choice for a day of fun climbing, so we set off in my 4wd following slightly unclear directions into the state forests of the Glass House Mountains.

We turned off the dirt road down a steep rutted track that wound deeper into the scrub. We stopped and search in vain for a well hidden track that would take us to the Southern face of the mountain. Undeterred we turned around and took a different track back to the main road. We found another turn off that looked like it could take us where we wanted to be, but it soon turned away from our destination. 

We decided to head to another part of the mountain that we knew we could find, but on the way there I decided to put the Patrol through its paces off road.

This is what happened.

In my hubris I decided to drive through the first mud pit I saw, which happened to be a lot deeper and rutted than I expected. Barely past the steep drop off the Patrol quickly became stuck on its axles, and even if the wheels reached the bottom of the ruts the tread was too caked in sticky clay to get any traction. Lucky I had the foresight to pack my hand winch, so I walked the frigid muddy waters and started looking for my recovery point.

I found what I was looking for, anchored my winch to a strong tree and very slowly started to pull her free. Eventually we dragged her out of the mud without any further problems. There was a long divot in the mud where we had dragged the diff all the way through the pit, I had no chance of getting through on my own!

Relieved to be out we set off further along the track to make it through to the main road. Once the tyres had shaken off their mud coating we had lot of fun driving the rest of the way, through some fairly steep, degraded and rutty section of track.

It doesn't look as difficult on video as it was in real life, but the Patrol handled the rest of it with ease.

We made it to Mt Beerwah without any further scares, and made our way to 'Mosquito Wall', a section of low graded climbs where we practised abseiling and setting up top-belays in preparation for some longer multi-pitch climbs.

We called it a day as the sun was setting, we headed back to our meeting spot nine hours earlier where we demolished a family sized pizza in a few minutes.

We left our separate ways, I stopped at a car wash on the way home and spent 1/2 and hour with a high pressure jet hose scouring the underside of the to remove the severe amounts of clay all through the suspension and chassis rails.

All in all a fantastic adventure, well worth the mud, sweat and fear (of the winch failing).

A couple more photos here