Blog

Bolt removal at Freycinet

Recently I removed all the bolts from two sport climbs on Mt Amos in Freycinet NP. 

The climbs were:  ‘I Wish she were mine’ 19 and ‘No friends nuter ’’ 22. These climbs were in very close proximity to the main walking track to the top of Mt Amos. Although these climbs have been in place for a long time; as a community we have been facing increasing pressure - locally and nationally - from other user groups and land managers regarding our impacts. As the bolts visually impacted other user groups to the National Park it was decided after discussion with various climbers and the first ascensionists that it would be better to remove these climbs. I hope that climbers can more pro-actively manage inappropriate bolts in future rather than rely on land managers to tell us when we go too far. Our narrative of self management is more credible if there are examples like this to draw on.

Adam Donoghue

Crash pads for rent?

Hiya!


We're coming down to Tasmania from Thursday (19/12) until the Boxing day. 

Just wondering if anyone knows where I could rent a couple of bouldering pads or if you had a couple spare that we can rent off of you for a bit. 

Feel free to reach out on here or by email at aji.istadi@gmail.com.


Thanks in advance! slightly smiling face 

Aji and Wen

Hi all,

Waterworks Quarry Cliff is currently closed following work undertaken by HCC in removing loose rock at the top of the cliff. Long-term, this is a good thing for the crag and safety of users.

There are a number of damaged anchors / bolts that will be replaced by the CCT over the following weeks. The area is still stabilising and there is extensive rubble / loose rock at the anchors on the various ledges at the top of the cliff. The situation currently is quite dangerous. This will continue to be the case until the area stabilises over the following weeks / months.  The cliff will re-open in early November once bolt replacement and some further minor cleaning works have been completed by the CCT.

In the mean-time - it is suggested that you do not climb here.  Once the cliff has re-opened, be particularly mindful of loose rock, especially during / after heavy rainfall and windy days.

Cheers,
Chris

Hi all,

The CCT was recently contacted by several members who had concerns around fixed anchors (bolts) at the new Genesis crag. The CCT tested these early last week (10/9/24), with a Hilty load tester, and the fixed anchors did not pass an anchor pull test.

Load testing and inspection of the bolts found two issues: 1) Poor rock quality and 2) fixed anchor installation not following best practice and CCT Fixed Anchor Guidelines. Multiple anchors failed at 7.5kN due to rock failure, and they also failed a separate torque test with very little effort. These issues likely affect all anchors at the crag, and relying on any of the fixed anchors is not recommended.

The CCT immediately took steps to ensure this information was apparent to anyone considering visiting the cliff.

The CCT is currently consulting with a very experienced route developer to test some potential replacement options. We will seek to provide updates.

The big takeaway is that fixed anchors need to be placed with care and experience, and should follow best practice. CCT Fixed anchor guidelines can be found on our website: www.climbersclubtas.org.au/cct-publications. These guidelines were developed with almost unanimous agreement amongst Tassie’s experienced route developers. The guidelines outline the current standard suitable for route development in Tasmania, and should be followed in most cases. Genesis is very soft rock and likely constitutes a special case which may require additional consideration.

We are monitoring comments here regularly to keep the focus on facts. Climbing is an inherently dangerous activity, and all climbers are responsible for their own safety and assessment of fixed protection.

Hi all,

The CCT has just launched a new website!

https://www.climbersclubtas.org.au/

The new website has been a collective effort of the CCT committee over the last 6 months and will help the CCT in fostering better communication for our activities both within and outside the climbing community.  This will now become the homepage for CCT resources, contact information and formal updates.  Thesarvo will continue to operate in its current form and continue to provide an excellent guidebook, forum and archive for the Tasmanian climbing community. Massive thanks to Jon Nermut who continues to run thesarvo and built the website.

Membership
The other important change to be aware of is that we have now moved to a paid annual membership.  An annual CCT Membership will cost $20, and can easily be completed via the new website (see link below).  Whilst membership to the CCT has historically been free, the new platform will help an active CCT continue to undertake great initiatives such as the recent re-bolting at Hillwood and Lowdina, as well as continue to advocate to achieve our goals. Your ongoing support is appreciated!

https://www.climbersclubtas.org.au/membership

Please direct any general queries to cct@climbersclubtas.org.au

Birds with sharp bits.

Hi Climbers.
I'm really late with the Raptor Reminder this year. Soz.
Keep an eye out for peregrine falcons when ever you're out on the cragz . It's the breeeding season right now . If you find yourself with falcons flying back and forth vocalising  near your climbing then you're close enough to a nest site to be stressing them out and or keeping them off their eggs. Best to find a spot somewhere else. Thankfully they don't nest at every crag. Classic crags to have your bird antenna dialled up include Sisters Beach area, Duckreach area, Hillwood, Sand river,  Bare Rock and Lowdina.  Falcons have also been know to nest around Main wall at Freycinet.
We saw peregrines at Lowdina in early July which was sweet. As I don't remember seeing them the year before. I'd love to hear any observations from any crag in Tasmania.
A classic long read here : http://www.thesarvo.com/confluence/display/cctpublic/Raptor+Nesting
Or a light read here: https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/peregrine-falcon/

ALSO, it's no coincidence but it's also Wedgetail eagle nesting season, they also freak out when people are around their nest sites. As far as I know the only crag this affects is the  North Ridge at Sand River. Please don't plan to go there until end of January next year. The Eagles will appreciate it even if they don't communicate it effectively.
Thaaanks :)

Found gear

Brand new Wild Country nut key at Waterworks Quarry today. Let me know the tape colours and if it is yours, how I can return it to you. T

Trashing Tassie 2.0

Hi all,
This is not intended to start raging online vitriol, but rather to prompt a conversation about route development in Tassie - an issue that I am sure a lot of climbers think about but seems to be rarely discussed these days. Please have a read of the attached document, which summarises my thoughts on the state of bolting on the Organ Pipes and some other areas in the state. I intend to raise these issues with the CCT, but I also think it's important that this is an ongoing and constructive conversation within the broader climbing community.

Cheers, Pat

Yet another new crag..

There's another new crag at Fortescue Bay.. This time at Bivouac Bay. Can be done as a day trip, or enjoyed as a weekend camped at Bivouac Bay campsite. The rock is here is quite good and there's quite a good collection of climbs. The trio of the Moai, Golden Pillar and Bivouac Bay crag on this side of the bay makes camping at Bivouac Bay a nice option now, with a suite of different options.

Crag Stewards update

Big news - after two years of effort the Crag Stewards program is now fully live!!

Crag emails are up and running on theSarvo, and will be listed on The Crag shortly. These automatically direct emails to appropriate Stewards. You can view the Crag Stewardship Program document, which contains more details of the program, here: CCT Crag Stewardship v3.4.pdf

Thanks to the nominated Stewards for helping us maintain the relationships, access, and safety of our climbing areas, and to the many people who have put in the work to get the program to this stage. Stay tuned for a formal launch event!

- Chris

Attention Crag Stewards:

Someone has kindly offered to donate an old 10.1 mm climbing rope for use as a hand line (e.g. Bruny Aviary) or for a similar purpose where suitable.  Please let me know if you need something and I will put you into contact with them. Cheers.

I'll be upgrading the servers that thesarvo runs on over the next week, which is long overdue.

There will be some outages and probably some temporarily busted stuff.

2IMG_0938.jpg

Does anyone have experience framing for the 1m x 1m fiberglass climbing wall panels (many with ~150mm holes for insert climbing holds). See photo.

Mark Sands has acquired 25 of these panels and wants to build a bouldering wall in his 12m geodesic dome.

Hi everyone,

I am a climbing photographer from Chamonix/Canada (www.alexbuisse.com). I have an ongoing project of documenting the best climbing locations in the world (www.montblanclines.com), and will be in Tasmania from Jan 24 to Feb 5. 
I have been giving talks on the Mont Blanc Lines project or on climbing photography in general, and was wondering if this would be something the local community might be interested in. If so, would you have any idea where to look for a venue for this kind of thing?

Also, if anyone is keen to get action photos on some of the more aesthetic locations, I'd love to organize a photoshoot or two while I'm in town!

Thanks!
/Alex