"Mountain" climbing

I use the term "mountain" cautiously because there is nothing on this island continent that we Canadians would classify as a mountain. Mt Arapiles is 370m high - to give you some perspective, the Grouse Grind is 853m. However, to get to the top of Grouse, you don't need to be strapped into a harness that cuts of the circulation to your lower extremities. Nor do you need to stick your fingers into tiny, spider web filled rock cracks and use previously undiscovered arm muscles to haul yourself up a sheer sandstone face.
But I digress...

After glamping with mobs of kangaroos at the base of Lake Bellfield in the Grampians,

Our campsite was in the little green patch right under the dam. Geological events and/or James Bond-esque explosions were often on my mind.

we headed to Mt. Arapiles to meet up with our friends, Tim, Andrea and Ella. We would be arriving first so Tim instructed us to head to the sites on the right because that's where all the serious climbers camp.

Yeah. Serious climber. That's me, alright. Watch me go all Edmund Hilary on your ass.

We chose a spot in the Upper Gums campsite, close to a fire pit and not too far from the long drops (translation: pit toilets). Over in The Pines, the less serious climbers got flush toilets, soap and running water. I know this because I frequently made the trek over to their facilities rather than use our own.

The view from my perch at the bottom of our first climb - you can barely see them, but there are more than a dozen climbers over there.

Arapiles looks like it has been dropped out of the sky, smack dab into hundreds of flat acres of sheep paddocks. The rock itself is stunning - acres and acres of beautiful craggy sandstone. There are over 2000 climbs ranging from grades 1 to 32, which means you could do four climbs a day for five years and still not run out of new routes to take.

Ready for a day on the hill

Tim, our fearless leader, has been climbing at Arapiles for more than thirty years.

The action around camp is really interesting. Throughout the day, climbers come back to their sites to refuel. Everyone has at least twenty pounds of ropes, carabiners, descenders, nuts, and cams dangling from their belts and harnesses.You can hear their approach from a long way off - imagine Gunslinger swaggering into camp with dozens of marimba resonators attached to his belt. After you've been there for a few days, you can identify who is coming through the bush by the timbre of their equipment.

You can't see, but underneath Rob's fingers there are spider webs in every handhold and poo on every ledge.

Sophie, guided by Andrea

I was surprised by the amount of young children at Arapiles. Not only were they frolicking all over the boldering rocks at the base of the cliffs, but there were just as many kids on the climbs as there were adults. Happy Harry, a five year old with a perma-grin, spent quite a bit of time at our campfire and told us it was the third time he had been climbing at Arapiles. The place is truly a breeding ground for adrenaline junkies.

With all that gear, Tim makes music wherever he goes.

Preparing for the 30m abseil

If you look really carefully, you can see Sophie and me abseiling down.

Rob and Isabelle did this climb with Tim - that's them in the red circle.