Taipan is the stuff of legends
Trip Start
Feb 11, 2009
1
71
80
Trip End
Ongoing
The Grampians, Victoria, Australia
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
We have been staying at Mt Stapylton campground for the past couple of weeks getting the famous "Taipan experience". If you have never heard of the Taipan Wall in Grampians National Park, know this: It carries with it a reputation for epic climbing. Slopey holds, exposed climbing and huge runouts with commitment beyond what most people would consider a "sport climb". So this is not a sport climbing area. You occasionally have to use natural protection and be happy running it out four or five meters to your next bolt or piece. And there is no such thing as stick clipping the first bolt. And the catch is, it's steep and funky climbing, no jug hauls here. We love it.
Our first day I spent getting completely scared out of my mind. From the ground, the protection doesn't look that far apart because the wall is so huge, it puts things totally out of perspective. So you don't notice until you are climbing and keep looking around for protection and there isn't any until 3 or 4 meters away. But as bad as it sounds, it isn't. I think if Taipan was bolt protected anymore it would take away from the sheer grandeur of the wall. And there is something so beautiful about climbing several meters on truly hard steep stuff without having to clip a million bolts along the way! (Except when you take that huge whipper, of course!) It really prevents people from "dogging" their way to glory and makes the send so much more rewarding! And the other bonus is that there is hardly anyone here! For such a famous wall, it's reputation seems to keep the bulk of climbers away so that it has this atmosphere of awe. I don't think we ever want to leave!
The camping at Stapylton is also great. We have seen so many wildflowers and kangaroos with their new joeys in pouches (unfortunately they have become so habituated to people) that they come within a meter or two of you without flinching. Very cool.
So now the plan is to stay here and get our fill of Taipan for at least a week or two and then maybe head back to the Blueys!
