If it’s Easter, it must be Peak Charles
Rick Allen will be coordinating a trip to Peak Charles over the Easter holiday from Friday 18th to Monday 21st April 2014.
Peak Charles is a massive granite dome in the Peak Charles National Park, approximately 800 – 900 km east of Perth, depending on which route is taken. It is south-east of Norseman and north-north-west of Esperance. It is worth every hour of driving for the excellent rock and multi-pitch routes. Climbs range from grade 11 to 27 and up to 5 or 6 pitches, so can suit all tastes. It is predominantly trad climbing. We shall be camping at the DPaW campsite at Peak Charles, where facilities are basic (drop toilet only) and there is no running water so everyone will need to be completely self-sufficient. Access to the area involves either a few hundred km of dirt road via Lake King, or about 50 km of dirt from the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway. A 4WD is handy, but as long as there has not been a lot of rain, the road is passable in a normal car if care is taken. We shall keep participants posted about weather conditions closer to the time.
Skill Level
Multi-pitch routes mean that at least one person on the rope needs to know what they are doing. We’d love to see you there, but it’s important to understand that climbing at PC is not suited to beginners unless they are accompanied by an appropriately experienced person. This area is not well suited to setting up top ropes and lead climbing (mostly trad) is generally required to access routes. CAWA is not able to provide training due to liability issues and so all climbers on the trip must be independent participants who are completely responsible for themselves. Any inexperienced climbers, or participants under the age of 18 must have a parent, guardian or other responsible person to accompany them. If you are an inexperienced climber then have a chat to some of the more experienced people you know and see if they are planning to attend.
Registering Your Interest
Please register your interest soon by emailing me at ricka@climberswa.asn.au. I will then send you a questionnaire to complete as well as more detailed information. I will do my best to assist members to organise car pooling.
Please note that CAWA trips are a benefit for members. Joining online is easy, through the link on the CAWA home page.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Ps. Especially hoping to hear from anyone unfortunate enough to be working Good Friday but still keen to go – you might share the driving with me!
Rick Allen
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