The equipment needed for Statham’s and MQ varies depending on the route – have a good look at the miniguides (in the ‘Climb’ menu on this website), and scope out the route before you get on it.

Most of the bolted routes have double ringbolt loweroffs – check before you climb. If you want to do any toproping, run the rope through one of your own biners to avoid wearing out the rings.

As for the runners: some routes have ringbolts (aka P bolts) which are wonderful, you can clip the draw straight into them, a few have fixed hangers (also clip directly into), and the rest will be machine hex heads which need removable hangers like the PFHs. Keep an eye out for dodgy looking bolts (ie. carrots), and don’t use them unless you trust them. Bolts have been known to fall out at Perth quarries. Here is a list of recently rebolted routes in WA: http://www.chockstone.org/Rebolting/RoutesWA.asp

It doesn’t *really* matter which removable hangers you get, as long as they fit over the bolt head easily (not always the case, others with more experience can offer advice here) and feel okay to clip. I like 45 degrees personally. Get as many hangers as there are bolts on the routes you want to climb, 10 is plenty for most routes.

Unless you’re doing a lot of abseiling, a standard ATC belay device will be fine for rapping off routes, and is a bit more secure when you need to lock it off to retrieve draws etc.

Make sure you know how to safely thread the rope through the loweroffs! There are plenty of online guides.

Most of the loose holds have either been pulled off or reinforced on the popular routes, but it might pay to wear a helmet (and one for your belayer too).

Hi Egne,

6 – 8 quickdraws should be enough for most climbs, plus s few long slings and some locking cracks. Plus rope and all your other climbing gear of course!

At MQ and SQ most climbs are bolted with GIMBs so you need 6 – 8 bolt-plates. It’s a good idea to have a few different types – some will not fit on some of the bolts. Some climbs (mostly the 24+) have ring-bolts.

Most, but not all climbs have ring-bolt or two GIMB lower-offs at the top. It’s a good idea to have a long piece of tape or static (5 – 10 metres) for some of the climbs as either a back-up or to set up the belay at the top.

If you intend on climbing up and then feeding the rope through the ring-bolts at the top, it’s a good idea to practice first somewhere safe – at MQ there is a boulder near the Mull-up Wall with a couple of ring-bolts in it.

For access to the quarries you to need to phone the Perth Hill’s National Park Centre on 9295 2244 and book and get the gate code. The centre is open 9 – 5 weekdays and I think 10 – 4 or so weekends. Don’t park outside the quarry unless you want new windows for you car. The NP centre justs asks your name, contact number and how many people. They’ll also tell you if there are any other people booked – sometimes the Scouts or Adventure Out or someone will have a booking and there’ll be 30 screaming kids there, so it’s good to know where to avoid!

Don’t forget that there’s also heaps of great climbing at Churchman’s Brook, Darlington, Shark Rock, LLama Rock, Mt Cuthbert….. But some of these are trad, so you’ll need cams and nuts as well.

Have fun!

Thank you guys! I’ll definitely be getting myself a guide book and probably an experienced climber during my first time out.

I am there 3 times a week, when are you going?

Egne, Rap rings are usually used where gear is to be left behind. Doesn’t apply around Perth. If you’re worried about wear on alloy biners then get a steel screwgate. Enjoy the outdoors.

Hello again guys! Can anyone tell me if my method of cleaning the top anchor is safe? Let’s assume that the top anchor is a dbb with two hanging quickdraws which were previously used for lowering.

1. Clip sling (girth hitched to harness) to one of the dbb with a locking biner.

2. Unclip rope from both quick draws.

3. Pull up about 6 feet of rope, tie a munter hitch and clip it on one of the quickdraws (just incase I drop the rope, or i could tie a figure8 on a bight)

4. Untie figure eight from harness and feed through the other dbb.

5. Remove munter hitch and continue feeding rope until both ends touch the ground.

6. Put both strand of rope through belay/rappel tube (atc).

7. Pull up and get on rappel.

8. Remove quickdraws and unclip sling.

9. Rappel.

Can anybody see anything wrong with the above steps?

Thanks!

Egne, I try to avoid unclipping the quickdraws or untying the rope until threaded through the bolts. This means that if a bolt fails then I am still protected (though may have a few meter drop).

Once my sling is clipped, I will pinch the rope to thread through the bolts and tie a figure 8. I clip into the figure 8 and then untie my original knot and unclip the draws. It can sometime be difficult squeezing the doubled rope through the ring bolts but rarely impossible.

Great! Thanks for the feedback. See you all at the crags!