RAINDAINCE 200m Grade 14

Over the years Mike Adams eyed off the red wall to the left of the great overlap besides Bedile. With Dave Moyses in 2004 they descended to a point where they could look down the wall, saw sufficient holds and that the rock was probably brittle. On the same trip and at the start of their first attempt on a “Walk in the Park,” they had a look at the overlap from directly under the red wall and found a weakness by the nose on the overlap. (They were soon after climbing in sheets of water run off, then sheltering next to a waterfall from a mighty thunderstorm with the rock awash, the same now legendary storm in which an indirect lightning hit blew Conrad off the rock some distance below). All that remained was to stitch it all together.

Easter 2005 came. Adams and Moyses talked about the devastated condition of the bush: in all the years of visits they agreed that they had never seen the bush under such drought stress. They climbed the route on Easter Saturday 26 March 2005. That night the first rain fell.

Access

Use the usual crossing into Central Gully. Descend slightly and follow the bush-covered gangway right, out onto the face for about a rope’s length.

Start

At the end of the bushy gangway there is an off-width crack on the left of a brown buttress. The buttress is the start of Pitch 2 of ‘Office Workers Rule the World.’

1. 45m Up the crack to the top. (Tending right at top where as OWRW tends left at top). Then rising traverse right to the tree ledge, and belay in crack behind.

2. 25m From the belay move onto the right wall then left across the crack under the nose to gain slab area beneath slightly overhung wall. Aim for the middle of the red wall. There is a blocky, slightly overhanging and slightly left tending line of weakness up it. This is the crux – care: brittle rock and poor pro (small wires handy) and excellent exposure. Up to good comfortable platform with small crack at back. Nut here and bigger one high above for belay.

3. 40m Move right to corner of platform. Climb orange crack until it peters out just below a platform with belay.

4 & 5 90m Two easy full run-outs to the top.

Mike Adams and Dave Moyses Easter 2005