Projects in the North Island...
6 January 2010 - 5:48am
Hello there people, could anybody shed some light on the hardest bouldering projects in the North Island, preferably in grotty caves or steep crimpy walls :P
I'd be more psyched for non-link ups and bad-ass lines! - Errm, so yeah any pictures or anything would be amazing to see.
Cheers,
Liam
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6 January 2010 - 11:34am
#2
Good luck if your trying to nab beta for unsent projects... Most people tend to be pretty protective of "their" problems untill they have sent them... But if your just looking for hard established stuff then see what www.powerband.org.nz has to offer. I know there is a Bronx guide (wellington) on there. Www.freeclimb.co.nz also has bouldering guides for the airstrip (waitomo caves), kinloch (taupo), mangaotaki (piopio) and manawatu. Although if your looking for the real QUALITY hard lines in the V10- V14 range you need to be in the castle hill/flock hill areas!
7 January 2010 - 3:32pm
#3
ok. im only telling you this cos im deep in the south and cannot climb anymore. but in pukarua bay (kapiti coast) there is a lone arch way. jp and co have done a bunch of probs, BUT there is one PURE line on the steepest part of the arch (side facing the car park). dont be put off by the pidgeons or the loose rock, there is a line there. also check out mofats rock (otaki) and tea tree boulder (palmerston north). enjoy.
13 January 2010 - 1:12pm
#4
I did that line in 2005, T-Roy. Fuckin' high, sketch landing, dirty ledge, suspect rock, and bird shit. I loved it. Don't do it. 
7 January 2010 - 8:27am
#5
THE project has to be the wave boulder at Piarere. Sculptured and beautiful, this fantastic pebbly piarere boulder is steep, crimpy and will be desperate. To find it, head left along the crag from the farmhouse until the obvious sculptured wave boulder with chalky pebbles to start is found.
10 January 2010 - 12:14pm
#6
Ahh hahahaha!!!! Tea Tree boulder in Palmy! Hahahaha. Ok, sorry. I just never thought anyone would ever mention that rock again. It's fun... if you live in Palmy. That's it. DEFINITELY no hard projects to be had on it though.
If you want to scrub a few HARD lines... hunt down a guide for Blowhard Bush in Hawkes Bay. Steep, featured limestone with great landings and a short walk from the car. I know there are copies for the guide in Taupo at the climbing shop.
11 January 2010 - 5:59am
#7
Cheers guys for the response, pretty psyched...
11 January 2010 - 9:38pm
#8
Lots of stuff at Mangaotaki that hasn't been touched. Alot of work scattered around the whole Valley.
13 January 2010 - 1:31pm
#9
I agree with Matt and Myxo--apart from hard greywacke routes around WGTN, your best bets for hard bouldering projects in the NI are at Mangaotaki (and some of the surrounding areas, if you are willing to explore and talk nicely to farmers) and at Blowhard Bush. Mangaotaki has some double digit roof problems that have never been sent, and Troglodyte wall at Blowhard has several hard, steep lines. There is at least one link-up to be done into Levitation/Utopia in the Bedroom Cave there, too. Your best bet for hard, steep lines, however, is on the stream-side of the Troglodyte wall at Blowhard Bush. To date, I know of no lines there, although there is scope for 10-15 if you're climbing V9+. Bring a stick-brush, a ladder, a tarp, and three pads--they're sizeable.
There are three other areas with good potential in the CNI: Kawakawa Bay, The Big O, and Reporoa (mostly the upper gorge). KK Bay has good granite-esque bouldering on steep, tall, featured rock with terrible landings. It's also remote enough that no one will boulder there much. The Big O is closed (now forestry land.) Reporoa has some hard, lowball stuff in the lower gorge, and some very very hard stuff in the upper gorge that climbs like the Hill (frictionless, bulbous slopers, kompressor moves, HIGHballs.) Sand landings are a plus, 30 minute hike in is not.
For most of these areas, your best bet is to befriend some Taupo/Hamilton boulderers. They can give you the beta to find some of the harder to find areas (like Reporoa, Valley of the Skulls, Riverside, etc.) Rumour has it that there may be a few thin, hard lines to go at Te Toki, Waipapa pull-off, and out in the Wharepapa boulder field, but it'd be better to ask the locals for that beta, as well. I'd be dubious about these.
Have fun, bring lots of brushes!
13 January 2010 - 1:54pm
#10
Oh, you're welcome to my thin, crimpy project on the front of the Bronx cave boulder (provided Ivan hasn't sent it and the starting holds haven't entirely disintegrated.)
Here're the pics of the roof problem at Mangaotaki:
and the compression arete there:
The areas south of there are easier to get to and have loads of potential, but no one has established open access there yet.
13 January 2010 - 7:52pm
#11
Oh, you're welcome to my thin, crimpy project on the front of the Bronx cave boulder (provided Ivan hasn't sent it and the starting holds haven't entirely disintegrated.)
Here're the pics of the roof problem at Mangaotaki:
and the compression arete there:
The areas south of there are easier to get to and have loads of potential, but no one has established open access there yet.
Fixed that for ya....
Pics are clicky for bigger version.
14 January 2010 - 11:04am
#12
Cheers!
14 January 2010 - 7:26pm
#13
That Arete looks awesome.... seriously awesome.
"Unleash the Hippie within" also looks wicked if your into that kind of thing
15 January 2010 - 7:05am
#14
If you're really hungry for FAs, get in touch with Claydon and ask him about the other bouldering area in the Hawke's Bay...
Hang on you want people to offer up their projects to you ?
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