page_title: Mount Arapiles
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Arapiles / Climbing / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Mike raps off the back side of Muldoon, 13, at Mount Arapiles. Picture is stitched/composed of ~4 pics
context_page_description: Mount Arapiles is a rock formation that rises about 140 metres above the Wimmera plains in western Victoria, Australia. It is located in Arapiles approximately 10 kilometres west of the town of Natimuk and is part of the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park. Arapiles is a very popular destination for rock climbers due to the quantity and quality of climbs. It is one of the premier climbing sites in Australia along with the nearby Grampians. The Wotjobaluk name for the formation is Djurid.
context_section_description: Arapiles was first considered for climbing in a recreational manner in September 1963, when Bob and Steve Craddock travelled to Mitre Rock after seeing it in a tourist guide, and saw that their destination was dwarfed by Mount Arapiles. It was a number of weeks and visits before climbing was actually attempted at Arapiles, with the first climbs being recorded in November 1963 on what is now called "The Pinnacle Face". The pioneering group, consisting of the Craddocks, Doug Angus, Peter Jackson, and Greg Lovejoy split into two parties, with each party claiming a route on the same day.  Many more climbs were put up in the following days and weeks, including the classic climb Tiptoe Ridge (5), and in 1964 Steve Craddock and his father Bob produced the first Arapiles climbing guidebook on a school duplicating machine  (featuring 15 routes).
  March 1965 saw the establishment of two significant climbs: The Bard (12) and Watchtower Crack (16). These climbs were done on the same day and are still regarded as classic climbs, often seeing numerous ascents per day. Activity steadily increased at Arapiles and in August 1966, Mike Stone and Ian Speedie released the second guidebook, Mt Arapiles. It was the first hardcover guide in Australia and featured 108 climbs. The rest of the 1960s saw many more new routes put up of increasing difficulty, with many including numerous aid points. The focus was on "getting up the climb... and staying alive", whether free climbing or not.
  The early 70s saw a lull in activity at Arapiles as attention shifted to the Grampians and Mount Buffalo. Interest in Arapiles resurfaced in late 1973 with many imposing lines being climbed with a few aids. These routes brought a sense of accomplishment to the climbing community as new grades were continually being created. In 1975, American visitor "Hot" Henry Barber arrived and began freeing these routes with minimal protection. The 21-year-old made a significant impact at Arapiles, and his visit was a pivotal point in Australian climbing, as climbers worked to support the legacy of Barber by freeing their new lines instead of being content to leave in aid points.
  Word of Barber's achievements spread and attracted a number of new young climbers to Arapiles. This group was later given the name "The New Wave" and throughout the rest of the 70s and early 80s they were responsible for scores of routes in the grade 20–25 range. The likes of Kim Carrigan, Mike Law and Mark Moorhead helped introduce a number of 26+ climbs, though the latter two did not often grade their climbs accurately (choosing to 'undergrade' them instead). This purposeful undergrading is known as "sandbagging" and is still common in Australian climbing (some would call it tradition), though not as much as it once was.
  German climber Wolfgang Güllich's ascent of Punks in the Gym in April 1985 was major achievement.  The route blasts up the middle of a blank, attractive orange wall and gave Arapiles (and Australia) international exposure. At the time it was graded 32 and was the hardest climb in the world, setting a new benchmark for difficulty. Following Güllich's triumph, a number of routes of similar difficulty have been put up, though none take the "easiest way up" such an impressive feature. It has a single chipped hold known as the 'birdbath hold' created by Martin Scheel before it was against ethics. In the early 1990s the hold crumbled, and a climber added glue to it, which remains to this day.
  Arapiles is still a popular climbing destination, with some visitors staying for months at a time. The warm weather, accessibility, quantity and quality of climbs have helped to maintain the popularity of Arapiles with locals, Australians and international travellers alike.
caption: Abseiling off the back of Muldoon, 13.  The start of the climb is the large vertical crack visible to the right of the climber at the bottom.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "102", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0200", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0101", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1560", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "5830"}