Frog Buttress
Trips| July 1, 2009 | to | July 10, 2009 |
The annual Frog Buttress trip will be held in mid semester break. Frog is probably the premier crack climbing destination in Australia and a great place to test your jamming skills. The classic routes are mostly in the range of high teen grades and up but there are still worthwhile routes and plenty of chimneys in the mid to low teens.
Dates are still to be confirmed but at this stage will likely be from 1th July – 9th July as these are the dates that most people on the forum have said worked for them.
Frog Buttress is located near Boonah, QLD which is an 11hr drive from Sydney or a 1.5hr drive from Brisbane. There’s camping at the crag but it must be booked and paid for by credit card in advance (well in advance if the week overlaps with QLD school holidays and the week when all of the Sydney climbers invade). Cost is about $5 per person per night and the campsites should be shared between 3-4 people. Bookings can be made at the QLD epa website.
It is a trad climbing area and is therefore essential that people planing on attending be experienced in either trad leading or seconding. Frog Buttress is not appropriate for top roping, and as such climbing will be in pairs or possibly in threes. People will need to organise their own gear, transport and climbing partners.
More details will be added closer to the time.
What to Bring? (At Aline’s request :p)
- Print a copy (or 2) of the climbing guide
- Sleeping bag & Pillow
- Sleeping mat – the thicker the better – keeps you warmer at night
- Tent
- Stove & Fuel (1L)
- Cutlery/Plate/Bowl/Mug
- Paper Towel, Chux & Dishwashing Liquid
- Camping Chair
- Suncreen
- Insect Repellent
- Hand Sanitiser (doesn’t require water)
- Toothbrush/toothpast + deoderant
- Garbage bags
- Rain Jacket
- Fleece jacket or down jacket
- Thermals (lots!) – layers will be the key here
- Beanie
- Gloves
- Warm socks
- Scarf
- Climbing pants (ones that cover knees at minimum)
- Strapping tape (to make crack gloves)
- 5 L-10L water bottle to be filled up for cooking and drink bottle
- Camera
- Sunglasses
- Head Torch
- Toilet Paper
- Daypack (for use when climbing)
- Esky – non essential but nice to have
- Harness, helmet, belay device, 2-4 screw gates, 1-2 safety slings
Campground Facilities: Toilets and BBQ’s
IMPORTANT: Please register your interest for the trip using the form below
The event have ended - no more registrations are allowed.
Who’s already registered?
Total Attendees: 7
| # | Name |
|---|---|
| 1. | Kate Randall |
| 2. | Dino |
| 3. | Georgi |
| 4. | Aline |
| 5. | Padre |
| 6. | James H |
| 7. | David M |
May 4th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Lol, first registeree. Hehe. I’m not sure about the 4th to 5th, yet… anytime after that is fine! I might be able to fly from Melb to Bris and catch a lift over with a friend who lives in Brisbane
May 4th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Since people need to organise their own gear/partners/transport, perhaps climbers could indicate who they plan to climb with, how they plan on getting there and what dates via these comments.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I will be flying to Queensland and can make my own way to the crag.
I’ll be climbing with Dino.
The dates 4th July – 12th July suit best for me.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I will drive with the space for 2 people.
Will probably leave the week before and get some extra climbing in (Or I might go skiing with sean – one or the other haven’t decided)
For the record if you come to Frog you will learn to Jam very very fast, its kind of a baptism by fire.
Its also generally accepted that leading anyting below grade 18 is really hard and scary. Grade 18 is when the climbs seem to “normalise”. Yes there are some stupidly hard 13’s that would probably be graded 17 in the bluies.
Also you can expect to climb with a double rack of cams and double ropes which will limit the clubs resources. So there may be gear shortages.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I don’t think that’s quite fair Dave. I would say that once you can jam, the climbs from about grade 18 are quite resonable for the grade but I don’t think the climbs at lower grades are that bad, particularly if you’ve done some outdoor climbing at trad crags. It just takes a bit of getting used to.
Furthermore double ropes are nice but non essential, the lines are cracks after all and don’t tend to wander too badly. There are a lot of >30m abseils though, so another rope would need to be trailled for those routes. A few extra cams in about hands to thin hands sizes are really good but fortunatly the club has a good number of those in the HB cams that can bolster the other racks.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Also I think it would be better if from now on, Mike posts under the alias of the “Undercling King” or possibly the “Under King”.
May 6th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Hey guys
I have a flight up for a conference and was hoping to climb from 1-12 July. Catch is that I’ll be flying both ways.
So Dave if you’re heading up earlier than 4 July then I’d be keen to join/climb with you, provided you don’t make a habit of tying me off on rappel and walking off!! I may also be able to get my hands on a rope and a set of draws to ease the gear shortage to some extent, but I don’t think a krudd bonus is going to cover a shiny new trad rack. In the meantime I’m going to work on getting some callouses on the back of my hands!!! Wooohoooooooo so excited!!!
May 6th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Well Mike I found a lot of those easier climbs (not all) quite tough and tricky and I was leading 18 cracks in the bluies at that stage.
All so if everybody wants back up cams of that specific size range you mentioned then there may be problems. I don’t remember the rope lengths. But they where long raps.
I all so don’t think we should let anybody start leading there as I personally recieved a lot of comments about our new leaders doing very dangerous things. Though thats Dave H’s decision. Not mine.
May 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Depending on whether I can get out of a conference/school, I can go from 4th to 12th July (provided my supervisors let me…). I’m happy to share driving with someone, if anyone ends up leaving on the 4th…
As for actual climbing when we get there, I have no idea who I’d climb with – Fiona, maybe? Then again, neither of us are uber experienced leaders (me not at all for trad!) so maybe someone who’s more experienced, etc… Anyhoo, not many people seem to know about this trip, yet. Perhaps it needs more broadcasting…
May 6th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Frog was the site of my first three leads. I could recommend the first one as a beginner lead to someone who is a reasonably strong climber, but not the other two
I also have heard of/seen a fair bit of dodgy stuff. Personally I think people should get maybe a week of consecutive trad seconding experience before starting to lead some easier things with an experienced person observing. Methinks when you start leading you should know what to do from common sense, some basic mechanical intuition, reading books (the club has quite a few for those who are interested), but probably best of all observation of others. You shouldn’t really be turning up fresh, having someone give you a quick spiel and start climbing.
Its up to you to make sure you know what you are doing and keep yourself and your second safe.
Anyway, I’m not sure if I will make it, but if I’m not doing anything else I’ll come for the main week.
Anybody remember the numbers for the big camp sites?
May 7th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Hiho!
I am pretty sure I can take off some time to go from the 4th to the 12th of July. My problem would be that I am a seconder only. So, depending on my abilities to find a willing leader and figure somehow out to get there, I’ll come! Would love to come! So if you know someone who is willing to be my partner for that time, let me know!
May 10th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Kate, I’d be happy to climb with you but at this stage I think it would seriously limit what we’d be climbing — I’m definitely not capable of leading an 18 on trad right now and it’s very unlikely I will be by July. I’m going to try to climb as much as possible between then and now so I will see where I get up to closer to the trip.
May 19th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
If this trip is still going ahead (I appreciate that our pool of leaders is looking a bit thin right now…) I’d looove to grab a lift up to frog with someone after June 30 — my conference was moved to Sydney and I’m not getting free flights anymore…
May 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
There is no reason for the trip not to go ahead. So for anyone confused its still on.
Yes the lack of leaders does concern me too.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:44 am
Hmm, definitely still on then. What happens if we don’t get enough leaders though?? As it goes from last night, we have several maybes from James, Eugene and Tim, as possible other leaders. But I don’t know if we can rely on that…
May 21st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Well as it stands right now there are 6 people with 2 leaders so climbing in 3s. Not the end of the world.
Probably can’t have anymore seconders sign up tho, unless we get more leaders.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Im pretty keen to go again this year, after scaring the shit out of myself last year why not? I do add extra weight to the lack of leaders however. I would also need some kind of lift. In general I contribute nothing but entertainment value.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:26 am
I saw that I have not indicated that I am car-less as usual
does anyone knows if we can book a uni-car for a week?
May 27th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Guys, as I just got a new job. It looks like I can now only make the week before, which is 29th June – 5th July. I know Dave and Fiona have said they can make this week and Dino can make the change.
So Kate and Aline can you please advise if this date change is ok?
May 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
shouldn’t be a problem, have to speak to my supervisor to confirm
)
May 28th, 2009 at 11:24 am
The date change means that Pete Simpson and Jessie can come. It also means that Dave Hinder can’t (don’t know what hes doing). So if Dave comes I’ll probably end up coming up for most of both weeks like I did last year.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I have a minor problem — I can’t leave Sydney until the evening of June 30… Dave, can you hold up your departure for me??? PLEEEASE?? Otherwise I will try to fly…
May 28th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Also, since I need to be in Brisbane on July 12, I will also be staying up for both weeks…. woohooo!!!
May 29th, 2009 at 12:37 am
We could just make the trip run for the full two weeks.
Then the people who can come week one go then those who can go week two go then. And others can go for both weeks.
We could make one of the weeks the primary week
May 29th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I’m no longer coming on the trip at all – so you don’t need to worry about me. I can’t do the first week, and can no longer do the second week.
May 29th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I didn’t even know pete or jesse or dave h were coming as they haven’t signed up on the website
I was just going on what ppl have posted here.
I’ll have more of an update about the date thing late this arvo.
May 29th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I have spoken to all and they all said they where interested. I was pointing it out that was all.
The dates are fine for me.
I will probably head up on the tuesday and come back the thursday of the second week.
May 31st, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Hi guys,
at the moment I think I’ll be driving from Sydney to Frog on the 5th or 6th of July.
Hopefully I’ll get in 8 days of climbing with my mate Colin, and then mosey back down to Sydney.
If you want a seat in my station wagon (2-3 available depending on how cosy we all get) let me know – david DOT hinder AT gmail.com.
I’ll be leading a bit. Colin also leads trad, and though I haven’t climbed with him personally I think he’ll be quite a safe climber as he has a background in outdoor education. Possibly we could each take less experienced seconds under our wings if people wanted. BUT I haven’t discussed this with him so it’s speculative at the moment.
I’m concerned about what Dave D & James alluded to – about people doing dodgy stuff. If anyone wants to email me with reports of dangerous behaviour that’d be great. Keep the names of the unsafe people anonymous if you see fit, I’m less interested in who it was than in what they were doing.
Woot Frog. Excitement
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 am
Ok.
My dates are locked in, I’m about to pay on the QLD website. Leaving Sydney on the 5th in the wee hours, departing Frog early on the 11th. Not quite the 8 days I was hoping for, but hopefully enough time to thrutch up Gladiator
Aline has expressed interest in a seat in my car. Anyone else?
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:35 am
There are many thrutch fests at Frog, however Gladiator is not one of them. Good to hear you’re heading up there again Dave. You should do a lap on Infinity for me.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Yep, if thrutch is what you are after there is serious thrutch potential on the direct start to infinity. Just ask Jerome, or anyone else in the rest day gallery last year.
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:06 am
Looking over the posts regarding safety a few things must be said. It appears the comments of unsafe leading and leading after only a short spiel may be at least partially directed at myself. I do not try and shirk the responsibility of my actions but something must be drawn to your attention.
Specifically in regard to the comments, “I personally recieved a lot of comments about our new leaders doing very dangerous things” and “Its up to you to make sure you know what you are doing”.
If people thought there were very dangerous things going on, why did they not say something at the time? That concerns me just as much as the discovery that I did something dangerous. As part of a club trip, it is also the responsibility of the club as a whole to make sure everyone is safe. I know there are learning to lead trips etc, so maybe as dave suggests, there should be tighter control about letting people lead.
Seriously, I find it quite concerning to find out in retrospect that I was acting in a dangerous manner without anyone mentioning this to me at the time.
-Alex
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 am
Alex, I do not know the specifics of what you’re talking about. I agree that if any climber on a trip is doing something unsafe then they should be told ASAP. I think learn to lead trips maybe aren’t the best idea. In my opinion learning to lead should be done with a more experienced person one on one or in very small groups (3). This is especially important for trad as you really want a more experienced person to second up the newbie leader to make comments on gear placement.
You stated that “it is also the responsibility of the club as a whole to make sure everyone is safe.”. I only partially agree with this. Rock climbing is a dangerous sport and whilst we give every new person training on the basics, more experienced people can’t be everywhere at once checking everyones figure of 8 etc.
If you are about to abseil and want someone to double check your prussic and belay device – ASK! Every climbing pair should always do a double check of their partners harness, figure of eight and belay device before they climb. Climbers should also use the proper climbing calls, “safe” , “take” etc also.
I think every aspiring leader should read the book Climbing Anchors by John Long and Bob Gaines (http://www.seekbooks.com.au/isbn/9780762745043.htm).
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I get the impression some of those comments may be taken the wrong way. In my opinion a budding trad leader should start leading well below there grade, say 5-8 grades lower. New leaders are far more likely to place poor pro, build a poor anchor and run out gear placements (I have done all that so it’s not an attack on anybody). So if they start leading a lower grade, pro is much easier to place and they are far less likely to fall. Frog has very few climbs of this type eg grade 13 or less. The other ways to combat the problem are to follow a competent leader take out and replace their pro. And have an experienced belayer who has no problems shouting at you that you need to place more pro (then they have the problem that if they tell the leader there pro is crap will it unnerve them and cause them to fall) so its belayers discretion. They also have to actually notice its a problem.
In regards to comments from other people about new leaders. The people who told me these things where not part of the club and felt they had no right to intrude. I also get these comments filtered back to me after practically every club trip to the bluies.
Alex – I don’t really remember how you climbed so I can’t comment on your climbing. If you felt you climbed dangerously well its now a thing you can fix. And the easiest way is just to place lots of pro (lace it up) and climb easy grades.
Anyway if people would like to continue to discuss this then we should probably move it to the forum.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Ok back on topic. Looks like I will only be going for week 1 of Frog buttress.
From reading the above posts DD and Fiona will be driving from Syd to Frog on the night of Tuesday the 30th June.
So we need to book a camping spot for 4 ppl from Wed 1st till Sunday 5th.
If anyone else will be there for those dates, Aline? Pete? then please let me know now so I can book as apparently the campsite is very popular.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Ok currently plan on driving up on the 30th (as Georgi said) will return on the 9th (or when bored). So I currently have space for 1 more on the way up and 2 on the way back.
June 6th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
yeah so thrid time lucky for the interweb accepting my post. im still keen and want to visit some peeps in Bris so ill fly one way. Could I grab one of those spots on the way back DaveD? That is if you will be leaving mid-late second week rather than early.
June 8th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Is anyone planning to stay beyond Thursday of the second week (June 9)?
June 9th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Hi everyone! I now get BOTH frog weeks off work. HUZZAH! So i’ll most likely be there for the long haul. Probably fly back to sydney on Friday the 10th so i have the weekend in sydney to recharge before my new job!
June 9th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Woohoo that’s awesome news Georgi!! You must be stoked!!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Alex I can give you a lift back. I’m leaving the thursday (9th)
I now have one spot free in my car on the way up and the way back.
I hope you guys can drive manuals.
Dave H is staying after thursday.
Georgi if you stick it for two weeks you will be the crack climbing Queen.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Dave I think Aline might be interested in one of your spaces on the way up.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Hi DD,
I think I’ll go either from June 30th to July 5th or 9th because. I can tell you more by tomorrow. So I would like to take both empty spots!
HiDH,
I’ll go most likely with DD, that means my seat could be taken by someone else.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Sounds awesome Dave, cheers. I’m fine in a manual and I’m sure it will be easier than driving Katie’s van last time – i couldn’t put it in 1st or 3rd because my legs were too long.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:30 am
By the looks of the availability on the Parks website, no one has booked camping so should we do it all at once or each separately?
June 10th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Hey Aline, I wont be going back down to Syd on the 5th now, im sticking around till Fri the 10th.
Come up for two weeks!
June 10th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Hi guys,
after discussions at work I can’t get my dates (5-11 July) off. So Aline, it’s good that you’re going with DD.
Pretty bummed
Still, there’s always the Wolgan for a day or two…
Hope you guys have a great time.
-d
June 10th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Padre,
Let’s chat about this tonight. I don’t mind making a group booking for everyone to ensure we can all stay together. I think DH has already book for himself and his friend.
Cheers,
Georgi
June 10th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Georgi I think a group booking is a good idea, I checked out the site last night and all of our dates are still available. By my count we’re back to 6 people coming: Georgi, Dino, DD, Aline, Alex and I.
June 10th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
yeah, think group booking is good as well
) cu tonight
June 12th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hey Alex,
Ive paid for Dave, Aline, Fiona, Dean and Myself from the 1st to the 9th July, we are under the group name SURMC. I would have booked for you too but you are coming up on different dates.
When you book put SURMC as the group name.
Cheers,
Georgi
June 15th, 2009 at 10:32 am
How is everyone getting up there? Are there any free spots in any of the cars?
June 15th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
David,
- Aline, Fiona and Dave are driving up together – id say their car is full but you should check this
- Myself and Dino are driving up a few days earlier to visit family.
- Alex is flying up and making his own way to the crag
June 16th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
My car is full now travelling in both directions. Sorry Dave
For those in my car it is only a small 2 door mirage. So it will be tight as is. Also I leave near hornsby and am not overly keen on driving an extra hour into the city and back. It would be good if I can pick you up from Hornsby station or if you get a lift to near my place. Let me know what you think?
June 16th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
If it’s still ok with Dino and Georgi, I’m going to send some of my stuff up with them since I’m staying on after Frog. If they have space that may be a way to ease the space issue in Dave’s car.
Re departure point, I’m happy to take the train up to Hornsby provided that I don’t have too much stuff, but it will probably mean leaving a bit later — I have a conference at work that day and am not precisely sure when it will finish but hopefully before 5.30. By the time I get home, on the train etc etc I realistically won’t get to Hornsby before 7.30.
Dave, give me a call whenever if you want to work this out, it’s probably easier than posting on the forum
Can’t WAIT!!!!
June 16th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
And we shall by food in queensland. Also saves on space
June 17th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hi Dave,
I take the train to hornsby (I managed to move from bronte to newtown with 30kg of luggage, can’t be worse)
) I also will try to get rid of bulky luggage and send it off with dino and georgy if that is still ok.
Are you coming to the Ledge some time? Might be easier to discuss things in detail
)
June 18th, 2009 at 12:14 am
I love your food post Dave, but can we please bring snakes for the car trip?? Please?? ;-P
June 19th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
OK, I have booked my camping.
I’m pretty sure I should be able to get to Boonah but would likely need someone to pick me up from there if they would ever be so kind…
A mirage is a small car for a tall man, I will try bring as little as I can and maybe amputate my legs a little.
Also, I don’t mind taking the train home from hornsby on the way back.