Dunedin Rock Climbing: Long Beach
6 hours is a long way to drive with people you don’t know. But meeting other climbers was the whole point of the New Zealand Alpine Club’s annual Dunedin climbing meet – so when Clayton, the organiser, asked if we had room for two more in our car, we said yes. And it turned out to be the start of a great adventure.
Some quick context: we’d only been climbing outdoors for less than a year. In fact the move to Christchurch was the catalyst. A few crags on our doorstep and their absurd accessibility means we spend every (good weather) weekend hanging off the rock, making shapes and taking photos of our friends.
But it’s great to get outside of Christchurch too, and explore more of the climbing scene in the rest of New Zealand. Long Beach is known for its great climbing – and with a good mix of trad and sport grades, there’s something for everyone.
Day 1 - Climbing at The Cave
Eager to squeeze in as much climbing over the weekend as we could, we got up early the following morning. The forecast was good, but we had to wait a bit for the rock to dry. Over breakfast, we saw a few more familiar faces, and reunited with our friends who’d driven down from Christchurch earlier the previous day.
Everyone split into groups afterwards, depending on where they wanted to climb. That’s the great thing about Long Beach – there’s something for everyone.
We decided to start with some sport climbing at The Cave area. The crag was only a ten minute walk from our campsite. As the track opened up and we caught a glimpse of it, we were all appropriately impressed, ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘aah-ing’ at the absurdly beautiful views.
Our warm-up climb (‘The Levellers’) was a deceptive line with jagged edges and sandy holds. Funnily enough, we were all cursing the beach by the time we made it to the top, wiping off a gritty mixture of chalk and sand.
We stayed on that wall until lunch, then moved further right to the ‘Cave Centre.’ Everyone wanted to send ‘Pamela Anderson’ (14) – an awesome ‘juggy’ climb up and around an arete. Other highlights were ‘Sandy Daze’ (17) and ‘Purple Hayes’ (18) – Barry and a few others also projected ‘Bowels of Mercy’ (20).
Pompeii Area
Pompeii was like another world; the air was cooler, the bush was denser – nothing like the exposed beach climbing we’d come from. As we approached, we saw fixed ropes strewn across the wall. The process of clearing a route and bolting it was a novelty for us, so we grabbed the camera and went exploring. That was how we got to meet the New Zealand ‘masters of rock’ – Steve Carr, Murray Judge and John Hamilton – legends who’d established much of the Dunedin rock climbing scene.
The climbs were so fresh, there hadn’t been enough traffic yet to ‘clean’ them. It made for some interesting climbing! Barry went up ‘Pyroclast’ (18). As he hesitated over a cruxy move at the bulge, a voice shouted “Stay low and match!” – saving him from peeling off the wall. It was Steve Carr, who had put up the route. A similar thing happened to our friend Ness, and from then on we joked Steve was “the man in the woods” with a sixth sense when it came to his climbs and timely one-liners.
Getting to know good people
The evening was spent eating, drinking, skittle-munching and getting to know everyone a little better. Grubbie had sent his project ‘Crime and Punishment’ (22) – indeed, it seemed the day had left most people with a deep sense of fulfillment. This was the 10th year the Canterbury/Westland section had been to Dunedin and the 7th time they co-hosted it. All up we had 30 people attend from Canterbury, Southland, Otago, Queenstown and Oamaru.
Day 2 - Trad is Rad (it just takes a while)
The next day, it was time to test our trad prowess. We’d only done the Trad course a month prior, so needed all the practice we could get. The club had brought a few spare trad racks which we greatly appreciated. We scoped out the easiest grade at ‘Pinnacle wall - Lower Sunnyside’ – which some guy (not part of the Meet) free soloed barefoot, just as we arrived. We were content placing gear though!
All too soon it was time to head home. Where had the weekend gone?!
There are so many climbs at Long Beach we didn’t even get a chance to touch. The Dunedin Climbing Meet was our last proper outdoor climbing trip before the lockdown and it made us appreciate the experience even more. Massive thanks to the Canterbury/Westland and Southland sections for organising everything… we’ll definitely be back!