Where: Urinal Wall area
When: 9.30 -12
Bring: backpack to carry rocks if possible and wear closed toe shoes

any enquiries: cliffcare@vicclimb.org.au

For some pics on the You Yangs see here

trenches created by flood waters

So far I have only had 2 people put their hands up for the work day at the Gallery. I am going to need more than that for the work day to go ahead. Considering the size of the crew that was there on the day I inspected, I was hoping for a little more interest in looking after the area. This is your opportunity to contribute to climbers being involved in self regulating. Looking after the areas that we climb in goes hand in hand with this.

I have changed the work day to Sunday rather than the Saturday seeing as though Sunday is generally a shorter day for people anyway and would imagine that this is preferable. That way people can still get a good full days climbing in on the Saturday.

I really need to have a good idea of numbers so I can plan the work and tools required You can get an idea of the work planned by reading this. http://cliffcare.org.au/2012/03/30/access-environment-officer-report-april-2012/ I am hoping to get a brief lesson for the volunteers in the morning on the day, on how to construct water bars which will be the majority of what we will be doing. I am also hoping to get our chainsaw guy in again to help clear the trees that are down over the track
Drop me a line to let me know if you will be coming.

Sunday 27th May
Time: 9.30
Meet: Buandik picnic area

Cheers,
Tracey
cliffcare@vicclimb.org.au

By the time we had all gathered, tools collected  from the depot and entered through the gated road to the Rosea carpark it was about 9.30. With 10 people in total this meant that I could assign 4 people to the two main work areas to tackle the jobs.  The landslide track area being one and  the second  treefall area near the last switchback which had also taken out the track a bit.  Frank,Cam,James and Ben took charge of the landslide gully and David,John, Sean(MUMC) and Gaeton(MUMC) . Sylvia and myself took on the job of clearing some of the track sections of overgrown bracken. A particularly exciting aspect for me (yes, sad I know)  with this working bee was that we had our very own chainsaw wielding climber volunteer.  All properly accredited – which is basically the only way we can have our very own chainsaw wielding maniac volunteer on PV managed land. With David along it meant that we could get the trees across the track sorted then and there and be able to complete the work how we needed to. He did a brilliant job quickly – I would have hated to see how long it would have taken with handsaws and there was no way with the small team we had that we would have got through the work.
The landslide gully was a difficult one to figure out.  Even in the time since I last inspected it, the gully has deepened. Our original thoughts to put water bars further up above the track in order to divert water off the new segment of the climbers track that has been delineated and stabilized, needed to be reassessed. Not strictly water bars – this would have involved building up the gully too much, the decision made by Frank, Cam,James and Ben was to construct a 4 tier diversion by filling in tiers across the gully with large rocks and boulders.  The hope is that this will slow and divert some water off our track section.  This repair is for normal rain and water runoff not a flood event. Some of the gully is still loose in sections and I’m quite sure we will need to revisit and rework bits here and there. The following pictures before and after will give you an idea of the work that has been done. As always, a massive thankyou to the volunteers who took the time and gave up their time to look after our side of the bargain with Mt Rosea and the climbers access track.
Before – landslide gully intersecting climbers access track
After  – Landslide gully repairs. Stabilized, delineated track joining undamaged sections
Before – Second treefall over climbers track
After – Second treefall cleared and stepthrough created for ease of access

Track wall collapse and sprawl past 2nd treefall area
Track wall containment, track delineation and stabilization

Landslide gully repairs. Stabilized, delineated track joining undamaged sections of climbers track . 4 x gully diversions above track to divert and slow down water

Second treefall cleared and stepthrough created for ease of access

For more photos of the day, visit our smugmug site here

As posted previously, the Mt Rosea working bee is on this weekend. The working bee is to get the work done in the climber managed area in order for Rosea to be opened. Parks Victoria and VicRoads are handlling their side of things and the rest is up to us.

I would like to be at Rosea carpark at about 9am so will need to meet earlier. The roads in are gated and we will have a key to let ourselves in and out.  This means we will all need to go in together and out together.
As the lower Silverband road is out of action we will be coming in the long way. Access to this area is along the Stony creek Road from Glenelg River Road to Rosea track. There is a gate so park in the general area and meet there.  We can then car pool if needed. Meet here at 8.30am and the plan is to leave 4-5 pm dependant on work completed.
Please wear closed toe shoes, and if you are able bring some gloves to protect your hands from any rock carrying and branch/tree clearing.  Bring water, lunch and also dress warm as Rosea is known to be cool if its not a sunny day.

If you need to get in touch with me you can try me on the club phone 0419563733

While we’re on the subject of Sponsors, take the opportunity to check out our Supporters and Sponsors page.  All of them help in some way be it through the Raffle sponsorship or donations.  And if you are wanting to donate some funds directly to CliffCare , please seriously consider this.  The longevity of CliffCare and therefore, the longevity of access advocacy and education depends on this. You can donate a one off amount regularly every year or you can also have donations credited directly from your salary. See here for how to do it.
GiveNow donation portal
CAF salary donation

art site where track shouldn't be used

The correct access track does need some work though in order to help prevent further damage. One of the main problems, especially with steeper tracks, is that besides some erosion that is created by those walking them, water finds these tracks as perfect little causeways to run down.

beginning eroded section of track and exposed roots

This is what accelerates the erosion process even more and causes rutting.  Add the flood event we had in 2011 and well, there are some sections that aren’t worth repairing a such.

trenches created by flood waters

After further discussion with Kyle, it was decided that the best plan of action at this point would be to put in preventative measures along the track in order to control and direct the water off its intended trajectory – the climbers access track. Much of this will be done by installing water bars diagonally across the worst sections with small trenches directing the water into the vegetated areas.  A few other tricks of the trade will also be employed. There are some sections of the track that have had large treefall and the track then becomes a little more confusing. This is where a chainsaw comes in handy – do we have any licensed chainsaw accredited climbers out there who might be available on the day.

trees down over track

Parks Victoria are also keen to install a sign at the intersection after the bridge that makes note of the direction of the climbers access track to The Gallery – noting also that it is not a PV maintained track. It is not immediately obvious that the track is there compared to the other one on offer which is very obvious. If you know the area, no problem but for new and visiting international climbers it’s very easy to head up toward the art site which is exactly what we don’t want.  And lets face it, if you go up that way you aren’t going to want to come back down and retrace your steps to get back on track – people will just continue up around the site.

So I am gathering volunteers for this work day and am hoping that climbers who use the Gallery will come forward and donate some of their time. I have it written down as Saturday 26th May but if I get enough interest for having it on the Sunday instead I will reschedule.  Drop me a line

.In other exciting news, those who are partial to camping in The Gums at Arapiles will have to make the trek over to the Pines toilets for a little while.  That famed building in the Gums that wafted its scent across the campgrounds on many a warm day and which truly tested the lung capacity for holding breath is now, no more.  In its place a long drop toilet, like the ones in many Grampians sites, will be installed. Whilst composting toilets are great in the right environment, when they’re not, they don’t compost and end up being more work.  Smell should be much better, though on a hot day it’s probably always going to be a little whiffy.

Pit is already in as is the slab.  The structure which is being done by another contractor will be a little while longer – Easter is an absolute must.  I would hate to see the queues at the Pines that would develop otherwise.
Safe climbing to all,
Cheers,
Tracey