Drytooling Potential Unveiled in the Darrans

Dry tooling is an often misunderstood, ridiculed, and quite uncommon pastime. Up until now, toolers have been shunned: restricted to chosspiles that even Dan Head wouldn’t bolt. Places like the Pink Palace and such do not inspire much awe, and certainly do not encourage newbies into the sport. With so few people coming up through the ranks, the cutting edge of drytooling in NZ is lagging far behind our overseas competitors. Luckily, this is all about to change.

Little Babylon has a well earned reputation as New Zealand's centre for cutting edge rock climbing. Almost as well known are the sandbagging dilettantes who frequent it, cluttering Homer Hut and never changing the dishwater. Until now, nobody has recognized its TRUE potential… and, I would argue, real value. Little Babylon is soon to be at the centre of the revolution of drytooling standards in this country. And if you doubt me, just cast your eyes upon the pictures in this blog: only two routes have been tooled, and this is only the beginning.

First ascensionist looking at the route(s) potential

Getting There and general notes.

The approach is not to be underestimated. Allow up to 2hrs with a large pack. Fixed line is in place at crux sections, but should really be extended to ensure you can remain clipped in all the way up. Bivvying at the crag is excellent, with plenty of space within the dripline for up to 15 people. As the environment here is very delicate, waste management is important: a collective mud falcon is recommended and can be thrown off the end of the crag every morning. Porters can be hard to come by and often demand high prices, but can sometimes be found next to the dumpster at Milford Lodge.

You will of course have to deal with with the existing population of bolt clippers. They are often quite bristly when they sight crampons and axes, and often complain about pretty much everything. “You’re scratching the rock! That scraping sound is horrible! You destroyed the crux crimp on my proj!” It’s best to ignore them, but if they become obstructive, rattling some trad pro at them usually scares them off.

Shake out on International Turkey Patrol, M4

What Routes?

The rock is excellent and hardly crumbles when you torque your picks into the jugs. Small edges such as those found on No Country For Old Men 29/M9 are bomber and becoming more positive with every ascent. The sport climbers complain of these crimps getting polished, so you’re doing them a favour by reviving some texture.

No Country for Old Men M9

Its important to note how thins these cruxes are

Another recommended route is International Turkey Patrol 25/M4. This has a section of very positive pick torques though the first roof, followed by a thin hook traverse to the anchor. For additional challenge, this route can also be naturally protected (seriously).

Even more potential exists at the Right Wall of Big Bab, which would yield endless tenuous hooks.

It is my firm belief that with winters becoming warmer and warmer, locations like this will become more and more important to allow alpenism in NZ to continue to flourish. I hope this article will inspire some young’uns to get out there and start scratching!