Latest Club News

First Learn to Lead course of 2012
28th Jan 2012 Andrew Clark
The dates for the first learn to lead course of 2012 have been entered into the events calendar: 16th April to 21st April. Check out the course outline here: here.

Happy New Year!
16th Jan 2012
After a brief hiatus over the silly season we're back. Looks like it might be warm over the next little while, but it's always a few degrees cooler at Mount Buffalo! With hot showers and a cool lake, Lake Catani has to be one of the most civilised campgrounds near excellent granite climbing. Click here for more details: Buffalo Trip The events calendar is starting to flesh out for the first few months of 2012. Jump over to the events page to check what's going on: www.vicclimb.org.au/events To stay up to date with the latest, you can subscribe to the VCC Events RSS feed or like the VCC on Facebook.

2011 Great Annual CliffCare Raffle
11th Nov 2011 Tracey Skinner
It's that time again! Time for the Great Annual CliffCare Raffle. Most members should have already received some raffle books to buy or sell. Please remember that this is our one main fundraiser for the year and allows us to continue the work that CliffCare undertakes. $2.00 a ticket or $20 for a book of ten. Fab Prizes. If you haven't received yours or you're not a member and want to buy some drop me a line and we'll get your sorted. cliffcare@vicclimb.org.au For more info on our sponsors check out the sponsor page on the website and if you want to know more about CliffCare, check out our new website here http://www.cliffcare.org.au PRIZE SPONSORS 1. Bayside Rock 1yr climbing gym membership Valued : $1,000 2. Hardrock 6mth dual gym membership Valued : $750 3. Roos with a View 3 night accom for up to 6 people Valued - $690 4. Bayside Rock 12 mth bouldering gym membership Valued: $680 5. Bogong Equipment $500 voucher Valued: $500 6-9 Hardrock Climbing Gym 4 x 10 visit passes Valued: $144 each 10. Rock Adventure Centre 10 visit pass Valued: $140 11. The Lactic Factory 10 visit pass Valued: $135 12. Balance Control Pilates 5 x classes(mat or allegro) Valued - $120 13. Mosaic Myotherapy 1 hour myotherapy rock climbers session Valued: $90 14 Arapiles Resoles 1 x shoes resole or toecap Valued: $85.00 15. Rockmaster Publications Sublime Climbs guidebook Valued: $59.95 16. The Natimuk Café Meal Voucher for 2 Valued: $40 17. Rock Magazine Year subscription Valued: $31.95 18-19 Open Spaces Rockclimbs Around Melbourne guidebook Valued: $29.95 each

New Cliffcare Website
3rd Nov 2011
Tracey has put together a new website for Cliffcare. All the latest info on access, falcons, working bees, etc can now be found at: http://cliffcare.org.au/

Spring Self Rescue Course
1st Oct 2011 Ben Wright
We still have space on the Self Rescue Course starting Saturday 8th October. If you are interested please get in contact . See here for course info and dates.

Burnley Bouldering Wall Reopens!
31st Jul 2011 Andrew Clark
Ok folks, the wall is officially open for business! Huge thanks to all the setters and helpers yesterday! The Burnley Bouldering Wall Facebook page has some more pics, click the Burnley Wall link at the top right of this page. New guidebook

Burnley Climbing Wall Closure Update

15th Jul 2011 Ben Wright

We have been given a new date for the reopening of the Burnley Bouldering Walls, and we will be organising route setting as soon as we can after this.

On Wednesday, 13 July 2011 12:58 PM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

We have been targeting the 29th July as our completion date; that is with respect to all works required to open the bike path. I’m glad to confirm that we are still on target and I would suggest that on that date we can also reopen the climbing walls.

Thanks for your patience.

Follow up.

On Friday, 3 June 2011 7:45 AM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

We will be aiming to complete the works at the Burnley site as quickly as possible, our current estimate is mid August providing we don’t stumble over any more problems. This should allow access to the climbing wall in early August, for the installation of the foot/hand blocks etc.

I hope this doesn’t cause too much inconvenience for you and your fellow climbers; we’ll certainly be doing our upmost to ensure the prompt completion so that we can get the facility operational again.

Delayed again... Site access mentioned was going to be for route setting, general opening will be later still.

On Thursday, 2 Jun 2011 15:23 PM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

Unfortunately, we are having some variations to the work, additional soil excavation and encapsulation works need to be undertaken which was not captured on original programme. Hence Site access will not be available until mid/late July (estimated).

Getting closer. They have also asked for an on site meeting whilst the walls are being reestablished, which we'll hopefully arrange this month.

On Friday, 6 May 2011 18:15 PM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

We are still on schedule to finish by end of June. We are doing the final stages of the post tensioning at the moment. Next phase is to remove scaffold and at the same time reinstate the walls.

Sounding more positive this month, work is continuing...

On Tuesday, 29 March 2011 08:18 PM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

Sorry for slow reply. Frantically trying to finish works at Burnley.
Since our last email we've finished our remedial works to address the asbestos issue.

We have now sent our workers back in to finish the last of the bridge works.

At this stage we expect to complete by the end of June, however, I will come back to you if there is any likelihood of finishing earlier.

More delays...

On Tuesday, 8 February 2011 6:58 PM , Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

Unfortunately, just before Christmas we discovered asbestos particles in the area which is immediately west of the viaduct. The particles, small pieces of asbestos sheeting were in fill material which was placed on site well before our project started. We have undertaken air monitoring which confirms that there are no risks from air born particles. Whilst your climbing walls do not appear to be impacted we have had to stop work, zoned off the area and have commenced remediation.

Unfortunately, we expect that this will delay hand back of the area and reinstatement of the climbing walls until July.

I will keep you informed of progress and please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Latest is it's being affected by all this weather...

On Thursday, 13 January 2011 10:53 AM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

The bridge works have suffered some delays in December and now early January, and we are waiting to get a new program in place - hopefully the delays will be covered by contingency but as you can imagine, the more this weather continues the more likely the works will push out further.

As soon as we get clarity I will make sure that you are informed.

Latest follow up and - still on schedule...

On Thursday, 9 December 2010 8:20 AM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

The works are progressing and are currently still on schedule for the March 2011 date. Hopefully the weather won't cause much delay however only time will tell!

Looks like it'll be a while yet:

On Monday, 27 September 2010 11:31 AM, Southern Link Upgrade wrote:

As you know, CityLink is carrying out bridge strengthening works beneath the Burnley Viaduct to cater for the projected growth in the number and size of freight vehicles, resulting in the temporary closure of the Burnley Climbing Wall and Trail diversion.

The scope has prioritised those works east of Burnley Harbour in order to close out the extended off-peak detour for Main Yarra Trail users by the end of October 2010.

To do this however, and to ensure the safety of climbers, cyclists, pedestrians and workers during construction on the Burnley Viaduct, the SLU Alliance needs to continue to close the Burnley Climbing Wall and Main Yarra Trail between Barkly Avenue and Mary Street until Friday 11th March 2011.

I apologise for this inconvenience – if it is possible to close the works out sooner and reopen the Wall and Trail earlier I will let you know.

THE BIG JUNE CLIFFCARE PHAROS GULLY WORKING BEE
17th Jun 2011 Tracey Skinner
SATURDAY 25TH JUNE 2011 BETWEEN 3-5PM ON SATURDAY MEET AT PHAROS CAR PARK. This ongoing project is getting closer and closer to the finish. The more people we get, the sooner it is I can stop hassling you and you don’t need to see the title PHAROS GULLY WORKING BEE again. We will be moving rocks up the gully so that Walter our stonemason can set them into place. Simple stuff really. Just requires a little stamina. Wear closed toe shoes and bring water. And afterwards there will be a bbq in the pines. Sausage sizzle extravaganza! If you are attending the bbq, please let me know so I can order for catering purposes. Also let me know if you are a vegetarian. I am needing 6 relay teams of 4-6 people per team. So you will be sharing the load. Please come as close to 3pm as possible. The more team I have starting at the same time the better. Visit the event page for any updates

El Cap Challenge Fundraiser
31st May 2011 Tracey Skinner
The El Cap Challenge Fundraiser which was held at Bayside climbing gym on the 5th May was a great success! Hugh McMillan and his team from Victoria University ran an energetic and fun night and James Kassay and his family once again supported CliffCare and the climbing community by providing a lower entrance fee at their Bayside climbing gym. It was also a great opportunity to set up the first CliffCare display which allowed all the climbers at the gym to see where the fundraising dollars went. This display will be part of the CliffCare Education Project and the money raised will help to build further on this project. Some photos of the night can be seen here. On Tuesday 24th May, Hugh and his team presented me with the cheque for $855. Thanks also to Bendigo Bank for their support of the fundraising program that Hugh was involved in. And most of all, thanks to all the climbers who turned up on the night, had a blast of a time and in the process donated money to the cause. I had a ball as did all of my team.

Grampians Planned Burns 4 & 6 March

4th Mar 2011 Tracey Skinner

Grampians National Park Planned Autumn Burning

The Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria have commencing its autumn planned burning program in the Grampians National Park. Planned burns have been scheduled a little earlier this year because of the milder weather conditions and the increased soil moisture we have experienced this summer in Victoria.

In line with the Wimmera Fire Operations Plan released last September, DSE and PV intend to conduct 12 separate burns in the Grampians area, covering a total area of 5193 ha. After the recent flood event DSE and PV have reviewed the burning program and as a result two alternative burns have been planned to replace several burns that have access issues. The Piccaninny and several other burns have been removed from the 2011 program will proceed in future years. Please see the downloadable map of the Grampians that shows all burns planned for this autumn.

Favourable weather conditions largely influence when particular planned burns go ahead

Current Burns Planned: 4th and 6th March

Download the maps showing the burns in Mt Zero and Stapylton areas

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