Photos by sbaclimber

The start is pretty awkward, but once on the wall things get much better. Lots of small bomber wires and big jugs. Photo by Yan

One interesting move, a couple of good pieces, and you're ready to pull around the roof. Don't let appearences fool you, it is actually very very easy. Photo by Yan

Socialclimber checking out the gap through the roof to exit A Taste Of Shit. It may not sound very appatising, but he says it is good....

Most of the primary routes are located around the middle and right hand dihedrals and buttresses.

You know how they say, "double up your protection for the crux"!? Well, for Hamish, on Crack Of Delight (19), the crux started off the ground, and never really stopped. 5 cams place within 1m of each other while on lead and no more than 4m off the deck. First time in a real crack, so we cut him a little slack, and didn't make too much fun of his pro-technique. Photo by Robo555

Chances are, I was sizing up the thin crack with the loose block as my top out at this point. I ended up wussing out and exiting lower and right over the ledge. Photo by Chris B.

...and experiencing the typical Castle Hill "no edges for your feet". At least there is a good crack for him to hang on to. Photo by Robo555

We are doing our best to corrupt him into a crack climber. Slip and slide, and try his best not to jam, we will eventually succeed. Photo by socialclimber

Graded at 18 (5.10a), but the lichen and very thin gear at the top make this seem a bit harder. Great route anyway, especially considering it is one of the better ones around. Photo by socialclimber

Unfortunately, the flake that makes up the left side of Phil McKrakin just keeps getting thinner and thinner the higher you go. The jams are solid, the feet thin, and there is a high bolt, so it is all good! Photo by socialclimber

Phil McKrakin is a pretty typical limestone crack. Irregular enough for cams to be bit questionable, but not enough for wires to be solid. Small tricams to the rescue! Photo by socialclimber

The top section of Phil McKrakin is just a series of solid finger locks, one after the other. Unfortunately, the feet and gear are rediculously thin, which would probably explain the bolt. Photo by socialclimber

...or at least this one is. Not an easy route to protect, but it is there if you are ballsy enough to keep looking for it. The vegetation doesn't really help much either.

Otepatotu is definitely not a winter crag! Though we did manage to get on one of the few routes that gets any sun at all (for about 1/2 hour).

A pretty good route to learn trad climbing on, at 15 and with plenty of cracks. Gets rather daunting and takes some placement finding skills at the top though. Photo by socialclimber

...but also a very quality route. Recommended for any climber that climbs 14 or above. Tons of great placements on great rock.

If you can't tell by him all bundled up below, it had gotten quite cool and breezy by this point in the day. Kind of a bad photo of the route, but this was taken while on the sharp end of a first ascent flash (okay.....I know...it was 'only' a 16....).

No, he's not catching flies, it was quite windy and hard to hear. Hopefully, someday, we will get a good photo of this route, but it isn't likely. That is one heck of a drop-off below.

After the next placement, he missed the following 3, making for a very serious runout. Turns out, the gear is actually pretty good if you look for it.

... on Shortcut To Mushrooms. Great climb with great pro, but a really rough couple of moves through the roof. Photo by doogle

The roof on Shortcut To Mushrooms spanked me hard, but doogle just pulled right on through. The half-smile on his face can only mean he just set the jam above the chockstone.

doogle, concentrating hard on hanging onto some gnarly side clings to get through the roof on Shortcut To Mushrooms.

Daniel holding on as tightly as possible through the very thin crux of Slippery When Wet.

socialclimber thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather while pulling the crux of When Hell Froze Over (named for the freezing weather during the FA) Photo by Daniel

socialclimber looking.... Now that the hard part is over, the fun can begin. When Hell Froze Over starts with a bouldery start, and then offers some awesome jugs for the midsection. Photo by Daniel