Introduction.

Somewhere in the plains of Western Victoria is a small mound of rubble that has somehow become known as 'The Mount'. Despite appearances, '300ft of muck' according to the first climbers in the area, this oversized 'edge' consists almost completely of high quality, flint hard, quartzite sandstone.

Being slow starters, down under, the area didn't generate climber's interest until the late 1950's and early 1960's. Once they had got over the initial appearance and they had got themselves close enough to see the true quality of the rock, a group of climbers, from Victoria New South Wales, began to rack up ascents of the major lines in the area. Having bagged most of the classic lines by the end of the sixties they left the next generation with more technical challenges.

The seventies was the 'golden age' of climbing at Arapiles, with the likes of Kim Carrigan, Louise, Chris and Lincoln Shepherd, Greg Child, Andrew Thomas and a whole host of others trying to make their mark. They were the makings of the first true Arapiles lifestyle climbers, of which there are always a few camped out at 'The Pines'. This change of attitude brought about a big push in the standards of Arapiles climbing, even more so after the visit, in 1975, from American Henry Barber. Barber introduced two new grades to Australia, opening a few eyes as he did it.

After Barbers visit the local climbers decided that a bit more effort was required. By 1984 grades had gone from Barbers effort of 23 (E4) to grade 30 (E7), with Kim Carrigan being solely responsible for every new grade (from 26>30).
The tradition of living as cheaply as possible and as long as possible in 'The Pines' still continues today, but the push in standards stopped after Wolfgang Gullich added 'Punks In The Gym' (32) in 1985. Nowadays the 'hard men' are pushing standards in the Grampians and have left Arapiles to the people who just want to do a bit of climbing or maybe go to the pub.