After the flurry of mainstream media activity earlier in the week, the latter half has been no less busy. The big news comes from a series of Melbourne meetings between Parks Victoria’s Simon Talbot, GAWG/CliffCare/VCC and the newly formed ACAV. This was the first sit down meetings since the unilateral climbing bans were announced 9 weeks ago. There are individual reports issued from the two climbing organizations and we will analyze some of the more scandalous claims below. But first, have a read of ACAV’s take on their first meeting here then digest CliffCare’s report here.

Demonstrating that mainstream media and Parks Victoria are clueless on how rock-climbing works, our community was aghast to see a fear mongering article appear from The Age this morning about these Grampians climbing bans. It was full of factual inaccuracies galore.

Hollow Mtn banned on maps, heated town hall debates and a new organization emerges – it was a busy Easter! Australia’s national climbing holiday was also a great opportunity for a climb and a lot of face to face discussion about these recent access dramas.

Today marks another chapter from the Slowest Release of Information Award nominee Parks Victoria. We finally have an idea as to why some of the 8 focus areas were closed to climbing earlier this year. Up to now we have been second guessing the reasons – environmental, cultural? Oddly this information has not been released in any official way, but comes in the form of photo captions on Parks Victoria’s website about Grampians climbing. This page has been somewhat controversial in recent times with a “bolt in art” photo being falsely blamed on rock climbers. Read about that debacle here. After that photo was removed, and an apology issued, the photo has been replaced and new captions added.

Climbers this week have finally begun to receive replies to letters sent to the Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio MP. Once again, climbers are red-hot targets of a statistical smear campaign.

Most climbers will know that Summerday Valley is the most visited climbing area in the Grampians, and has been for several decades. It offers beginner grades, incredibly easy access via Parks Victoria walking tracks, solid trad protection, simple to arrange top-rope setups and a plethora of wall angles to guarantee shade or sun depending on the season.