Serpent
2018 was a grim year for emergency services at Dyurrite (Mount Arapiles). There were eight call-outs, twice the average number. Six of those accidents were serious, and three involved protection that failed. The saddest accident that year involved a young couple in their twenties on a climbing holiday from Scandinavia.
Leif and Ingrid (not their real names) were sport climbers; back home, Leif led grade 25s. They bought a trad rack in Melbourne and drove to Dyurrite. Serpent was their first climb on trad.
While Ingrid belayed, Leif started up the route with his brand-new rack. is aine in nature, with four vertical sections linked by three left-trending diagonal steps. A route of this nature demands extra skills in placing good protection that resists downwards, outwards, and sideways directional forces. In addition, the top third of the route has quite slick rock. Good cams placed in slick rock at Dyurrite have been known to fail, most notoriously on The Rack (a grade 18 crack climb).
