To all of our loyal wholesale and retail customers it is with a great deal of regret that Open Spaces Publishing has made the decision to halt work on all of our planned rock climbing and bushwalking titles for the Grampians National Park and at nearby Mt Arapiles. Our business moved to Natimuk in the… Continue reading Parks Victoria Halts New Grampians And Arapiles Guidebooks
Tag: grampians
Is This Australia’s Oldest Rock Climbing Photograph?
The Grampians have been in the climbing news a lot lately after Parks Victoria initiated the world’s largest rock climbing bans (over 50% of the region’s best climbing) and with no consultation with the climbing community. To say these have been tough times for the climbing community is an understatement. Coincidentally I have just finished… Continue reading Is This Australia’s Oldest Rock Climbing Photograph?
Grampians National Park: Safety Ropes, Bushwalking and Special Protection Areas
This article was added to on 10 March 2021 to include a letter from Jason Borg at Parks Victoria. Many of you are probably aware that Parks Victoria have initiated sweeping rock climbing bans across the Grampians National Park in what are called Special Protection Areas (SPAs). At Open Spaces we have received a number… Continue reading Grampians National Park: Safety Ropes, Bushwalking and Special Protection Areas
The First Ascent of Blimp
At the end of the academic year 1968 at RMIT, I looked for a new outdoor activity, so I met Fred Langenhorst and Rein Kamar from the bushwalking club in the college café. ‘Hi Bruno, would you like to do a rock climbing course with us?’ ‘Yeah, I would like that.’ The introductory course with… Continue reading The First Ascent of Blimp
Open Spaces Tree Change
It’s been a tough ten years in print publishing as the internet revolution continues to change the way we create and distribute information. Traditional printers across Australia have been putting off large numbers of staff or closing their doors for good. Wholesale distributors and book shops have been similarly affected. The introduction of smart-phones and… Continue reading Open Spaces Tree Change
The Rust Bucket
This new Grampians sport-climbing cliff is located just near the Mount of Olives, a couple of minutes walk off the trail linking the Stapylton Campground with the Mt Stapylton Amphitheatre (total walk-in time is about 20min). The cliff is very short (only 12m or so) but the climbing is steep on generally good pocketed rock.… Continue reading The Rust Bucket
Mt Stapylton Loop Walk
I’d been planning to walk the Mt Stapylton Loop for the last year or so and it was only last week when I finally got the chance to do so. For anyone unfamiliar with the Grampians National Park, this 12.2km circuit walk traverses a series of exposed sandstone peaks and shallow valleys in the parks… Continue reading Mt Stapylton Loop Walk
Grampians Trail Updates and Planned Burns March 2012
Just in time for the long weekend. A number of the tracks previously closed have now reopened and these are listed below. As well as these updates, there are some future planned burns in the Victoria Range. I don’t have actual dates at this stage but at least you can get an idea of the… Continue reading Grampians Trail Updates and Planned Burns March 2012
Grampians Peaks Trail (Feb 2012 Update)
Just finished chatting with David Roberts, Ranger in Charge of the Grampians National Park. Regular readers may remember the piece we did here on the Grampians Peaks Trail in July 2010. The proposed walking trail was to link Mt Zero in the north to the town of Dunkeld in the south, covering a distance of… Continue reading Grampians Peaks Trail (Feb 2012 Update)
Grampians Flood update
Following the recent heavy rains and ensuing floods, many of the parks in Victoria have closures in place. Either full closures like the You Yangs or partial closures such as the Grampians. In regards to the Grampians, a huge amount of the park took a beating – with landslides and road collapse hitting the top… Continue reading Grampians Flood update