This is a climb few have attempted. It is a 200 foot dolerite column that rises straight up from the ocean on the Tasman Peninsula. This rock was first climbed in 1968 by John Ewbank and Allan Keller as an aid climb. Their route was up the mainland side of the pillar.

The first free ascent up the Totem Pole was in 1995. Steve Monks and Simon Mentz accomplished this on the opposite side of the rock and called their route The Free Route. They gave it a grade of 24 (Australian), roughly equivalent to a grade of 5.12b.

In January of this year (2009), Tasmanian climbers Doug McConnell and Dean Rollins made a free climb of the original aid route on the mainland side. They assigned the route the Australian grade of 27, roughly 5.12d.

The pillar can only be reached via a two-hour approach hike, followed by a 190-foot rappel to the base of the pillar. From the bottom of the rappel, you must swing out towards the pillar and attempt to snare a hanger-less bolt head with a stopper, and pull yourself onto the belay ledge. Here you are sprayed by sea water and wind until you climb out of reach of the waves. From the top, a Tyrolean traverse on your original rappel rope leads you back to the mainland.

Photos by Simon Carter, who was present for the January free ascent, can be found here.