Just before the baking Christmas heat descended on Victoria’s Western Plains, making the very quartzite itself sweat and turning the Mount into a spooge-fest, Man mountain from the mountains, Zac Vertrees, repeated his new route Treat ’em Mean, Keep ’em Keen (29) for our cameras.

Treat ’em Mean Keep ’em Keen crosses some amazing territory as it pulls together the best parts of a fist full of routes on the back of the Pharos to finally finish the work started by Chris Shepherd, who placed the critical bolt but found no glory. In doing so, Zac created a stellar route, gave some much needed relationship advice to lonely Araps dirtbags and proved that link-up is not a dirty word.

Video by Brett Williams, Side Trip Productions