False bluffs

A false bluff is a piece of land that looks like it is the top of a climb but is in fact just a steep section.

They are usually caused by the different hardnesses in the rock strata wearing in an uneven manner.

For example, when walking up a ridge with a linear incline,

you can see the top and know that's as far as you have to climb. But if the ridge has false bluffs,

each "top" you see only reveals another when you get there.

Now if you have a topographic map you can tell that this is not actually the top of the climb, and if you've done much bushwalking you would have had this problem dozens of times before, but it's still disheartening to constantly have your I've-got-to-the-top hopes dashed.