Dirty burnt cliff with mediocre crusty routes best left to return to nature.
On the positive side of the equation, this area provides an excellent views for trainspotters, both of the Main Western, and the Top Points of the Zigzag Railway, and closer to the ground, a profusion of regrowth flora after the whole area was burnt to cinders in the '21 fires. It is also in a sheltered valley, vanishingly close to Lithgow, not that far from sport climbing paradises and the fleshpots of the upper mountains, and under 5 minutes from the car.
On the overwhelming negative side of the climbing equation, there aren't many routes which were never that popular, most of them are poor to average run-out old school trad, and the whole area was burnt to cinders in the '21 fires, with rock spalled off the bottom 10m of the cliff by intense flame, eroded dirt falling from above, the ground a sea of charcoal, and tree belays mostly reduced to BBQ fuel.
Be careful crossing the road.
Park in the POW memorial carpark on Chifley Rd just east of Lithgow. Cross the road and 50m uphill at the bendy road sign drop down N to the start of the cliffs then follow the base E. Ignore the old lookout marked on OSM and forget rapping down.
Climbs are east of the lookout.
Although sport climbing is well entrenched as the most popular form of Blueys climbing, mixed-climbing on gear and bolts has generally been the rule over the long term. Please try to use available natural gear where possible, and do not bolt cracks or potential trad climbs. If you do the bolts may be removed.
Because of the softness of Blue Mountains sandstone, bolting should only be done by those with a solid knowledge of glue-in equipping. A recent fatality serves as a reminder that this is not an area to experiment with bolting.
If you do need to top rope, please do it through your own gear as the wear on the anchors is both difficult and expensive to maintain.
At many Blue Mountains crags, the somewhat close spacing of routes and prolific horizontal featuring means that it is easy to envisage literally hundreds of trivial linkups. By all means climb these to your hearts content but, unless it is an exceptional case due to some significant objective merit, please generally refrain from writing up linkups. A proliferation of descriptions of trivial linkups would only clutter up the guide and add confusion and will generally not add value to your fellow climbers. (If you still can't resist, consider adding a brief note to the parent route description, rather than cluttering up the guide with a whole new route entry).
If you have benefited from climbing infrastructure in NSW, please consider making a donation towards maintenance costs. The Sydney Rockclimbing Club Rebolting Fund finances the replacement of old bolts on existing climbs and the maintenance of other hardware such as fixed ropes and anchors. The SRC purchases hardware, such as bolts and glue, and distributes them to volunteer rebolters across the state of New South Wales. For more information, including donation details, visit https://sydneyrockies.org.au/rebolting/
It would be appreciated if brushing of holds and minimisation/removal of tick marks becomes part of your climbing routine. Consider bringing a water squirt bottle and mop-up rag to better remove chalk. Only use soft (hair/nylon) bristled brushes, never steel brushes.
The removal of vegetation - both from the cliff bases and the climbs - is not seen as beneficial to aesthetics of the environment nor to our access to it.
Remember, to maintain access our best approach is to 'Respect Native Habitat, Tread Softly and Leave No Trace'. Do not cut flora and keep any tracks and infrastructure as minimal as possible or risk possible closures.
For the latest access related information, or to report something of concern, visit the Australian Climbing Association NSW Blue Mountains page at https://acansw.org.au/blue-mountains/
Various lumps of old iron, random carrots and dodgy fixed hangers dangling on expansion bolts bespeak former endeavours best left unspoken.
Did you know that you can create an account to record, track and share your climbing ascents? Thousands of climbers are already doing this.
Author(s): Simon Carter
Date: 2019
ISBN: 9780958079082
The latest comprehensive, latest and greatest Blue Mountains Climbing Guide is here and it has more routes than you can poke a clip stick at! 3421 to be exact. You are not going to get bored.
Author(s): Simon Carter
Date: 2019
ISBN: 9780958079075
Simon Carter's "Best of the Blue" is the latest selected climbing guide book for the Blue Mountains and covers 1000 routes and 19 different climbing areas. For all the sport climbers out there, the travellers, or just anyone who doesn't want to lug around the big guide that's more than 3 times the size - cut out the riff-raff and get to the good stuff! This will pretty much cover everything you need!
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