Ascents in Blue Mountains as various tick types by Richard Pattison

2 cams to the first bolt then sport. Intended to climb the direct finish, but once on the left wall kept saying: I'll make 1 more move up then go back on to the face, repeat until anchors!

Didn't read the description other than "direct start to Mistral Crack", so climbed the line of 4 carrots that lead directly to the upper half of the crack, felt waaaay harder than 15... oh, that's because it was harder, we climbed the bottom half of PP grade 21 next door!

Small cam between the last 2 bolts to protect a potential ledge fall.

Thoroughly enjoyable, OK it's only a grade 11, but who cares about the grade, it's a fantastic climb following a distinct line.

Great day out in a spectacular and adventurous area. The rock is pretty poor and feels a little porous, so select cautiously.

Amazing passage through 2 overhangs on P4 & P5, very lucky key features just like climbing overhanging greens at St Leonards gym.

Some suspect rock, but well protected, adds 2 extra climbing pitches to Monks Wall route. Getting past the roof was easier than expected with good jugs.

Unfortunately this direct finish still ends with a fair bush bash up steep dirt.

Very good 1st pitch. Nice long route with fantastic views.

Awesome. Repeat ascent, leading the opposite pitches from last time.

A bit sandy, but nice enough climb. Even though it's the "escape" route from the bottom cliff, I think it's worth a climb in its own right.

Good top-rope for beginners

Good top-rope for beginners

Good top-rope for beginners

Easier than it looks from below. The crux is up to 3rd bolt and traverse to unnerving loose large block/flake above. Being lowered from the top would involve plenty of rope grinding, so brought 2nd up and abseiled.

Good top-rope for beginners. Although no other decent options close-by so only useful for small group.

Good climb, not too much rope drag considering you do a corkscrew ;o)

Helmet essential for belayer, heaps of loose rocks on shale ledge. Climbed out with full pack, not grade 15, more like 10 or 11.

Fine to set a top-rope for beginners. Start on the poor tree ;o)

There is a grade 11 or 12 climb here, but not following the line of bolts. From the 2nd clip move left and climb the rest of the route 2m left of the bolt line. Not advised as a top-rope, any fall means a fair swing.

Good climb. Don't bring "diagonal" bolt plates, don't fit on some carrots. Awkward mantle over the lip on P1. P2 is a big arc, starting 5m left of belay but finishing right.

Abseiled back down after climbing Bodicea to try this. Milarepa is a better finish than Bodicea's 2nd pitch.

Morning shade, nice belay ledge. Milarepa is a better finish.

Awesome climb in a great position. Slow ascent, think we were 4th of 5 parties that day. Spent 30 mins waiting on the pinnacle, but great spot to absorb the scenery.

8 pitches of climbing, what's not to like? Although, given the hype and traffic, I was probably expecting a more direct line and higher quality climbing down low, quality upper half on the headwall.

Start is harder than it looks, well, at least I thought it looked easy, then found out otherwise

New bolt just below the lip of easy angled section?

Funny green home-made hangers

Excellent climb. Some funny placed bolts on ledges.

It's all about the traverse pitch! A nice surprise a bit after the traverse to find a hidden carrot bashed into the floor of the ledge. The single carrot 2nd belay can be backed-up with a cam 2m out right.

Awesome climb. Got a red cam stuck on the 1st pitch, Mel shouts up on second "you placed it, you'll have to free it". So... abseil back down, dangle for 10 minutes trying to wiggle it back out and mangle my fingers more than any crack climb ;o)

Nice climbing up the seam

Certainly applied the beached whale technique to access the P1 belay ledge

Led by Mel, nice climb and some good moves.

Pro - you can get a cam & wire in before the first bolt.

Led P1 & 3. Mel led P2 & 4, P2 certainly the hardest.

Had to walk-in as the top is closed for bush fire regeneration, missed the cliff-line track & bush bashed for 1 hour, Mel not happy, & worse, she got bitten by a leech, oops!

Small landslide above P3 anchor which buried the bolts, but I managed to excavate & clear the worst of it.

Led P2, Mel P1. Nice climb, sure P2 is a little chossy but worth doing once.

Mel led. Couple of cruxy small undercling holds around the 2nd and 3rd bolt.

Abseiled in & top-roped out as the bottom is closed for track work.

Pro would be: 1 bolt to protect the crux at the bottom, BD#1 (red) in a pocket, then small fiddly wires behind a flake for the final ~6m..

Made a bit harder by the fence protecting the new track work - good foot hold though

Think I used a couple of small cams between the 3 (maybe 4?) carrots..

Led P1, Mel P2. Supposed to be a warm-up, but lightening across the Megalong Valley swiftly moving towards us encouraged us to go eat pies in Blackheath instead.

I thought the pitches were more equal grading than 15 & 12?

A nice day out with great views and solitude, but fairly poor climb - discontinuous, short pitches (~10m) interspersed with scrubby ledges and boulder scrambling, lots of loose rock and dead branches.

Highlights: Run-out slab to start P4 was nice albeit scary, best moves were the 4m of arete on P5. P7 has a hard under-cut bouldery start for grade 14. Crux P8 maybe only grade 15, straightforward 3D chimney.

Terrible rock, lots of crumbly ironstone ledges, pulled off 4 or 5 big holds. An easy ramble.

We climbed a fairly straight line, although the start was a chest height undercut (I think the real start was ~10m further right). Various cam opportunities between ironstone ledges but would possibly break? Recommend belaying in caves to protect the belayer from debris.

Worth climbing this after Tom Thumb to get full value for the walk-in, it'll add ~2 hours. It has a few new bolts: 6 bolts up to abseil rings at deep undercut, then 3 bolts above to the oiginal TBB. Then, 2 bolts above that, then various horizontal breaks for cams (BD 3, 1, 4, 0.5), 2 abseil rings at the top (rope protector is comforting for the abseil), & a sensible bolt just above to protect the easy scramble to the grass & scrub.

Amusing line just above the water, love watching everyone's expressions, especially the 2nd who's probably at more risk of a dunking ;o) Actually climbed past the 4th bolt (couldn't get a good position to place the bolt plate) to a good comfortable stance level with the 4th bolt.

Quirky & interesting slab, I enjoyed this more than Envirovandal. Maybe a grade 16 to E's 15? The angle of the boulder has the ironstone ledges just off vertical instead of horizontal.