Ascents climbed between 2013-7-00 and 2013-12-31 by Paul Frothy Thomson having Trad CPR

2nded Neil on the FA of P1, P2 and P4. Neil kindly donated P3 to me for the FA. How does this climb even go at a reasonable grade? Super-unlikely and intimidating. P1 start is a hard boulder then nice traversing. P2 has a super-technical, hella pumpy, UNIQUE roofy start, then a pleasant finish. P3 is desparately thin slabbing on tiny polished sloping crimps, to a nice trad finish. And P4 has another boulder start, to adventurous traverse and friction slab finish. EXCELLENT!

Pitch 2 (23) ONLY - Sent 2nd shot today. Probably the best single pitch of climbing I've ever bolted. Super technical, moderately pumpy, with an exciting final sequence which could be a heart-breaker. Mostly brilliant rock, and every bolt is spot on. Probably soft at the grade, but would be solid at the grade for anyone shorter than me (6ft 2in). Super psyched!

Great blank technical stemming. Hard sequences, to great stances. I've been wanting to get on this for a long time, and it was worth the wait. Felt like a Frog 20, but regardless it makes for a brilliant route. The thin crack at the top is heaps of fun too. Take a rack of wires, and maybe a #3 and #.75 for the belay to bring up your second. Probably overbolted, would've been great with 3 bolts and more trad placements.

P1 (Grasshopper Access Pitch) ONLY - Flash. Probably grade 15-16 climbing, but with the amount of dirt in it at the moment it felt hard. Bring a rack of wires.

Flash, placing all gear on lead. Super-stoked! Right up there with the best of the best cracks in the Blueys. One cruxy move surrounded by sustained, strenuous climbing and bomber pro the whole way. This has been the ultimate goal on my crack-climbing tick list for 4 years, and it was worth the wait. Next stop: Grasshopper! Thanks for the beta, JengA.

Mostly seconding Neil on the FA of this unlikely (visionary?) trad line. Neil donated the FA of the awesome pitch 3 to me (thanks Neil!) which I climbed onsight. P1 - 2nd: exciting traversing with great rock after the first 5m, P2 - 2nd: outrageous trad roof climbing, tough crux move to great face climbing above, P3 - onsight FA: sustained face climbing on pockets and features, P4 - flash first repeat: rad cruxy technical crack finale.

P2 (22) - Onsight (with some beta from Neil as to where the route goes), and P4 (20) via the original finish this time (partial onsight, as I'd done some of it before in the variant finish). P2 is a stunning pitch of unlikely trad on bomber rock, with great pro, in an exposed position, and with surprisingly pumpy and technical climbing. Stoked to get on this one! P4 is good in the "adventurous trad" style.

P3 only. Rope soloing lap. Can now climb every move in good style EXCEPT for the crux move. I'm going to move one of the bolts and redirect the route slightly.

Exciting! Very old school climbing with a nice mix of gear and bolts, and appropriately run out without being dangerous (provided you ignore the potentially nasty opening moves). The sequence past the first bolt is pretty hard, but there are numerous tricky sequences throughout the whole engaging voyage to the top of the wall. Finger-nail edges! A 60m rope JUST reaches the ground on rap with stretch.

Old school arete awesomeness. BD 0.4-#2 for well protected climbing to the bolt. No protection from the bolt at half height to the top, but other than the initial crux move the climbing eases off. No harder than skinless chicken, but more sustained and rewarding. A fitting end to the Piddo arete day.

Much harder than it looks. I thought I'd knock this over pretty quickly, but ended up taking 3 shots and quite a few falls trying to sort out the crux ground-up. Quite strenuous and technical, and with only 1 real way to climb it. The gear is okay, but not great. Some small C3s and a double rack of small-ish wires would be an advantage.

Packs a punch for 10m of climbing. Climbed at night with a headlamp as a "warm-down", but it got the blood going instead. Some great, tricky, thin arete moves in the top half.

Brilliant crack with only a little bit of bad rock which is avoidable. Perfect hands, to perfect off-hands, to perfect fist jams (it's like SWIMMING), to tricky roof and thin crack, with a nice technical thin crack finale. Might be soft at the grade, but it was thoroughly enjoyable as a pure crack climb. I made the roof crux hard by faffing around with gear, but got it sorted for the onsight. Very worthwhile.

With JengA. Technically about 21, but psychologically... that's another story. An old-school mixed classic. Airy traverse on good but spaced gear, then an interesting and balancy arete to the top with primo exposure. Made substantially harder at EOD, and with gale force winds trying to throw me into the void. I got a bit confused between the Dead Reckoning finish and the the line this route takes, but figured it out for the send. Awesome.

Wow. No wonder this is a test piece crack. Amazing trad climbing. P1 - Clean 2nd. P2 - Onsight. P3 - Red Point (took a huge fall back to the ledge onto C3s on the final move on the onsight). The Chimney on P1 is one of the most amazingly WEIRD I've climbed, the jam crack on P2 is strenuous and the coffin slot (and its exit) is weird and techy, and P3 is a sporty, bouldery finger crack. Stoked to finally get on this with Taib. Great rock the whole way.

Called Finnegans Wake in the latest Blueys guidebook. Looks great, climbs okay, but with some of the most horrible rock I've ever climbed on. This rock doesn't snap, so much as disintegrate into sand with ever jam or gear placement. The crux is committing for all the wrong reasons. Climbed with some gear left below the crux (so my partner could lower off), but otherwise placing all the gear. Definately not worth it.

Seconded Neil on the FA on both pitches. P1 is amazing, but hard, bold, and bloody terrifying. So much core tension to hold a series of polished, sloper undercling pockets as you move across on bad feet with a scary run-out (I was almost certain I'd fall off). P2 is great technical traversing on good gear, with only the tricky down-climb start to tarnish it. Could become a rarely repeated classic...

Another lap to get the gear back for JengA? Sounds like fun. It was. Messier as a speedy second ascent, but no less brilliant.

Stellar, engaging and deceptive. Feels about a grade and a half harder than Sizzler, though that could just be the blazing sun. Only the super-manky start stops this from being a Classic. Lots of challenging sequences throughout, broken up by good rest/gear stances. Great rock (after the initial choss), and a huge variety of techniques called for. I really enjoyed this one.

P1 only. Worlds easiest trad 20? I would have called it 18 off the top of my head. Superb passive pro: I ran out of wires before I ran out of crack. Obvious climbing on stunning rock, with one testing move right at the top.

Some cool movement with a surprisingly tricky move at the end. Somewhat spaced bolting/gear placements, but still safe. Enjoyable.

Wow. 2 shots. Would make an amazing 24M1 IF there was a dogging bolt to pull through the crux. The crux is bloody nails (If there is a grade 25 way of doing this, please tell me!) and I didn't have a hope of linking it. Nice mix of SPACED gear and bolts with stunning climbing on good rock, mixing trad and sporty movement into a must-do monster. A bit of a mental and physical endurance test at 50m. For me, it all came down to the nails crux sequence guarding the tick, or a 3rd lap on it.

First ascent (thanks for the scouting/donation, Neil)! A nice little technical arete, which is substantially easier if you're taller. Great pro the whole way (don't forget the #4 and #5 BD Cam) and good rock. RIP beloved WRX rally-wing, you shall be missed.

Repeat. 2nd pitch (THE pitch of the route). No less awesome than the first time, only it made for a good warmup and was less scary. The epitome of trad climbing in the Blueys. Technical, engaging, with truly memorable moves. Dreamy...

P2 - Flash to the crux (last 8m of climbing) then took two big falls figuring out the crux. On the 3rd attempt I figured it out and climbed to the anchors for this pitch. Absolutely brilliant technical climbing. Sustained 21 from the start to the crux 20m up, then 23ish to the anchors. One of the best pitches I've bolted.

Another repeat. What a bloody classic. I never felt like I was going to fall, but that didn't stop me working for it! Every metre demands something of you. Really enjoyed this lap now that the "stress" of the first tick is gone, and it's a great mile-marker to your trad climbing. The bottom is still awkward, desparate and weird, but the variety is what makes it memorable.

First Ascent Flash. Wow, 55m in a single pitch is a long way. By the end I almost muffed up the crux of The Phoenix (the finish of this route) despite having done it numerous times, simply cause I was having trouble concentrating. Sustained at 19/20 with quite a few 21ish moves in between. Continuously thin and delicate, but predominantly footwork-orientated. Despite there being a hands-off rest after every sequence, this route is psychologically demanding. Run-out at times, but never dangerous.

Glad to get on lead this time, and happy to tick it straight off the bat. Technical start, into some strenuous pumpy steep laybacking, with stonker gear the whole way. Good value for the money. I ran it out through the crux, so I sure as hell wasn't going to fall. Heaps of fun!

Pitch 4 into pitch 5 linkup only. Seconding Neil on the first ascent. Intriguing "very trad" start to the ledge (pitch 4), then tricky roofing and hard topout finale (pitch 5). Good fun, and a great way to end the day.

P1 only. Mostly rather straightforward in the style, but one tricky move that might be at the grade. Classic stemming on great rock, bomber gear and in a stellar position. Should be on every crack-climbers list.

Done as a single giant 50m pitch, necessitating 2 ropes, lots of loooong slings, NO side-runner in Amen Corner (leavingt the scary, run-out start unprotected), and deliberately NOT placing some gear... The result was surprisingly little rope drag. Exciting, moderately bold climbing, with only 1 hard sequence, but PLENTY of personality and exposure. Feels way more adventurous than it really is.

P1 - Clean 2nd; P2 & P3 (linked) - Onsight. Much better than Day of the Long Knives. Pitch 1 is a sustained endurance test piece, with two distinct crux moves that keeps you fighting to the belay 45m off the deck. Technical and demanding. Pitch 2 is bold at the grade, with two hard moves a long way above the gear, and spaced bolts in-between. I linked it into Pitch 3 (the top 20m of Scimitar) necessitating challenging 2-rope management to avoid drag from the 15m traverse in the middle. Great!

Great to get back on this and simply enjoy it from start to finish. Bloody hard at the grade (half the 22s at Shipley are easier than this), but worth the effort. A classic, despite what I might have said on my previous onsight attempt.

Wow, one of the best pure-jam cracks in NSW, for sure. Very straightforward climbing (provided you can jam) but bombproof rock, and a wide variety of jamming techniques required. The initial rooflet is actually pretty easy to negotiate, so don't let it put you off cutting a lap on this gem. Don't forget the BD #4s for the top!

Contrived, but not bad. 1 hard move surrounded by grade 15 slabbing. Might be better to link it into the top of the 25 if you can climb the grade. Well protected as a mixed route.

Good value, but short. The rock (outside the crack proper) is pretty friable, which only makes the fingerlocks all the more valuable. Climbed as a part of the Quetzal first ascent.

With Gene. P1 - Onsight, P2 - Clean 2nd. P3 - Onsight. P4 - Clean 2nd. Predictable climbing (lots of small ironstone edges) but generally quite sustained and in an awesomely exposed location. Some bad rock, but we didn't break off much. Tricky route-finding with the other nearby routes (eg. central direct) which necessitated a re-belay when I ended up at the wrong belay. Pitch 2 has the hardest single move of the route, but P3 is quite sustained thinness. Classic in an old-school vein.

Another repeat. A speedy lead ascent (25min) to escape the crag as the sun went down. To save time, I simply ran it out as much as possible. Still nothing less than CLASSIC. It's good to see that EVERYONE I've taken out to this climb has reached the top singing its praises. GET ON IT!

The 2cm deep rope-wear line in the rock at the top explains why all the small holds are now tiny crimpy SLOPERS. My onsight ended at the first bolt 1/2 way up, struggling with the sequence on the crimp slopers. The new guide says 22, but this is definately mid-grade 23. The gear at the bottom is there, but spaced. 2 distinct thin and tricky cruxes, but sustained 20ish otherwise.

Repeat. Good to get back on this (one of my very early trad leads) years later, and find it just as awesome as I remembered it. Kind of run-out, but never unsafe, but with some fiddly gear to keep it sane. Great, varied climbing. A climbers climb from start to finish.

Grrr... One fall on the last hard move (at the second bolt). Felt really strong through all the tricky moves, and fought through the first crux, pumped myself out a bit trying to clip the second carrot (BETA ALERT: If placing gear, just accept that you CAN'T clip it without adding a few grades). When I went to do the final sequence, in desperation I muffed it, and off I came. Pulled on, and then cruised the sequence, and all the way to the top. There is no way this is anything less than 23! =)

Climbed in my approach shoes with a few borrowed cams. My plan to not bring climbing gear to enforce my break from climbing seems to have failed. Easily the best rock if the lower blue mountains is at Nortons Basin, and this crack surprised me with its quality. Nice, awkward, well protected crack to a well bolted thin headwall that was hard in beefy shoes.

Climbed as one monster pitch, with very little rope drag (could easily be split into 2 pitches, though). Very traddy crack climbing in all styles, with 3 distinctly hard sequences surrounded by sustained climbing. Contender for the worlds hardest trad 17? I think Clockwork Orange is easier. A tad vegetated, a bit sandy, but the majority is completely worthwhile.

Warm-up. The hardest moves are getting the first bolt, after that it just keeps getting easier all the way to the top. Run-out (supplemental gear is probably a good idea), but good climbing up an interesting feature.

Pitch 3 - Still can't do the crux move, even after rapping the route and working out a new sequence. The move is there, and it will go, I just need to actually TRAIN to be able to send it. This one could be a bit of a long haul.

P3 - I Broke off a hold I'd always planned to use, and couldn't do the crux between the 2nd and 3rd bolt. There are other holds here out left, but I haven't explored/cleaned them, and was just throwing to them blind (and getting tired of taking big falls trying). I need to rap the route again and clean/tick-up what I need to use before I can get the send. Since I couldn't pull through this move, I ended up backjumping and bailing. Technical and strenuous to the crux moves. Could be great.

With Taib. P1 - Clean Second. P2 - Onsight. Pretty good climbing, but a lot of rubbish rock. Both pitches have some pretty bold sections with tricky climbing on dubious gear and questionable rock. But both pitches also have their charm. Quite adventurous. Getting off the top was an epic (Taib sacrificed a prussik cord to sling 2 carrots and rap off that). Worthwhile IF you like this sort of thing.

Good to get back on this a few years after it scared me to death. It never felt hard, but the off-width is still gripping, and the entire climb demands your full attention due to its 3D technicality. I kept it run-out to the top to keep me on the ball. A must do at Piddo!

Finally got around to actually LEADING this one (after all these years). Pleasant climbing in a great position. Bring some wires a few medium cams for the top seaction.

Repeat. P1 only for a change, placing the gear for Youngie to lead it. Much better as the full linkup.

Climbed on Youngie's gear since I'd never climbed it before. One tricky move surrounded by pleasant climbing. Some nice finger-locks. Rather short, though.

First 2 pitches climbed as a long-ish single pitch to 2nd big rap tree. A few interesting moves (and hard for a 15!) surrounded by dirty rock and some gardening. Better than you might expect, not good enough to be memorable. Climbed on Jonas' gear.