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Description:© (secretary)

Stay alert when lowering the leader because they will land on the wrong side of the fence, on the slippery slope leading down to the 50m cliff below. And tie a knot in the end of your rope.

The crag is on Blue Mountains City Council Land. The BMCC in general frowns upon dogs being taken into bushy areas of BMCC land. At this crag in particular, it is known (first-hand) that the BMCC are concerned about the ACTUAL OBSERVED impacts of dogs. Many climbers have put in a lot of hard work to cultivate strong relationships with the BMCC to ensure that climbers in general are seen as a sustainable user group, to ensure that all climbers' access can continue. Dog owners are asked NOT to stuff up this relationship for the rest of us; please don't bring your dog.

Access Issues: inherited from Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains are a World Heritage listed area. The Grose Valley, the cliffs around Katoomba and much of the Narrow Neck peninsula are part of the Blue Mountains National Park which is managed by the NPWS. The Western Escarpment - where most of the climbing is - is Crown Land managed by the BMCC. While the NPWS Plan of Management nominates several locations in the National Park where rock climbing is deemed appropriate, the majority of the climbing remains unacknowledged. To maintain access our best approach is to 'Respect Native Habitat, Tread Softly and Leave No Trace'.

Ethic: inherited from Blue Mountains

Mixed-climbing on gear and bolts has generally been the rule in the Blueies. Please try to use available natural gear where possible, and do not bolt cracks or potential trad climbs.

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.

It would be appreciated if brushing of holds becomes part of your climbing routine - do it with a soft bristled brush and never a steel brush!

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. Generally it's best to leave all this sort of stuff to the local climbers.

Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)

Routes

RouteGradeStylePopularity
1 ** Leaning Power Teaser

Batman start.

Start: About 50m past Cleopatra's Bath and about 80 metres before the fence at the start of Walls Ledge.

FA: L.Wishart, 1999

25
Sport 15m
2 Project

There's a lonely line of spider-webby ringbolts up the wall about 20m L of Pooferator. Bolted by Vince Day and now open? No doubt it'll be hard.

Sport
3 ** Pooferator

Steve's first route bolted and his last ticked in the area.

FA: S.Grkovic, 2002

31
Sport 15m
4 Truck Stop 31

Links the crux of Poof into the crux of 'Equaliser'.

FA: Zac Vertrees, 2004

31
Sport 18m
5 *** Equaliser

Was once the hardest route at the crag - when it was originally graded 31! Now it seems solid for the grade (28). [July 2012: the pre-crux undercling is much smaller after snapping, this toughens things up a touch and might bump it up from solid 28 to 29. ]

Start: Start on the right hand side of the huge scoop near the left hand end of the railing. Please stick clip and batman - do NOT trample the vegetation.

The anchor has 2 clip-n-go captive biners. These are the dodgy cast style and need to be replaced ASAP, probably by hacksawing them off. They shouldn't be trusted in the meantime.

FA: G. Fieg, 1995

28
Sport 20m , 6
6 De-Equaliser

After the first bolt of 'Demoraliser' there is a bolt to the left which apparently lets you link into 'Equaliser'. This would basically eliminate the batman. The link section looks thin but it's probably still the same grade as 'Equaliser'.

Start: Start as for 'Demoraliser'.

28
Sport
7 * La Forche Be With You

Links 'Equaliser' into 'Pooferator' avoiding both cruxs. What a train station in Paris has got to do with this route is anyone's guess.

Start: Start as for 'Equaliser'.

FA: S. Grkovic, 2002

28
Sport 18m
8 * The Horseshoe

A link up. Take 'Equaliser' to near 4th bolt then bouldery past a RB on the R to join 'Fabricator'.

Start: Start as for 'Equaliser'.

FA: Vince Day, 2009

29
Sport 18m , 6
9 * Fabricator

Starts as Equaliser, but goes straight up.

FA: B.Littleford,

28
Sport 18m
10 ** Cagney and Lacey

Up 'Equaliser' to hole before 3rd bolt, then R to thin stuff and overlap.

Start: Start as for 'Equaliser'.

FA: Garth Miller, 1998

29
Sport 15m
11 ** Demoraliser

Wobble up onto the fence, and delicately step onto face. Up the steepening wall with each move getting a bit harder than the previous one... Lower off the huge bizarre single ringbolt with a double-coiled 6-inch eye.

Start: Start 2m R of 'Equaliser'. Stick clip.

FA: J.Clark, 2001

28
Sport 15m
12 * Iron Mike

The obvious 'line' on the side of the crag. Desperate side pulling. In early 2011 some crux holds came off so now its certainly not soft for the grade.

Start: Start below the right facing corner and seam. Stickclip and batman to first bolt. Use long draws on 2nd & 3rd bolts so your rope doesn't scrub on the flake.

FA: G.Bradbury, 1995

27
Sport 15m , 7
13 ** Decodyfier

Thin and balancy...and powerful.

Start: Start as for 'Iron Mike'.

FA: S.Grkovic, 1999

29
Sport 20m
14 * The Weakest Link

Steve's contribution to trad climbing. Unfortunately a hold has been broken and the climb now is better considered 27. The crux is bolt protected.

FA: S.Grkovic, 2001

27
Trad 22m
15 * Slay Ride

FA: L.Wishart, 1999

26
Sport 20m
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