Ascents in Bells Line of Road & Chifley Rd by Paul Frothy Thomson

Decided to try linking the Monteith Memorial Traverse (L-R 24) into P1 of this for a 50m enduro-monster (belayed from the cozy ledge). Turns out it's okay with some rope management, but quite the undertaking!

I found P1 of this very tough placing the draws, and absent chalk, though all of the moves went okay (ableit with a few exciting falls to piece them together).

If I'm back here belaying people on Thin Line, I'll probably try for this linkup as an arbitrary challenge.

Decided to try linking this traverse into P1 of Charlie Don't Surf (26) for a 50m enduro-monster (belayed from the cozy ledge). Turns out it's okay with some rope management, but quite the undertaking!

This traverse is super techo and balancy, and quite hard when unchalked and absent beta.

Clean repeat. So much fun! A great warmup, and just what the doc ordered after a rather trying week.

Top 3 pitches, mostly to support Mitch in his efforts, but it also gave me a chance to tidy up some pitches I hadn't ticked on this one.

Doing just the top 4 pitches (from the Big Ledge) is relatively easy access, and is inarguably a proper classic outing. There aren't many hard(ish) sport multis in the Blueys with this level of consistent quality.

Repeat attempt -not clean today. After 7 days on, I'm buggered. Still a hilarious steep romp, though!

Bone dry even in all this rain!

Clean repeat. This has got to be one of the coolest steep sport routes at the grade, right?

EOD Repeat attempt... definitely not clean today. From about 2/3rds up, I was dead tired, and just went bolt to bolt.

With a rebolt, this would be back to classic status. Such classy rock and climbing!

2nd shot. Pretty chuffed with this, as I hadn't actually been able to do any of the 3 hard sequences on my first go, and had to improvise on the fly as I accidentally kept getting higher. Man, I was hanging out below that top crux for like 20 minutes trying to figure it out on the Send!

The rock is a mixed bag, but the moves are great! Steep and varied, and sustained all the way to the anchor clip.

I started from the first bolt. There was a cairn that was knocked over (I think it's to make the start go?) that I couldn't be bothered rebuilding. Has anyone done the start at 26ish without the cairn?

Clean repeat. Just the right amount of warmup

Clean repeat. Giving The Mullet himself the guided tour of the Blueys.

Still a great romp at the grade.

2 shots. Still haven't quite latched the dyno (getting closer, though), but the move immediately after is my crux. The rest of the route felt easier than a year ago, but still lots of work to do.

Warm up - Just up to the upper crux (2nd last bolt) where I jumped off. Makes for an awesome warmup that way. Damn this one's a good'un.

The climbing is upper echelon "Very Good", but the bolting is so unceasingly garbage that I can't give this better than "Good".

P2 was quite sustained, with consistently rad moves up the arete (and a funky gritstone finale) but seemed rather easy at the grade (though I can see it being nails if you're short). Regardless, I was pretty stoked to onsight it in good style.

The crux of the day were the moves to the 2nd bolt on P3, which was a solid V4 for me. I'm wondering if the recent storms have caused the block you start on to slide down the ledge, or whether perhaps there used to be a cairn there? I'm keen to hear others' opinions who repeat this after me.

Most pitches were good. The crazy roof on P5 was super unlikely, and the spine chiller traverse was great!

Regarding my criticism of the bolting:

• Runouts with near constant ledgefall potential.

• Terrible bolt placements -over-recessed (biner snappers) and constantly out of reach even at my height.

• Irrational belay stances -Bolts too high, or far too low, or a hanging belay instead of on a big ledge?

Prospective multipitch new routers should climb this if only to learn what not to do.

Clean repeat. Awesome to get back on this almost 10 years after I first put it up, and not be dissappointed with the route or my equipping.

Also rather psyched to just punch it out placing draws despite it being obviously untrafficked, cause it's quite hard to read and rather committing. Genuinely good arete climbing, and something quite different to other aretes in this grade range in the Blueys.

Clean repeat. One of the most unique cracks you'll find at this grade in the Blueys. Genuinely should be on every crack enthusiast's tick list, because this $#!ts on many of the overly-repeated "classics" around the place.

P2 in particular is mind blowing terrain!

Clean Repeat Seconding Mont. Even all these years later, this is just a bloody great crack climb. Quite a fair bit more demanding than similar graded routes at Piddo or Cosmic.

A couple of attempts. I was pretty happy with the progress I made given that I've never tried to climb this sort of roof offwidth (where I couldn't avoid using the proper technique), but I just couldn't quite finish it out. Bringing a more appropriate set of climbing shoes, socks, long pants, and spare blood would probably have helped as well Regardless, I certainly learned lots.

A pretty accessible way to learn these sorts of "pony shuffling" techniques in the Blue Mountains.

Big congratz to Zuni on the FA!

The good bits were really good, the bad bits were really bad... so: standard blueys sport multi, then?

Proper humid conditions today meant gallons of sweat.

P1 was kinda junk, with lots of loose rock and about 5m of good climbing, but I'm happy to take it as the price of admission.

P2 was a fairly pleasant slab with an interesting start, thin finish, and inoffensive easy middle.

P3 (2nd shot pink point) was rad varied steep face climbing. Fairly sustained at 24 with a hard crux down low to earn 25. Would be classic as a single pitch anywhere else. On my onsight, I couldnt get on the mid-crux draw, and ended up whipping back to the belay!

P4 (10 milionth shot red point) has a hideously nails start boulder to gain the stance below roof (the hardest move on the entire route for me... took me about 15 shots to stick it, made harder when I broke off one of the key holds). Then a wild boulder througbh a body length roof 100m off the deck (took me 3 shots to stick it), with a few punchy moves after turning the lip. Unfortunately, everythimg above this point is hideous sand, and I did not enjoy it. Full disclosure: after sticking the initial boulder, i didnt lower back to the belay to send the pitch properly after figuring out the roof sequence, I just went from thr no-hands rest below the roof (3m up from the belay).

I think the grades are bang-on. I reckon P4 would feel 25 in anything less than a billion percent humidity, though in today's conditions it felt every bit a 26

All in all, though, a worthy day out, just one I'm not in a hurry to repeat. We did it in about 7 hours car to car (including the redpointing of the pitcheS).

2 shots. Got a bit schooled by this. I put together the sequence, but never really came close to linking it on the send burn. Essentially: a 5-move boulder-problem around a rooflet off a sitdown rest. Not my favourite route ever

x2. Clean Repeat to warmup.

Just the one attempt, sussing the moves. There were two moves I didn't do, but the mid-traverse crux seemed the sort of move I'd never be capable of. Average rock, but radical moves for the most part.

Repeat attempt lap for EOD training - Not clean today. Still spooge on this as well, but at least this is more fun and less sketchy when its bad connies.

2 Redpoint burns. Worst conditions I've had here yet, and probably my worst laps on this in months. Quite frustrating. Slimed off at the worst point and took the scariest fall possible on this route. After that, I didn't have much psyche for another lap.

Just one the lap. Brutally thin, and lots of very average rock. I think I'd probably have enjoyed this before the decent edge above the 3rd bolt broke off, but since its breakage this seems -to me- to be more suffering than fun. The steep bit is enjoyable enough.

Repeat attempt, not clean today. I got schooled by the crux of my own route today until I remembered the trick to doing it.

Clean repeat. Climbed on Michael's gear to exit the crag (and strip the route) at the end of the day.

Day 4: 3 more shots, but apparently 30 degree weather isn't ideal for climbing the hardest you've climbed. Probably had my 2nd best effort so far, despite this.

Still haven't managed to link the entire upper section in one, though

3 more shots. No new highpoint, but made it through the crux of Life Without Meaning all 3 times (best ratio yet), and refined the moves on the Two Nobodies traverse.

Last week I thought I fell off from the top bolt on link cause I was tired at the end of a long day... Today I learned that I fell off because its hard to have much oomph for those final moves at the end of such intense climbing, regardless of how fit you're feeling. Linking that top move will be haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard.

Seconding Lucy on her Birthday multipitch. Linked Pitches 1 and 2 into a MegaPitch™ at about 45m in length, and to a more obvious belay.

We felt that an abundance of Large Cams was overkill (more #1's and lots of slings seemed a better option), but we wished we'd brought more Micros for the top of the 3rd pitch (we had 3).

A fun adventure, with lots of Old Skool moves, but some major sections of rubbish rock. Pitch 2 and the top of Pitch 3 were the highlights.

NOTE: Even after multiple weeks of torrential rain, only the top 8m or so of this get wet!

3 more shots. On my last shot of the day, in spoogy conditions, I managed to link all the way to the last bolt before falling off... Took a 12m fall as a result, but damn it was awesome fun!

Repeat. Only to half height to retrieve a stuck cam from last weekend, but I then downclimbed on lead all the way through the bottom crux clean as well, so I'm logging an ascent

Clean repeat - EOD Pinkpoint lap to facilitate retrieving Marty Doolan 's in situ gear.

Man, sport trad is fun.

2 shots. Refamiliarising with the top half of One Somebody, and sussing how this will go with rope drag and associated shenanigans.

Maybe the best pure resistance route of this grade in the Blueys? Unrelenting.

2 shots, with some "okay" linkage on the second. Some cool climbing at about gr26, with a proper hard boulder problem (with 2 nails moves) near the tippy top. 2 particularly hard moves on the boulder earn this one the grade. Some wild positions, but lapping Boy from Oz would surely get old fast if I was projecting this.

One long investigatory lap. Essentially a very hard boulder (v5/6?) guarding gr24 climbing to the anchor. I never managed the big move to the jug rail at the start despite a fair bit of effort. Cool climbing, but sandy, disintegrating rock.

Clean Repeat. 2 bolts of surprisingly hard and sustained bouldering, then easier to the top. Shame the rock at the start is so average, because its great for the majority of it.

Clean repeat. A rad ending, preceded by okay climbing.

Clean Repeat - Good warmup, great rock.

P1 Clean repeat. Great to retick this in only a day, and some less-than-ideal conditions. x3 laps to score the retick. Really fun technical power-endurance climbing.

Another clean repeat, this time seconding Gavin on his successful pink-point. Dreeeeeeeamy