Ascents in Colosseum

Top Rope solo lap to make sure all the moves went before bolting this. Feels like a long adventure incorporating all styles of climbing. Will be in the 24/25 range, with a traddy boulder-problem crux down low, and a more powerful boulder up high. Totally worthwhile.

2nd shot today. Cruxy 24, but mostly a sustained old school long adventure around 21/22ish. The crux will likely be harder if you're short, but can be pulled past with the help of 1 bolt. Varied climbing in a variety of styles and utilising both new and old technologies. Easy slab, crack, dihedral, finger crack, techy face, rooflet and thin finger-jugging with at least 4 no-hands rests (once the real climbing begins). Keep it together for 45m!

A crazy route! A lot going on, with finger crack, many desperate mantles and extremely balancy, reachy clips. Ran out of skin, the rock is very sharp, so had to rap off one of Paul's (bomber) bolts. Thanks for putting up this route Paul it will become a true test piece with a bit of grinding down

not as good as mixed business with more easier ground but an equally desperate crux

led with Ant 1980

seconded Ant 1980

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.

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.

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.

Seconded Guns. Pleasant, short-ish tradding with only 1 section of bad rock and good gear the whole way. The top section might be easier now that I've removed the vegetation in the flared section of the crack (still some scrub remains). Almost certainly climbed previously.

Awesome route, varied with hard sections in completely different styles. Pitch allocation is not very logical. Did short easy pitch up low angled corner to belay on ledge just R of V chimney, then finished the route in one long mega pitch.

Great fun route but not as good as some of the other classic bluies trad routes. Let down by pitch 1 and 3 only having a few good meters of climbing. Led pitch 2 clean which by itself is classic. Seconded pitch 1 and 3 clean. Rap is approximately only 40 m.

Awesome route, lives up to the reputation. Split into three pitches but would be cool to link as one. Onsight first two pitches, awesome but potentially soft for the suggested grades. Crux pitch is short but hard! Took several attempts and some experimentation to find a sequence that works for me

Cruised first two pitches, with Nicola leading the first after a gnarly fall. Top crux finger crack was tough, 4 attempts to get up it, followed by a clean lap on top rope. Flaring jams and finger locks.

Quite an adventure for a sport climber!

Good rock and clean aiding on a route that is not climbed much.Maybe M2.

Aid solo to big tree at top of first crack then abseiled off tree.

In 1970 the top 10 included "Two Little Boys" (Rolf Harris) "Raindrops keep falling on my head" (Johnnie Farnham) and "Close to you" (The Carpenters). And B. Crouch climbed this stinker. Some of the past is best left forgotten.

Somewhere around the second 'hold' that consisted of a small bushy grass tuft holding into what could be described as vertical compost the thought entered into my head that perhaps I wasn't on my way to topping out another three star classic. Bring shovel, and a passion for gardening. Alan Titchmarsh eat your heart out!

Great route! Very goey on the flaring jams at the crux (with hangover).

I recommend a double rack, camalot sizes 0.3-1, a #2 and maybe triple .5 and .75s for the v-slot on the first pitch and the tight hands bit on the second. I wouldn't recommend linking any pitches unless you like rope drag and hitting slabby ramps.

The route is only 35m (!!!) you can get down in one rap on a 70m rope from the top rings, or do one 5m and one 30m rap (probably, down climb the tree if that doesn't make it )

Fun! Was expecting more jamming. But, still lots of different kinds of crack climbing. Definitely a bit trad.

Awesome climb, we linked first two pitches, then sent the final flary finger/hand crack on second try, 1.5 yrs after the first try with Nicola. Rapped to the ground with one 60m rope from the double rings just below the top, quite a weird placement for them, out of reach from the nice ledge (Paul?)

Epic!

First two pitches were linked together by Will; I got slaughtered by the crack with the undercut after the chimney.

It was also nothing short of a miracle that I managed to climb the chimney cleanly...

Crushed the crux pitch with amazing beta from Will!

Awesome all-trad route that gets shade from sun-up to sun-down and manages to pack all kinds of varied climbing into its three pitches. The chimney on the first pitch was way above my comfort level in that style and i struggled to generate even the most minor upwards momentum. I still dont know how i oozed my way up?? Pitch two (which i linked pitch one into) is also great with a nice steep hands section and its own perplexing chimney before the belay on the slab. Then the final pitch is radness and were it longer would be one of the best bits of crack in the mountains. I fell off on the onsight and then went up and down a bit figuring out the moves and preparing for a solid second go. Here my inner sport climber kicked in and i did all manner of crack gastoning and laybacking to get myself up this pitch, which is probably not too hard at the grade once you know what to do. It was then super awesome to see Jason smash it out for a full beta spray flash on second, once more proving that hiding beneath his sport climbing facade, a trad climbing monster is lying in wait, mostly quietly biding its time but occasionally springing forth and crushing cracks with the raw bouldering power of an endurance deprived bolt clipper. Thanks Paul for the descent bolts as they make life significantly easier!

Awesome climbing with some varied styles. Loved the V-Chimney, but unfortunately broke some of my gear loops on one side of my harness squeezing up it. But put everything on a sling and managed to get the onsight for the 21! Some strenuous thin hand jamming. Would be nice to come back to the 23 one day.

linked it into a 1 pitch lead. super fun!

She who hesitates.... oh well, clean second pitch 1,2 combined. Found the lower chimney more tricky. Got 5 good bits of gear on P 3 and then dithered thinking I should put in more when I had my feet in a good position to hit the victory finger lock. Then had 5 goes failing to get back to that position, dave went up and put in another cam, with a sit, then we both led it clean.Giles 25 to the left looks awesome.

A really good route, though the rock quality doesn't live up to the aesthetic value of the line itself. The existing aid move is totally non-consequential (its so trivially small), and the climbing is quite sustained throughout. I had an onsight effort I was proud of, BUT the main crux -high on the route- is quite tough, and I wonder if some crimps may have broken off? (there' lots of worn/fractured rock up there). I managed the sequence a few times, though it was my absolute limit, and hideously unpleasant. Had to strip the gear before going for a red point as the threat of epic storms closed in.

I brought: 1 x 0.4, 1 x 0.5, 2 x 0.75 and 1 x #1.

Beautiful day out in the mountains! Random trip to this area and hopped on this first thing. Had a lot of fun in the Bombay chimney and squeeze slot. The crack was very crystaly and tore my hands up a bit. Linked 1&2. Fell 2x seconding the top pitch but is very doable if I think through the sequence more. I think the route is a bit soft though coming from Yosemite grading.

Really good to get back on this after a couple of years. Completed in much better style this time. A great mix of different climbing styles with great gear the whole way.

Im so excited to have this ticked off my crack list. Onsighted P2 & P3, but totally blew the stemming sequence in P1 (more reason to stretch those inflexy hips).

At least this time I can do all the moves. One-fell it on my 2nd and 3rd laps. Hard to tell what I need to send this (probably cooler temps than 28deg and 1 million percent humidity), but its definitely worth another lap. Bloody nails for "25". Long, engaging, varied mixed face climbing, with mixed rock quality.

Though getting on this in 38 degree heat was less-than-ideal, it did remind me why I wasn't in a hurry to get back on this after the last session. Mostly mega arete climbing up a proud line, but the crux is proper hideous.

Good to finally get this one cleared up. It's a lot of effort, but damn it's rewarding. Beautiful featured face climbing with a hard crux.

This is a high quality route with a nails crux for the grade.

1st pitch sweet, some thrutching to get going, 2nd pitch, shoulda used tape gloves or others 3rd pitch short and sweet, very tensiony ya crux

2020 Oct

Totally, totally nails - kudos to Ben with the hour long lead. Crux was hard for 25 but doable with the right beta. Instead I managed to get completely shut down on a long reach higher up that I just couldn't find another way around - frustrating! Speccy climbing but probably closer to 26 (even on top-rope...)

Finger crack was wet