Ascents in Central Western Slope and Plains

Sensational

Great pitch! Take care with possible loose blocks on top

First route in the Warrumbungles, Can be climbed in 8 pitches comfortably.So much potential on Bluff mountain for big new routes.

Super cool, definitely a classic, soloed P1, simul-seconded from there to the top. Each pitch was unique. Read the approach section for crater bluff to make the day go a lot smoother (eg. Approach from Dagda Saddle, follows faint trail down to the creek), made for a very memorable day having to bush bash in, but wouldn’t recommend. The rap out was very cool but we spent a lot of time untangling ropes.

I lead first pitch nice onsight mark lead second pitch by time we got to pitch 2 it was 2pm and we started climbing at 12 so with the crux done we still didn't have time to finish bit of a shame but next I'll be ready to finish her

6 year to the day I try this and it was almost an An exact repeat but we nailed the approach! Next time.

Crikey wild and chossy probably more of a grade 12 then 14 but then again your climbing stacked choss. The climbing doesn't deserve star but the adventure as a hole is classic!

A nice day out. We started at 6am and reached the base at about 7:30am. The track off the hiking trail is getting overgrown. I'll link the GPX trail we did without getting lost. We simulclimbed the route in 2 pitches with microtraxions every 30 meters, stopping at the end of pitch 4 to belay my seconder up the 14 crux & reset gear. I took a double rack of cams from 0.2 to 3, 18 alpine draws, and 4 microtraxions. Back at the car by 1pm.

GPX Downloads: https://caltopo.com/m/F8F4H

Wish I had more to say about such a mega route, but honestly the day was perfect. Clear sky, supreme conditions, great climbing. Soloed the first few pitches to speed things up, link p5/6 but again mostly soloing on easy ground. The descent was an adventure in itself down the slippery glacier. Mega first day in the bungles.

Lazy start today, rambled up the approach which had epic views of the bungles and an incredible view of cornerstone rib which had us pretty chuffed with what we had done the day prior. Greg led the first pitch and overshot the belay slightly, though it wasn't too obvious where the intended belay was meant to be. Entirely in the shade it was like climbing on ice in the wind. I geared up for my lead which I expected to be cut short as we were half way up pitch 2, I instead returned the favour by getting completely off route and completing the entire climb in a ~55m rope stretcher pitch, surprisingly little drag considering. Was epic climbing even though we were completely off route. Wonder how it compares to the real vertigo.

Rap down was entirely in the sun, and doing 30m raps on ropes without a halfway marker isn't so fun when you're layered up in the heat. Accidentally threaded the rope through my atc and didn't realize until Greg was down, Fuck. Pull the rope, throw it, rope utterly tangled in a tree, Fuck. Pull the rope entirely, thread the second rope through, deal with no middle marker faff, free the other rope, scramble home. The ability to watch Jack and Yim summit caucus from the hut was pretty epic. Might've set a record for beta spraying the rap audibly from a kilometer away.

Stuck at the access gate I think a lot of us were debating whether this was worth the hassle. After getting permission from parks, we sent it down the firetrail and had some fun times on the 4wd track chasing the bottom of the mountain and spotting the wildlife along the way. Short scramble to the base and the climbing began. Following the line of least resistance at the start really depends on what you can't seem to resist. Jack went up the sketchy slab, Greg up the exposed right side, and myself up the most vegetated and dirty chimney I've ever seen. This kind of pattern continued for the rest of the ascent, everyone chosing their own adventure in places. There were some extremely exposed sections where the moves were not at all obvious and objectively far above grade 5. But this paid off in sections with some actual great climbing. A proper chimney, twin cracks with bomber hand and foot jams, and slab that you could run up. Topping out felt like you'd cheated death just a little bit and had everyone in brilliant spirits after fighting the southerly winds the whole way.

less than 30 second into the descent Jack does the sharpest 180 I've ever seen: "hold up, I spy a finger crack" to then have us taking turns at the 3m tall ~v2/3 crack boulder of which Yim got the FA and named it "unicorn chaser" The descent was surprisingly chill, we used the fixed rope which was fine. Bush bash to the car and repeat the fun drive out headed to Kaputar.

I legitimately don't understand how we managed to bumble our way up this. What a stellar climb!!! First grade 18 trad route and also our 11th day ever trad climbing, four days of which had been a part of this Bungles trip. I got to lead the stunning and difficult second pitch and ridiculously incredible fourth pitch beneath the wing along with a slightly off route sixth pitch and fantastic speed ascent of the last pitch placing no gear so we could both top out before dark. Harry led the rest. Definitely a must do for everyone as even us mere sporty sport climbers got to experience the masterpiece that is Flight of the Phoenix and have an absolute blast. Even had three eagles circling us at one point for the full experience. Get on it!

Does it count as a first ascent if you just didn't ever manage to get on to the climb you wanted to do? Started in the wrong place and never ended up on the route, ultimately climbing a fairly cool line between Bastion and Corinth and eventually arriving at a bolt on the sloping ledge that i think is the belay at the end of Corinth's fourth pitch. Continued on passing about 20m of abandoned rope and traversing right off of the line of Corinth. We bumbled our way onward and eventually topped out the cliff after what was a minor epic in a very exposed location, climbing much harder than anticipated and sketching out a fair bit. Swinging leads with Harry this was altogether a wild experience for our second day in the Bungles!!

Went to have a crack at this (probably classic) route as some kind of minor preparation for Flight of the Phoenix later in the week but failed to find the start (we think) and after wandering up the wall for 100m or so decided to bail off some conveniently left bail slings. Had a minor epic doing this as the rope got caught, ultimately resulting in some very nice climbing back up to free them and then down climbing to prevent it happening again. A very successful self rescue attempt which i feel is an achievement in of itself in the Bungles!

"This is just like sport climbing" said an enthusiastic Harry Kadi upon finding two pitons on the last pitch. Awesome day and the only one of the week where we got back to the camp without needing head torches (although admittedly it was very dark as we walked along the tourist track but we were adamant we wouldn't use them). Dad came up the night before and so he, Harry and i climbed this as a three man team. Harry and i swung leads with me starting meaning that i got to lead the awesome grade 14 pitch - what insane exposure!!!! A fantastic, cruisy day was had by all and an exceptional psychological effort on my Dad's behalf as he had never really done a climb with that kind of exposure before and indeed never climbed anything on gear. Also a lovely and fun descent down Green Glacier where we down climbed all but the obligatory abseils. Can be safely done and descended off with a single 70m rope.

Drove down, hiked up to camp and climbed this in the evening as our introduction to Bungles climbing and it was a great way to start!! Scored two nuts which was great and there was a small cam we couldn't get out (for you booty fiends) too. The descent was far more straightforward than expected as well which was nice as we were doing it in the dark - if you scramble straight down from the end of the last bolted rappel and then abseil off some trees you end up right in the ascent/descent gully and can then walk off with ease. An awesome experience topping out with the sunset on a high quality route!!

Birthday link up with Belougery and Crater Bluff - 15 hours and 55 minutes car to car . I got quite lost on the first pitch because i’m an idiot and ended up 15m below the abseil anchor with no rope left. Harry came up and sorted us out like the weapon he is. Simuled the rest of the route in about an hour twenty. We topped out, asked some walkers where the descent was, and then wandered down and made ourselves sandwiches.

Number Two on the birthday link up with Bluff Mountain and Belougery - 15 hours 55 minutes car to car. Soloed to the base of the crux pitch then simuled to the top in one block. Even better than i remembered. This thing is all time! Descending Green Glacier took longer than the route and is kinda shit (but very pretty).

Lucky last on the birthday link up with Bluff Mountain and Crater Bluff - 15 hours and 55 minutes car to car. Also better than I remembered. We managed to find the base in the light which was nice as the scrambling was more involved than I remembered. Climbed the whole route in the dark and then rapped down etc etc yay we are done. Walked back to the car and ate some left over pasta my dad had made. Then we got in the car and left. A fun 21 hours in the Warrumbungles with 3 hours of sleeping and 18 hours of walking, eating, faffing, and rock climbing. I always say birthdays are for suffering but this one was really just silly and fun. Thanks for skippin’ school Haz.

Mega classic long route. Good view of a party getting themselves into trouble on diagonal route at sunset and not knowing where the crater bluff rap stations are

Techniclly very easy climbing, just very out there and remote. Rope drag is killer if you try to combine pitches, more worth it to just do shorter pitches. Gearwise we used small- large nuts and only one C2 on the whole route, although it wasnt really necessary. The descent down green glaicer is probaby more hectic than the actual route, super steep and slippery. We used 2x 60s and simul raped it. The last rap point can be done with a single 60m folded in half, if you dont mind an easy 1m down climb off the end of the ropes

Another ascent as a toddler. Quite the view from what i remember

Got too keen on the walk in and started climbing before getting to vertigo, ended up doing a link up of "if spirit..." into the top chimney of this climb. quite chossy and not so nice. the first half of this climb involved squeezing through a small hole behind a precarious boulder all while battling the very spiky bush that occupied said hole. this move required removing the backpack to push though the hole first as it was very small. all round good adventure, but terrible route

down climbed this instead of using the rap route, was really very pleasant and would make a very nice lead too. I thought it deserves more than just the one star

stoked to run up this one again

Led 1,3,5 with Kaz. 2 1/2 hours and had to climb through another group. Getting down was also fun. A real mountaineering adventure.

With Dan. Alt lead, got the wing pitch. Superb. Topped out after dark cos of party in front that backed off. You know who you are!

Quick run up with Jase and Cristof after driving up from Newie

Did from the half way ledge via spectacular exposed traverse (3 pitches) to upper 3 pitches

Think we did variant start for 2 pitches, then 3rd pitchto ledge, then part bolted crux pitch, then waited for an hour while handdrilling went on then exited left by best 15m of climbing on route onto 2 pitches of Bastion buttress. A work in progress in parts.

Much better rock quality and climbing than Bastion Buttress. Deserves a lot more attention. We started up cornerstone rib to gully where cornerstone heads left. Go back into alcove with crack at left side. This is likely the direct start. Instead go up slabs starting 3 m left, and after piton go up past another, and step airily right. Then 2 pitches of good quality chimney, no thrutching required. Belay at massive chockstone after first 40 m of chimney. Steps left at top of chimney and follow nice rock corner then easy 20 m scramble to top. Green glacier descent is very overgrown. Definitely safer to abseil from top chains. Traverse to third abseil station is overgrown and was hard to see ( I had to Prussic back up) .

Nice setting but pretty average route. Did something a bit harder on pitch 1, though Dave scored some good booty. Bail gear at 20 m, 3 wires, a sling and 5 lockers! I think this is overrated and an awful choice for people seeking an easy entry into Bungles climbing. Go and do Rib and Gully instead. According to the first ascensionists staying a bit right keeps you on better rock , but don't go too far right like the epic UNSW rescue from last year. Track in overgrown and walkers track off Bluff mountain also quite overgrown and could be hard to find in dark if you are unfamiliar with the area.

The climbing is mostly on vegetated gullies, with a few wet and mossy moves with some consequence, and moments of exposure on good rock. Descended same way ( tested the memory). One Fixed rope only at present, Bunnings special with the anchor being 2 unequalised pitons, one only half in. Needless to say, did not touch it, though neither piton budged, I wouldn’t like to have 100kg person bounce testing it. Walked in from gunnemooroo camp via the creek as the road at present needs a decent clearance 4 wd. Took about 2 hours to base of west ridge from camp.

A pleasant way to get to the summit. The storms in February scoured it well, making for good climbing. From the plateau it’s an easy scramble to the summit. We descended The NE shoulder, traversed under the east face ( hard work) and then climbed up onto the SE ridge. This knife edge ridge is a great way back to the summit ( about grade 2 but readily escapable) and up there with the skyline traverse in Kaputar. From the summit we went west Across the plateau to the lower ridge, then down climbed the waterfall gully and back to camp.

We started on this route and followed a superb line through to a logical conclusion in 5 pitches, but it bears no resemblance to the description after pitch 2. The body chimney of pitch 1 has around 10 m+ of unprotected climbing unless you take a big bro. Nice lead by Dave. P2 seemed to follow description. Then I linked 3 +4 starting into a beautiful left facing flake and going up ribs in 60 m. Never found a chockstone. Our Pitch 5 went up a left facing corner for 15 m, then traversed airily right for another 20m before an easy scramble and then walk to top. Descended sw gully.Generally good rock, a bit lichenous due to lack of traffic. Only 4 other people been here since our last ascent in July. 5 climbers on summit today.

Started at high point on vegetated ridge and went up left of blocks with windows for 35 m through overlaps. Then up lichenous slabs for 60 m, then up left into low angle dihedral with good cams and the actual “ climbing” and Short chimney finish for 40m. Scramble right and up to summit blocks. Dave’s birthday.

It was hot, but spectacular. We need a nicer finish as P4 was not pleasant.

If it wasn’t so lichenous, this was brilliant, esp P3

Ushering up the grandson and then his first abseil

There’s a big block to the left as you reach the ledge that looks like it’s ripe to plummet