Ascents in Wolgan Valley

Much tougher than it looks, technical and demanding. Climbed to 1/2 way between 3rd and 4th bolt (2/3rds of the climb) before backing off, and it was stiff 23ish to there. Committing moves a long way above the last bolt throughout the climb. We bailed on the crux (?) sequence, which involved serious committment to a non-obvious sequence with scary fall potential. Probably needs to be sussed and cleaned (very dirty) on rap for the tick The bolts are in strange places. Designer danger, anyone?

Bolting style makes for a gripping time! Not too hard up to 4th bolt but I took the bait and entered the chimney thinking it'd aid me stepping back out onto final arete bolt but the thought of wiping out onto the platform below with that final run out had me top out via easy but airy chimney on pretty loose pro. Actually thought this was a mixed route! Should have checked the route before attempting but anyhoo. Would be keen on a clean direct send after a quick inspection of the top section to suss out those smooth holds to minimise a potential deck out on that platform.

Didn't know what the route was, Bryden and I chose it for the warm up 🤦🏻‍♂️. Very bold, escaped to chimney. Heaved on a massive chockstone which snapped in half luckily my back fell against the back of the chimney leaving me with a basketball sized lump of sandstone in my hands which I unceremoniously slam dunked down le chimney before continuing on my way.

2 attempts on top rope, neither of them clean. After getting a look at the dubious mid-crux gear (from Smash Hits, next to it) I wasn't confident about trying to lead-it. The best I managed was with 1 fall at each of the 2 top cruxes. Sustained, strenuous, boulder-problem crack-climbing with powerful moves off finger-locks. 3 prominent and varied cruxes. Bang on at "old-school 25". This is NOT the "crazy sandbag" you might expect.

Wow! Dream send! Repeating this rarely climbed hard-trad testpiece of the era of Wolgan hardmen has blown my mind! 1st lead attempt, with pre-placed gear (8 bits of gear and 3 bolts) in part because the MISSING PITON on the middle (hardest) crux means the moves are done well above a single #4 wire in marginal rock to stop a 10m ground fall. I would be willing to do placing gear now, though! Boulder-problem lower crux; techy, strenuous trad-pro middle crux, and powerful fingery trad-pro top crux.

Flashed using the original M0 rest with a tonne of beta from Neil. Amazing featured climbing that keeps getting harder and harder all the way to the final boulder problem at the top. Quite run-out (5 bolts -2 close together- and 1 piece of gear in 30m is exciting), and the crucial #3/#4 cam down low protects a monster ground fall, but the stunning climbing (which would be a borderline megaclassic elsewhere) makes it all worthwhile. A rarely climbed masterpiece of technicality.

FFA. With Neil Monteith. 3rd shot (including the flash of the 23M0 variant). First Recorded Free Ascent eliminating the pre-crux rest for very hard 24/soft 25. Might have been done before, but no information is online or in the guide to the contrary. An intense route to fully free as it only gets harder all the way to the top, with the final boulder problem coming well above the last bolt. An unnecessary runout to the anchors keeps the heart pumping.

Made it clean to the crux, with the help of a beautiful knee bar rest at half way, the #4 cam slot is great, then fell at the long deadpoint move to a flat edge. After numerous attempts at the ultimate crux above on sharp tiny crimps, I bailed, before I lost too much skin. Fantastic route though! Tough crux, but I can see it is possible!

great absorbing climbing. Deserves a rebolt.

with

wow. apart from the bolts which are not wow...

I did the first ascent in summer 93/94 with Linda belaying. There are 14-16 'carrot' bolts with no hangers. One of the bolts in the middle section is probably too high and a bit hard to clip. Best to just do the move or rap in and pre-clip all the gear. The rock is fantastic in the middle sections up the flakes although I broke a hold above the little roof. If there's 2 bolts clip both

Incredibly sustained. Solid effort Evan!

A few nails moves (thin) but once worked out the beta it is excellent climbing!

Climbed a fantastic crack up and right of Cymbeline, hoping it was a new route. Presume it is this route though, as the crack is cleaned and had a cairn at the start.

Exciting in the intermittent rain. Would've been a very different proposition without Jason McCarthy and Jenna Brady 's chalk on it. Flash from the 3rd bolt up (I slipped off a damp hold going for the 3rd bolt, lowered back to the ledge, and went to the top from there... skipping the tree start). Similar to Barton's effort stylistically, but more sustained, intense, thinner, and demanding. Deserves more traffic.

Fell off the crux on the onsight. Sent 2nd shot but still tricky. Super technical and sustained.

Brilliant. Barely stuck it out for the onsight with an injured finger.

Awesome hard climbing, perfect rock

FFA.

Serious slab action! Balancy until the finishing jug haul