Ascents in Oceania by Stuart McElroy having trad-cpr or ascent-date

A brilliant route providing plum vertical stamina crack climbing. Had to fight for it. A bit of laybacking, fingerlocks, hand jams etc. Some really good wire and cam placements, I didn't use anything larger than Gold, and sure wish I'd taken a few more small cams. The bush in the photo was burnt and dead and has been mostly removed making for a more aesthetic and cleaner route. Also gave it a quick brush.

Mad looking route with mad climbing, overhanging about 8m in 30m! Absolutely must do if you're into crack climbing and wading up steep rock. Heel hooks, knee bars, a lie down rest and lots and lots of jams! Used a .75 and 1 at the start, then another 3 #1s, 3 #2s, 1 #3 and 1 #4. Anchors are all the way at the top after the chimney and are on the left.

Decades ago...

Lots of good moves if you're into this kind of route!

Action packed with a lot of variety...well worth the trip.

Crruxy start on finger jams, through hands to fists. Cams to #4, and also used a #9 DMM offset nut at the start as it didn't block the finger jams.

Fun to do cross body jams up near the top...right hand in left crack and left hand in the corner crack...weird technique that worked for me.

Excellent climbing! Used a horizontal knee bar with my right leg across to the left arete below the fingers section to make the crux sequence less sketchy. While lowering off I tested how hard I could use the knee bar - it's possible to take both hands off but I reckon you'd want to use a knee bar pad if you were serious about a no hand rest! We accidentally took the double length sling from the top anchor when abseiling off - it's under a rock at the base of the route.

Still a great climb. After all the offwidthing we've been doing I found a knee lock 3/4 way up which provided a great no hands rest...the top thinner crack section is so much easier when not pumped stupid!

Decades ago...

Decades ago...

Decades ago...

A set of Totems and a couple of bolt plates and your away. Typical BM crux - feet up, crank and lock on edge...reach...and you've done it.

Amazing line and great trad climbing! Highly recommended if you're into this kind of route. Loads of gear so that aint the issue....!

If only it were another 30m or more long!

Super line and climbing with 2min access. Fun in the winter sun out of the wind, flocks of yellow tailed black cockatoo's, and the view from the top of the boulder in the late afternoon is sensational. The climbs at Pierces Creek really should be more popular than they are as they are total class!

Felt stopped trying to go past the first bolt and so grabbed the draw...then couldn't even do 'the' move in the new shoes, and so it was down to the ground. TracyB cranked 'the' move first go which gave me hope. On with the old boots...and that made the difference! Bloody hard fight after that though, and 'the' move became one of many hard 'moves'. Dug deep, and despite feeling like I'd be off several times, I eventually got through.

Despite the guide warning, the route seemed safe and sound as I found nothing of concern...another brilliant line with great climbing.

Fantastic location and climbing. Highly recommended!

Fantastic location and climbing. Highly recommended!

Not what I was expecting but fun all the same. A gold and red cam in the horizontal near the overlap, and the rest is bolts (x5).

Great looking and climbing!

Great line, good climbing and solid gear.

Nice to revist this great crack after a couple of decades. This time with a quadruple rack...rather than a single rack...everything felt more sane!

The obvious triangle flake thing moves a little bit which is a bit disconcerting.

Thug the layback....compose...and delicately up the slab...very cool variety. Sucked up the gear...until the slab!

Super fun!

Love shuffling fist jams!

I think this route is misunderstood and perhaps that is why it gets some bad reviews and inflated grade - for some it seems that expectation does not meet reality! This is a naturally protected route - wires and cams. I'm not sure from where people get the idea that it should be bolted or is missing bolts, or is grade 18. The printed guides for the past 40 yrs have it being listed as a natural gear grade 16 ('A Climbers Guide to the Northern Hartley Valley, Penney 1981, The Rock magazine insert 'The Cosmic County Guide' Penney 1988, 'Rockclimbs of the Upper Blue Mountains' SRC circa 1994, 'Blue Mountains Climbing' Carter 2015). If you go up without gear anticipating bolts then perhaps expect a scary hard time. Take the appropriate gear with you and have your trad head screwed on and then experience the route for what it is "An exceptionally pleasant route up a fine black wall. Fortunately its quite a lot easier than it appears" (Penney, 1981). Personally I found the route to thread it's way up a thin wall linking good move sequences and gear placements - and that it is delicious in it's uniqueness compared to the bolted lines that tease to the right and left.

Thin hands - cams 0.75 to 2.

Good position. Would be a suitable candidate for double ropes, but 4-5 long slings keep the drag down if using a single. We also did a lap of the bolted arete to the right that goes up to the same anchor as BR. Good climbing - maybe 14?

Action packed short route!

Glad I toproped it as there are some sizable audible exofoliation flakes which could cause concern to place gear on. Otherwise, a good range of knee locks, hand/fist stacks, butterfly jams and fisting.

Removed a few flakes en-route so it should climb a bit nicer now.

A top lead by Tracy - making it all look easy with great crack climbing technique!

Excellent splitter offwidth into a wider layback. We tried it a couple of weeks ago but had no idea how to do hand/fist stacks nor knee locks, nor did we have gear big enough to make the wide second half a sane prospect. This time, after reading the 'hand/fist offwidth' section of Peter Whittaker's 'Crack Climbing', having bought back my two Valley Giants (VG) I'd previously sold, plus judicious taping of hands and left knee I was set and got it first go. Gear is big to humungous - #4, 2 x #5, #6, VG#9 and VG#12! A 240cm sling is also handy to loop the large block 3/4 way up. As granite goes, this is smooth sided and an excellent climb to learn offwidthing on. A top rope using a second rope to get the anchor over the edge can easily be setup using the ring bolts above 'Black Satin Lingerie'. The walk in is about 40 minutes.

Decades ago...

It's become almosr polished in the 10 or so years since I last did it! Great gear and nice moves.

Full of funky moves!