Gondwana 16

This climb takes the buttress right of The Emu. Pitches 1 & 2 are enjoyable climbing on good rock. The third pitch is a more serious lead, not offering much protection. The climb wanders up from here. Start: At the first main buttress 50m right of The Emu. Scramble unroped (maybe 15m?) up left gully until blocked by steepening rock.

1. 33m. Climb left gully for 5m and traverse right over arete and then up on jugs to cave. Exposed - move right past bolt runner to large friend belay on right arete

2. 37m. Up juggy wall right of arete to ledge and climb left side of arete to top of large block.

3. 28m. (Crux) Start on main wall at broken drill hole. Mantle up and climb immediately right onto grovel ledge. Interesting move around arete and climb wall to tree belay.

4. 30m. Easy up wall and wonder right to tree belay.

5. 20m. Walk right for 12m and up on juggy rock and scrub.

6. 30m. Climb black slabs to slab ledge. Next three pitches zig zag through the choss overhangs.

7. 15m. Move left 7m and climb steep juggy wall to ledge.

8. 30m. Traverse right on ledge over choss.

9. 20m. Continue traversing right and up short wall.

Paul Davies, Hayden Brotchie 22.8.96 (Alternate Leads)

Although sport climbing is well entrenched as the most popular form of Blueys climbing, mixed-climbing on gear and bolts has generally been the rule over the long term. Please try to use available natural gear where possible, and do not bolt cracks or potential trad climbs. If you do the bolts may be removed.

Because of the softness of Blue Mountains sandstone, bolting should only be done by those with a solid knowledge of glue-in equipping. A recent fatality serves as a reminder that this is not an area to experiment with bolting.

If you do need to top rope, please do it through your own gear as the wear on the anchors is both difficult and expensive to maintain.

At many Blue Mountains crags, the somewhat close spacing of routes and prolific horizontal featuring means that it is easy to envisage literally hundreds of trivial linkups. By all means climb these to your hearts content but, unless it is an exceptional case due to some significant objective merit, please generally refrain from writing up linkups. A proliferation of descriptions of trivial linkups would only clutter up the guide and add confusion and will generally not add value to your fellow climbers. (If you still can't resist, consider adding a brief note to the parent route description, rather than cluttering up the guide with a whole new route entry).

If you have benefited from climbing infrastructure in NSW, please consider making a donation towards maintenance costs. The Sydney Rockclimbing Club Rebolting Fund finances the replacement of old bolts on existing climbs and the maintenance of other hardware such as fixed ropes and anchors. The SRC purchases hardware, such as bolts and glue, and distributes them to volunteer rebolters across the state of New South Wales. For more information, including donation details, visit https://sydneyrockies.org.au/rebolting/

It would be appreciated if brushing of holds and minimisation/removal of tick marks becomes part of your climbing routine. Consider bringing a water squirt bottle and mop-up rag to better remove chalk. Only use soft (hair/nylon) bristled brushes, never steel brushes.

The removal of vegetation - both from the cliff bases and the climbs - is not seen as beneficial to aesthetics of the environment nor to our access to it.

Remember, to maintain access our best approach is to 'Respect Native Habitat, Tread Softly and Leave No Trace'. Do not cut flora and keep any tracks and infrastructure as minimal as possible or risk possible closures.

For the latest access related information, or to report something of concern, visit the Australian Climbing Association NSW Blue Mountains page at https://acansw.org.au/blue-mountains/