Ascents as various tick types as sport by Paul Frothy Thomson

P1 only. Quite good, long, varied and technical the whole way. One of the best routes of the day.

Just the top 3 pitches (as far as my 100m rope could reach) on TRS. Probably the chossiest fully-equipped sport multi I've ever been on, but certainly worthy of another visit on lead (mostly cause P3 is so mega!).

P3 is the Money, and is stunning climbing up a steep technical corner, then an outrageous steep face. Only a single move I couldn't do, but conditions were terrible, and it was a friction-move.

P4 is rather masochistic, where every single hard move is a square-cut roof turn (my nemesis!) and could well end in tears on that top roof.

P5 is okay for an exit pitch.

Repeat attempt, not clean today. Just the one lap for fitness and to re-remember the beta for Match . I was pretty happy to put together the entirety of the upper crux section with minimal hassle, years after I was last on this. Amazing climbing from about the 5th bolt up!

P1 only. Long, interesting, wandery climbing, but guarded by a poxy start, and with quite fragile rock. Would be good if done solely as an access pitch to the routes above, and not as a route in and of itself.

Neil moved some of my draws onto this while lowering off the climb next to it, so cant.claim the onsight. Some optimistic bolt positioning and still sandbagged, but not AS sandbagged as its neighbour. The top crux is quite fun.

P1 only. The climbing is awesome up a continuous corner/flake feature, but this thing is polished to oblivion, and I couldnt didn't enjoy climbing on Teflon.

FFA. Backlogging the FA. Sent this packing on my last possible shot before heading off to America, thanks muchly to the entourage of belayers who hung out on the ledge with me throughout this process. Old school, wandery, super-thin, reachy face-climbing which -as a full package- is a tonne of effort, but rewarding in the end. I'd argue that this is one of the best examples of this particular style in the Blueys, but theres a chance I'm just a liiiiiiiiiiitle bit biased. Maybe avoid it if its windy, though.

About bloody time. 2nd redpoint burn of the day, scrapping the whole way up. Was basically "mid fall" on the entire top crux, but just kept lunging and somehow got there.

Objectively this route is gr28 (hence its actual grade I've put on it on TheCrag) but my subjective experience (encompassing all the ropecraft factors) was gr29. Similar composition to Hairline, but 2.5x longer, but the 2-rope faff and all the other admin factors make it a proper mission to climb.

Clean Repeat. One of my favourite 23's in the mountains. An excellent 2nd warmup.

Pitch 1 only in the baking sun. Still took me 2 shots (today) to get it after I got lost below the crux on the first shot. Stunning climbing the whole way on great rock. This type of movement epitomises face climbing!

Another long haul. 3rd shot today (after punting the low crux on my 2nd shot), on my 6th day of effort on this route. I don't even know how many laps I had in the end . After linking through the crux on my 3rd day, I thought it'd go down fast, but I fell off AFTER the crux 3 times (from mistakes, or flash pump, or poor strategy), and one day in the middle never made it through the crux all day.

A brilliant route, with an unrelenting final 15m of power-endurance steep face-climbing on beautiful rock, guarded by a very gnarly and relatively low percentage lower crux (which proved to very frustrating as I tended to fall off it 1 in every 3 laps). The climbing surrounding these sections is pleasant, but no harder than gr21.

Amazing punchy steep face climbing, and hard to compare it to anything else in the Blueys. Like a steeper Bentrovato wall route, but on better rock... Punchy like the cruxes of Pulse/Zapt, but if the same difficulty of moves continued for 10m (rather than about 4m). The crux of this could be called "10m of madness", and feature some proper funky moves and counter-intuitive sequences. I was proper psyched to tick this after some strategic training. Getting good conditions is very key.

2nd redpoint shot today, 7th shot in total (and a few equipping laps). No particularly hard moves, but unrelenting from where it splits from Reigning Steel until you clip the anchors.

Wow! A sustained, complex face climb with classic moves and rock, to a no-hands rest, before a gnarly V6 boulder finale through the top roof. The upper slab is not to be underestimated!

Though I could do the moves of the boulder, I didn't feel that I could put both parts of the climb together in the 2 days I had to try it, so instead I traversed over to the finale of Velvet Morning immediately before the no-hands rest at the top roof, and finished up that (hence not claiming the full grade). Sure, it's the piker's McDougall, but it makes the climb even more sustained, and just as classic as most of the other routes here IMO! Hopefully next time I'll send it properly.

Full disclosure: I also started with the first 3 bolts pre-clipped.

At the start I use a compression/arete-slapping/heel-hooking sequence rather than the crimp boulder. Was heaps of fun figuring it out.

Top Half only. 2nding Stephen to gain the top of the cliff. Okay climbing up an obvious corner-feature, with a few interesting moves.

5 days of effort in total to free both pitches. It takes a lot for exposure to scare me, but this route managed it. Super obscure, but stunning.

Wild, gymnastic traversing, with huge falls into space. I got in the habit of climbing this with my grigri pre-set just behind my knot, and my Jumaar ready for rapid deployment.

On one of my laps on P2 I took a really bad fall, to the point I thought I'd broken my foot. I managed the Send on my final real shot of the trip.

The Aid move on P1 probably goes free if you've a bigger standing reach than me. The one on P2 definitely goes free, but it adds at least 3 more grades to the pitch. Feel free to go for the true FFA!

P1 - Pink Point back on 6th Mar 2015 (jumaared it today); P2 & P3 (linked as 55m pitch - Onsight; P4 - Pink Point (2nd shot. Onsight from 3rd bolt up). Now just the 27 pitch to go to tick this entire climb. P1 is classic steep face; P2 is bouldery slab (22?); P3 is amazing 40m sustained slab on perfect rock (probably 20/21); P4 is a fun bolted powerful boulder problem (25/26) past 3 bolts, then steep 22. Proud to have done the 1st repeat of all these pitches so far, as this is classic!

Repeat. Pitches 1-3 only (I've ticked P1 - P4 clean on lead previously). Slightly damp today, and unclimbed since the epic flood, so a thin film of mud on many holds (now freshly scrubbed clean!). I was kidding myself if I thought I could retro-flash P1 with no beta, chalk and muddy holds as a warmup! P1 - Dog (falls in 3 sections remembering the sequency crux and finding the crucial micro-holds... but some enjoyable fighting for good linkage); P2 & P3 (linked) - Clean 2nd. This is still my favourite of the multis here, though not perfect. Varied and (usually) clean. With a few bits of loose rock due to no ascents (except mine ).

Clean Repeat (via Direct Finish). Route #2 of the IHaD Wall Triple in a day. Pretty psyched to re-tick this 2 days after the FA of the new finish. Much better conditions than I've had lately, but still hard work even knowing the route intimately. The final boulder-problem moves near the top are always a roll of the dice as to whether I stick it or not. So damn mega!

Another Repeat, this time for some photos, and placing draws on lead. Brilliant conditions today. Tonnes-o-fun no-pressure lap. Mega.

Repeat ATTEMPT of P1 only. With damp rock and no chalk to guide my way, I surprised myself by linking to the very end of the crux before failing to find the key hold, but otherwise climbing it well and in control. Barring a section in the middle of the route which has been damaged by rockfall (still climbable, but very loose... needs some industrial-grade trundling to tidy it up), this route is an eclectic mix of styles, with an aesthetic and punchy thin crux. The final fridge-hugging moves to the anchors are great.

Repeat ATTEMPT in the proper, sopping, waterfall-ing, torrential rain. This route was wet wet wet, which -considering how slopey it is- made it exciting. Somehow linked -placing the draws- to near the tippy top before exploding off a particular wet hold in a particularly inglorious manner. Good training in adverse conditions. If it was cold enough, I could've ice-climbed it today.

Repeat - Just to the crux (2nd last bolt) as a warmup. Makes a good warmup at gr23/24, even with total finger freeze.

P2 only. Repeat. Second Monty at EOD to climb out.

Repeat for training (not clean today. Fell off the top crux). As good as I remember. Deserves its reputation.

Repeat attempt (for training), not clean. Climbed clean into the main crux, fell off, and came down. Happy just to link through that first crux without remembering the beta at all... it's intense.

Repeat attempt (for training) not clean today. Climbed via the Sentinel start. The wheels fell off here, and I had a rest at the crux. Too much climbing for 2 days!

Repeat to the first anchors. Great face climbing after the first 5m or so. Even with the misting rain making this slimey, it was still enjoyable.

EOD cool-down lap over a year since I was last on it. Bloody great climbing, and was psyched to get quite a bit of linkage despite the lack of chalk, and half-remembered beta.

Repeat attempt lap for EOD training - Not clean today. Still spooge on this as well, but at least this is more fun and less sketchy when its bad connies.

2 more laps this morning. This is a brutal warmup! Graded 27 originally, its probably more solid/hard 26. Might be 27 if you cant climb hard cracks. Good linkage on 1st shot (2 falls - 1 more due to lack of commitment than difficulty - I was still scared up here today!), then a rad full link 2nd shot... but this could be tough to tick on lead. The crack is a somewhat crumbly at the back, but the rock on the headwall is immaculate and perfect. Why are all the climbs that suit me so damn inaccessible? I'll be back on lead next.

TRS Cleanly as part of working the Direct Finish. Absolutely freaking nails. 100% 28 in my mind, and probably the hardest face climb I know of in the Blueys. Finished via the last bolt of Aesthetic Images to make it a bit harder.

3 x Repeat laps as a part of the mega two-rope link project. Managed P1 clean on the 2nd lap even with the extra weight/screw-around of managing two ropes, but bungled the 1st crux of P2 on the link. Very draining. On an aborted 4th lap I could barely bolt-to-bolt the route, and then struggled to jumaar out afterwards.

P1 Clean repeat. Great to retick this in only a day, and some less-than-ideal conditions. x3 laps to score the retick. Really fun technical power-endurance climbing.

Finally! 2nd shot today, 9th lap in total. Extremely long, thin, technical, stressfully sustained, surprisingly overhanging and stunningly positioned. Took a monster whip off the last move of the crux on my first shot, and I was shaking when I made it past it and went into the pumpy/scary traverse on the Send. Rope drag was noticeable, but not as bad as I was expecting, though going into the top crux my own weariness was definitely discernible, especially when it started raining! Utterly Mega!

Direct Finish Sorted! 2nd shot today, 10th lead shot total. After falling off the crux of the original Elbow Route on my first lap, I put some time into devising a physically harder (but more reliable in the high humidity) way of doing the low sequence, and as a stormfront moved in (bringing high winds and torrential rains for Sending conditions) I set off and crushed it. Just BARELY kept it together for the top crux, then almost fell off the grade 20 final moves to top out, and again off the wet mantle topout in the rain... Shrieking and whimpering the whole way. That's the sort of Send you want!

No idea of the grade. I don't really care either. Someone else make up a grade for it. Quite a bit harder than the original Elbow Route (which is certainly 26), and substantially harder than I Have a Dream or Disco Non-Stop Party... But 26 will do for now.

FFA. Literally the most effort I've put into any climb in the Blue Mountains. 9 days, in soaring temperatures, rain, wind-blowing-waterfall-onto-route, and some sub-arctic conditions. If it weren't one of the most amazing lines I've ever climbed, and if I didn't have a dedicated belayer (who put up with some big falls and subsequent epic temper-tantrums) throughout all of it I doubt I would've finished it.

Mind-blowingly good technical face climbing on beautiful waterwashed rock, up the only wandering line of holds to breach this part of the wall. The Money pitch is 24 slab into a V6 extended boulder-problem crux into a 25/26 sustained face finale.

The grade is open to debate. Up until recently I would've sworn it was 28 (based on the effort it took me, and the fact I only EVER linked through the crux once from the ground, and never managed to repeat that effort), but Will Vidler employed short/light/young/strong beta to do the crux of the crux (in isolation) in a totally different manner, which -though not a link- invites the possibility the crux isn't such a shutdown move. Hence: gr27.

Awesome steepness of beautiful rock, but wandery and seriously rope-draggy (hence splitting the first 2 pitches). A real resistance route in an "out there" (high admin) environment. I'm looking forward to the challenge of linking the first 2 pitches, though it will necessitate climbing the route on 2 ropes. Thanks to my belay posse for the days out here on this thing.

Both pitches are rather hard. The moves on P1 are radical powerful, strenuous, dynamic face climbing in a wild position, with a heart-breaker final go-again dyno. I needed proper arctic conditions to send it.

P1 took me 3 days this season (and at least 3 days last season) to free.

P2 took me 2 shots today (and 1 shot previously).

4 days of effort, but proper chuffed with the result. 3 distinct cruxes, but no true rest inbetween. I fell off the final move to the anchors 3 times on link. Slab style, though on a slightly steep wall, makes "rockovers" a dynamic affair.

First 27! 3rd shot today, 4th shot total, but arguably my first proper red point attempt as after my onsight attempt yesterday my first shots today involved screwing around putting on draws that other climbers had removed. Came really close 2nd shot today (placing 5 of 10 draws) with a single fall, pull straight back on and go to the top. With perfectly refined beta, the 3rd shot was "mark and execute" and felt utterly rad! Super sustained, technical, thin, long, pumpy and COMMITTING. Stoked!

2nd Ascent. 2nd shot. Didn't quite manage the flash with flash pump surprising me on a matched fingernail edge, but went to the top with only 1 fall. 2nd shot felt awesome. This climb was made for someone like me. 30m of non-stop, slightly steep, super-thin technicality on micro-edges, sidepulls and underclings. No real pronounced crux, but trickiness that you could easily fall off on the last move to the anchor (3 x slopey gastons through a steep bulge). Beautiful black and orange rock.

5th shot. Linked into P3 for a single mega pitch belayed from the ground with an 80m rope. 1st shot to get the gear on, fix a static to the belay at the end of P1 and suss the moves. 2nd - 4th shot I was using flawed beta. 5th shot with new beta it all came together for a VERY pumped SEND. Bouldery and shouldery, but rad in its uniqueness and exposure. I enjoyed this quite a bit even on my first lap.

Done and Dusted! First CLEAN repeat of this route! 4th Redpoint shot, 13th lap in total (incl. my Onsight attempt, another ground-up attempt 6 months later, and 7 Top Rope Solo laps when the route was partially wet after the flood). 5th day on, and slightly too hot for ideal conditions... but I went into Warrior Mode in the upper half, and fought and whimpered and screamed through the moves I'd never linked past. I'm bloody glad I didn't blow the final gr23 moves to the roof, or I would've had the biggest whip of my life!

Psyched! 2nd Redpoint attempt (13th lap total, including my various Top Rope Solo laps). Climbed both pitches as a monster 60m pitch belayed from the ground. Took a huge whip off the mid-height pocket-crux on my first shot (after skipping a clip, and falling at the next bolt). Pulled straight back on and linked to the top. The 2nd lap was a battle, but I felt up to the task the whole way. So much varied climbing (even if it is separated by 3 sneaky no-hands rests), with the hardest moves in the last 5m.

Via the batman start (though that start boulder didn't seem too implausible on investigation). Fell off the opening boulder off the ledge 3 times before sussing my sequence. The minute I stuck the boulder I flashed the entire route to the top. Definitely only 25 at my height, and only 24ish to the top once you stick the initial move (which, in itself, wasn't too hard or unpleasant). Sustained with lots of good holds to camp out on and suss the next sequence. A good enduro route.

A great companion route to its neighbour, with a similar composition to Wizball, but with a significantly harder start, and less "good holds" to chill out on to break up the intensity. Immaculate rock and just a genuinely well-conceived line.

Cleaning up an old dog. To the 1st anchors only. More memorable technical thinness on water-polished rock, and it didn't feel too hard today... with the exception of the mid-crux clip, that things is nails!

Psyched! After linking to the final hard moves as a warm-up (despite struggling hideously with the pocket crux on 3 previous attempts in the past 8 months), the Send went down in a controlled and collected manner. The first half isn't perfect (all that stops it being mega classic), but is enjoyable when you know how to climb it. The upper half is perfect.

4th shot today, and a couple of laps over the last few years. In previous attempts the crux of this was miles beyond me, today -even on the first lap- it felt good. The send on the 4th lap was unexpected as I was dead tired, but found my inner mongrel and scrapped my way up it. Broken-up steep face climbing, but lots of cool moves inbetween good rests. The headwall is all-time megaarrr.

Good to finally get this done. Not sure how many days I've been on this, probably 4 or 5 over the last year. Up until you gain the hanging dihedral this is awesome gr23ish climbing, then it's on like Donkey Kong to the top. There are two completely different sequences through the crux (even using totally different holds) which both felt the same grade to me, and whichever one I preferred changed each time I got on this. The lefthand version is more powerful, but more "controllable" for me (I like shoulder moves), and suits us tallies. The righthand method is probably the only way shorties will be able to get up this.