A Crag Guide gives an extensive view of all sub areas and climbs at a point in the index. It shows a snapshot of the index heirachy, up to 300 climbs (or areas) on a single web page. It shows selected comments climbers have made on a recently submitted ascent.
At a minor crag level this should be suitable for printing and taking with you on a climbing trip as an adjunct to your guidebook.
This guide was generated anonymously. Login to show your logged ascents against each route.
Warning
Rock climbing is extremely dangerous and can result in serious injury or death. Users acting on any information directly or indirectly available from this site do so at their own risk.
This guide is compiled from a community of users and is presented without verification that the information is accurate or complete and is subject to system errors. By using this guide you acknowledge that the material described in this document is extremely dangerous, and that the content may be misleading or wrong. In particular there may be misdescriptions of routes, incorrectly drawn topo lines, incorrect difficulty ratings or incorrect or missing protection ratings. This includes both errors from the content and system errors.
Nobody has checked this particlular guide so you cannot rely on it's accuracy like you would a store bought guide.
You should not depend on any information gleaned from this guide for your personal safety.
You must keep this warning with the guide. For more information refer to our:
Usage policy
Contributors
Thanks to the following people who have contributed to this crag guide:
The size of a person's name reflects their Crag Karma, which is their level of contribution. You can help contribute to your local crag by adding descriptions, photos, topos and more.
Table of contents
- 1.
Blue Gum Swamp
9 in Area
-
1.1.
Cross Country 8 in Sector
- 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder 7 in Boulder
- 1.1.2. Cross Country Slabs 1 in Cliff
- 1.2. Swamp Cave 1 in Sector
-
1.1.
Cross Country 8 in Sector
- 2. Index by grade
1. Blue Gum Swamp 9 routes in Area
- Summary:
-
All Bouldering
Lat / Long: -33.654409, 150.606169
description
Blue Gum Swamp runs along the river at the bottom of Shaws Ridge. The two trails connect and provide the local schools with their cross country trails. Multiple caves and areas exist on the wall between the two trails. Some areas are stand alone and easier to access from Blue Gum Swamp Trail. Others are in the main ridge line and are more easily accessed from Shaws Ridge Trail. As always with the lower mountains, beware the loose rock, and clean all routes thoroughly.
access issues
Be sensible.
approach
Goto Winmalee shopping center, continue to the end of White Cross road and park at Blue Gum Swamp and Shaws Ridge parking lot. Head down main trail and take left towards Blue Gum Swamp. Many sectors along right hand side of trail.
ethic
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/
history
Shaws ridge trail is believed to have been created sometime in the 1880s. It is likely that the area has been visited by climbers and the like for some time, although there are no documented climbs. The area began to see development by the local Winmalee crews around 2010. Efforts by the Matt and Bryson Klein and the young Winmalee bouldering set in 2012/13 have seen some first ascents getting made.
1.1. Cross Country 8 routes in Sector
- Summary:
-
description
The Cross Country boulder is located directly on the side of the Blue Gum Swamp fire trail and there is a slabby wall about 8m behind off to the right side of the Swamp Cave.
approach
Obvious area directly on the side of the trail about six hundred meters past the gate on the Blue Gum Swamp trail.
descent notes
Obvious area, super easy access.
history
Saw some cleaning by ZPAB crew in 2010. No serious efforts until Matt Klein and company re-discovered and put in some excellent lines in 2012/13.
1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder 7 routes in Boulder
- Summary:
-
All Bouldering
description
6 Meter boulder directly on trail.
approach
As for cross country sector.
history
First routes by Matt Klein and Crew.
| Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Cross slab
Follow seams on the left side of the boulder | V0 | 4m | |||||
| 2 |
★★ Cross Country
Straight up the middle. Bottom section very tricky slab until you get your feet right. Continue up using obvious edges to top. Superb. FA: Matthew Klein, 2013 | V2 | 6m | |||||
| 3 |
Country Flake
Start as for Cross Flake and trend left to finish up Cross Country FA: ?, 2013 | V1 | 6m | |||||
| 4 |
Cross flake
Flake to the left of Cross country FA: ?, 2013 | V1 | ||||||
|
The following are located on the backside of the Cross Country boulder | ||||||||
| 6 |
Cross Fit
On the back of the boulder. Sit start the slopey rail and right to finish up the arete FA: S.Isaacs, 2013 | V2 | ||||||
| 7 |
Cross Mantle
Start as for Cross Fit. Straight up and mantle. FA: N.Howell, 2013 | V1 | ||||||
| 8 |
Cross Arete
Climb the arete to the left of Cross Slab. Staying on the left hand side FA: N.Howell, 2013 | V1 | 4m | |||||
1.1.2. Cross Country Slabs 1 route in Cliff
- Summary:
-
All Bouldering
description
The high slabs just up hill fromt he Cross Country boulder
| Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Mono slab
The high slab with perfect mono to start. High top out on the rounded arete | 6m | ||||
1.2. Swamp Cave 1 route in Sector
- Summary:
-
description
The steep overhang visible from the Blue Gum Swamp fire trail. Directly behind the Cross Country boulder.
approach
Obvious area directly on the side of the trail about six hundred meters past the gate on the Blue Gum Swamp trail.
| Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
★★ Sausage Fingers
Directly up hill from the Cross Country boulder. Sit start in the large slot. Climb the crimps straight up to top out. FA: S.Isaacs & N.Howell, 2013 | V2 | 4m | |||
2. Index by grade
| Grade | 
|
Stars | Name | Style | Pop | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V0 | Cross slab | 4m | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | |||
| V1 | Country Flake | 6m | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | |||
| Cross Arete | 4m | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | ||||
| Cross Mantle | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | |||||
| Cross flake | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | |||||
| V2 | ★★ | Cross Country | 6m | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | ||
| Cross Fit | 1.1.1. Cross Country Boulder | |||||
| ★★ | Sausage Fingers | 4m | 1.2. Swamp Cave | |||
| ? | Mono slab | 6m | 1.1.2. Cross Country Slabs |