Ascents in Blue Mountains by Josephine Roper having trad-cpr or ascent-date

first decent 21 on gear, pretty happy with it. Battled up the first crux but had a good rest and the second part went pretty easy with jams

The closest the Bluies has to Infinity?

fell near the start but not after that. but it's for sure a grade harder than the Kraken for me. Or is it just intimidating? One day.

What a great climb, should have got on it ages ago. Was going to link p1 & 2 but was so worked after the chimney I was going to need a rest on the ledge for 10 mins anyway. It is also a very comfy ledge and you can enjoy the chimney struggles from it. P2 surprisingly tricky even though it fits small hands well. P3 had a couple goes at the crux to find a sequence, think it could go next time.

Flash coz I did climb the first few metres last time. A bit more exciting after rain - all the good, protectable crack bits were dry but the ledges were muddy. P2 was probably the longest successful lead of my life, mostly getting on to the vegetated ledge - something like climb up, fondle wet ledge, downclimb, apply chalk, try another wet hold, that was a waste of chalk, downclimb, shake out calves, upclimb... eventually found a hidden root that seemed strong enough to pull on! On the plus side, the 'thought provoking' finger crack felt very easy after that, being all dry. Cedric was glad for the #6 on p3, that overhanging offwidth is wild! Took doubles, an extra #1, 2, and set of hexes, which all came in handy.

The sport warm up helps with this for sure, it’s really quite sporty. Nice to finally get it properly

P1 only, P2 looks a bit vegetated. Really great, love the layback/jams/corner swim

The drive out to Sahara Point (mostly, we stopped at the hill 1.5k away) was pretty stressful in a lil Impreza, and I was wondering if one climb was going to be worth it. But the extra fire trail walk + much more bushbashing than expected + climb and then do it all again to get out - was somehow more worth it!

I leave the details to unknown trad bliss but I do think it could be done in 1 pitch with a 70m rope, and that would be quite rad. And you could probably leave a #4 and #5 at home that way. Nor do you need doubles below #4.

We couldn't find any faint track to the cliff, maybe burnt out. Easier to just go to the carpark, follow the cairned track to Sahara Walls, then bash.

had to make carrying gear out here worthwhile (the other nearby trad routes looked too fiddly to get to the start, when supposed to be trip leading).

17 in the book but maybe the last bit on the sandy rounded edges is a bit harder. I found some ok cams between the last bolt and the anchor.

Thought 5 carrots but also the first one was very hard to clip, maybe off line? or just short person problems. But that section would have been pretty scary without it. Traversed in from the left for the start.

After Cedric sent on my gear, too hot to lead it again

A bit contrived since you seem to need to use the arete but also definitely stay right of it, but fun.

Awesome. First half was very confident jamming, the right leaning diagonal bit not so much... reverted to the sport climber's toolkit of laybacking, crimping, and whimpering on ledges about being unable to get re-established in the crack. XD

good if you like face climbing I guess, roof move was my favourite. Climbs are surprisingly clean for how little traffic this crag seems to be getting.

Took a while to find the start but pretty sure we ended up on the right line - everything matched after P1, which as James says was mostly offwidth, not matching tight crack or hands, and we had to wonder if the right side of the pitch has slipped downhill about 30cm (the whole pillar is just a bunch of blocks trying to fall apart as far as I can tell). Fortunately or unfortunately, James is not a quitter and went on a bold lead with shitty gear on the sides of the crack and at one point a #4 taped to a 4m long stick to push it into the top of the offwidth section. On the plus side the pitch is probably easier now (if you had the right gear) as I seconded it cleanly, but really not great rock quality.

We thought it would get better from there, but nope it gets worse. P2 was a nightmare, really hard to find anything solid to touch. After P2 we bailed through the cave/chimney system inside the pillar to the top of the notch with the main wall. I think this means we followed the line of Josh's Big Trad Line, but ticking here as this is what we intended to climb.

See below... if you don't find an obvious trail turn off, do not go bashing down a gully (that turns out to be one gully to the south, and a jungle) 😅 The actual route is quite clear and we saw all the fixed ropes except the first one mentioned.

Great climbing, because it's a few degrees short of vertical it has some proper finger and toe jamming while still at a moderate grade, which seems rare in the Bluies. And I like hard sections with good stances in between. Thought I was going to lose it a few times with slipping feet, and one stuck cam to clean, but all just worked out somehow.

Think we took single 3-5, double 1-2, triple 0.3 - 0.75.

Love that it has compulsory jamming but also sometimes big face holds, great if you're still not a real crack climber and need a break (me). 4 x #2s, 3 x #1s was good.

Really fun steep moves out of the roof, but sparse gear and crap rock all the way up

great route. just punted the crux as usual

Fell at the low crux this time, too much seeping on the left wall [and other list of excuses so long that getting on the climb at all was really the mistake]

Great climbing, not in a hurry to lead it though. We only found 2 carrots too

Really great. Especially for small hands, 22 in the new book is overkill IMO. Got over the overhang and in reach of the ledges but a bit tangled up with the limbs. Had battled too much earlier and had nothing left to give to sort it out.

A friend recommended belaying under the roof for an awesome scenic spot, and I impulsively decided to just link from the ground to there. For no good reason I thought the roof crack was finger sized and it wouldn't matter that I had to put every larger piece into the 40m of crack before. Alas, it is #3/4 sized and the small gear anchor I found was quite low and awkward. Still a lovely ledge to hang out and eat some lunch. Would do 2 pitches to the roof next time. A little wet deep in the chimney today but nothing we needed to use.

Heaps good fun for me, cracks and only tiny bits of scary slab. Linked P1+2. Should have led last pitch as well instead of letting Cédric do it and complain about choss all the way XD There are a few loose blocks but nothing untoward for the Bluies.

Pretty stoked to get this, feels like a step up. Not so stoked to not find any sunglasses up there 🙃

Have long wanted to do this climb, finally broke the seal of intimidation by getting someone else to lead it. It actually looks a lot more amenable from the top of P1 than from some of the pictures or from the ground, so almost considered swapping, but somewhat glad I didn't. Had to layback some of it on soapy rock where big hands can jam, then tried to offwidth instead of laybacking the crux, which didn't work. But will definitely come back and lead it just to enjoy the amazing line again.

warmup. never gets old

What a route!!

Accidentally overcammed the #6 early in the P2 offwidth but managed to balance for 15 mins while I freed the thing... meanwhile our third climber had a nap XD Found the top of that bit before the roof required some actual offwidthing, at least at my height. The third pitch has a tricky move to get off the ledge onto the outside of the chimney but definitely has gear if you look around.

Much less snappy than Delusions of grandeur but still requires care and has possibly lost some little edges. Used the carrot as a hold for the traverse bit near the start, but could do clean after that. Think Cédric accidentally deviated onto the left route after the first few bolts but seems around the same grade and style anyway. Good if you like this kind of thing.

Did the first pitch of Cynics United. Ran pitches 3 & 4 together, for not the worst rope drag I've ever given myself, but that's not saying much XD Worth it though, it becomes a long interesting pitch.

Heaps of fun. Took the direct (left) P1 which has plenty of gear although not amazing rock. P2 took some tries to find the offwidth sequence, I liked have a #5 and 6, though you could skip one or the other if you trust the carrot. After all the hype I expected the P3 squeeze section to be longer, but then again it was probably the longest metre of climbing in my life

First time trying the second pitch, it would be a fucking classic if it would have a single fucking carrot on the slab!! Tried going up the left crack but unless I'm missing something, that only gives you a piece 2m above the ledge and then you end up 5m right of that before you can place anything else, so it's kinda pointless. In other words I backed off and let Cedric lead it 😭

The steep hanging crack at the top is so awesome though, it was very worthwhile even to second.

Forgot how bad the first bit is. Still a neat trad line to find in here. Getting out of the roof is considerably harder than Torrential.

Linked pitches 1/2 and 3/4 again. Lead it all with no issues this time being comfy jamming fingers for a move probably made the difference

Tried rapping off (using the Say Cheese midway anchors) instead of walking, but the first rope wouldn't pull, ended up waiting for the next party to finish and clear it so I'm not sure what it was stuck on or if it was just tons of drag. If it wasn't for that it's a more fun way down.

Def feels easier now I can jam but pumped out placing nuts, and the finish still baffles me. Ended up bailing to the right so I could try it on toprope.

Finally found how to do the end, after jumping off many times

link p1/2

Bit of a slow lead, I might be stronger but the crux gear hasn't got any thicker than last year. Thought I'd given myself more drag than other times so stopped after P3, it's a really cool cave to belay in, shame P4 is so short that it seems a bit pointless.

A little bit is hard enough that it makes a good warmup

Quite a few tricky bits on this one... Broke a big foot at the start.

Just annoyed now

Got too pumped, crimps much worse than remembered and still can't work out how to jam it