Ascents in Blue Mountains by Paul Frothy Thomson having trad-cpr or ascent-date

One of the last known great lines in the Blueys, and one of my proudest FA's to date. Exposed, scary, great rock, long, and with radical climbing (especially on the crux arete pitch). The crux in particular has some of the wildest arete-slapping/trickery that I've done in my entire climbing career.

Done over about 8 days of effort in total. I originally led the crux pitch as two shorter pitches (27 and 26 respectively) via a hanging belay, before coming back to eliminate the belay and do it properly.

Day 12, sent 2nd redpoint shot today. Finally, after struggling with conditions, weather, injuries, belayer mutinies ( ), and some hideously unlucky throw-away laps, I managed to keep it together despite a really inopportune foot slip, and score the FA. At the top I started shaking, and and had to RAWR the rock into submission for the final moves. This is one of only a handful of times I've ever celebrated on a Send. One of my top 3 lines I've ever put up for sure.

6 days of effort. The rock is Cosmic-esque quality, and the climbing is amazing, but as an "experience" its more "brutal" than fun IMO.

2 very different pitches.

P1 climbs like a steeper, harder and more sustained version of Kizashi (and is mostly on bolts).

P2 is all about the gritstone-esque insecurity, and is mostly on gear.

P3 is just an exit pitch

Another lap to do it properly -placing all gear on lead.

I had a lot of (scared) fun with this one. Radical gr23ish start through a roof to a ledge. Then 4 hard boulder problems (with big runouts) between gear nests. Two are vertical runouts, 2 are horizontal runouts. Very gritstone-esque as it links features to forge a line.

I almost fell off the final move to the anchor, and had to power-scream to get through it.

Bloody great day out.

Would be classic (in the style) if it were more accessible, but unfortunately the approach is nightmare-fuel, and the rock is only 3.5/5 on a Blueys rock-quality rating scale.

First shot today, after having fallen off 44m up the 45m pitch a few weeks ago. Maybe 3 full days of effort in total?

Quite a lot harder than Gaze a Gazely Stare (the boulder is more full-on, the rests are less restful). It's also more committing, IMHO.

Still super-wild steep climbing above gear, though

5 days of effort -though 4 of those were wasted with an utterly stupid way of climbing the crux.

Crazy crazy steep mixed climbing over the void. Sustained, and absent "ledges" or major breaks... but marred by "Duck-Wall-esque" rock quality (read: average Blueys Rock), so I'm only giving it 2 stars.

Was pretty chuffed to punch this out as a warmup, with the route unchalked.

The money pitch is short, and the rock is variable (though mostly quite good) but it's very sustained and insecure, and an excellent technical crack-climbing test-piece. In a few moments of desperation, I began using face-holds that would be called bad footers any other day of the week... I'm sure there's better beta

Pretty stoked with the onsight given the (obvious) lack of wear/traffic and dirty holds after the recent deluge.

Linked both pitches into a giant 45m pitch from the ground. I don't necessarily recommend this unless you use 2 ropes, or pull up and drop the rope (for a clean run of rope) at the end of P1, as the rope drag was horrible.

A very old school, wandery, cryptic, and intimidating line. P1 starts inauspiciously, but ends with some pretty hard slabbing a long way above a carrot. P2 features some heart-stopping climbing to gain the arete, turn it, and continue up the slab on the other side before finally getting another carrot. Both pitches were good fun if you like the style, but P2 proved gripping enough to be memorable, and I'll readily admit that I was a bit freaked.

3rd shot today (8th lap total over 3 days) placing gear on the send.

Almost botched it through the steep prow at the top when -pumped to blazes- I got the key cam stuck with only half the lobes in, and was unable to fix. In the end I just went for it anyway and committed to the runout, but I would not have wanted to fall!

I used 9 bolts and 8 bits of trad over the 40m, but there are other trad options available as well. Super steep climbing in an outrageous position, with an awesome mix of powerful and technical moves. Marred by some coarse rock, and wandery sequences (though I see the latter as a positive ).

Might be 26, but it usually doesn't take me 8 shots to climb a 26 these days, so who knows.

2 laps on TRS for training. Trying to build some steep fitness again! Despite being bell-quality-rock, I just find this super steep pupper so much fun!

Repeat attempt for training (not clean today). Clean to the main crux on Will's gear. Took a few falls, then came down Still brilliant!

Repeat to do placing gear. Definitely scarier placing, as the best gear to protect the finale is grades harder to place on lead... so I just didn't place it. Wild cranking a roof boulder, way above gear, miles out in space.

Facilitating Simmo's FA of this old-skool modern-day classic.

Beautiful rock, and radical climbing, with lots of rests between tricky moves. As a giant pitch, almost entirely on gear, this is kinda intense (could maybe use an extra bolt or 2?)

Done with a Gentleman's Sit at a no-hands rest to avoid pinching the FA.

Proper cool!

Clean repeat for training

Repeat attempt -not clean today. I couldn't do the boulder-crux move at all today, despite many attempts at it -it was just too humid! Managed to test the gear with some big falls, though Lots of fun to chuck a "carefree" lap on it, though.

A great warmup if you like steep jamming. More involved climbing than you'd expect from the ground. Great rock, and kinda intimidating.

It felt about gr23 for the Onsight to me, sans jammies or tape -the crux was too wide for me to jam, and too tight to fist properly- so maybe 22 for the redpoint or with jammies?

I used 0.5, 0.75, 2 x 2, 2 x 3.

Probably hard at the grade.

Great rock, and continuous and sustained technical face climbing in an exposed location.

Proper chuffed that this goes almost entirely on gear (only 4 bolts on the FA!) as all of the hard moves are above gear. It feels pretty "out there" to execute gnarly technical trickery over cams.

I spent 4 days on this route over the last 4 years -including my first attempt "group up" with Emil in the snow (back when no one really knew anything about this route, except that it looked rad).

P1 and P3 are inconsequential, but P2 is absolutely stunning. Its basically a mega mega left-leaning seam-crack at 24/25, guarded by a V8+ crack boulder that I could "sort of" do the moves on, but never really had any chance to link.

Over my visits, I replaced the anchors on this, so there's really no reason for you not (prospective ascent reader) to get on it.

TRS lap to retrieve my trad gear from this route. Good casual pumping. I'm back up to having 3 racks of gear now! (its been a few months of sparsity with only 1 rack of gear in my posession).

FFA. Mega mega mega!

Originally attempted ground-up (after climbing Everyman and his Dog) resulting in a few big falls, and much fear, I later sent this third shot on pre-placed gear, and 4th shot placing all gear on lead. On the FFA, I linked P1 into P2.

This is the sort of modern-style trad climbing that I've really come to enjoy, where the incipient crack takes gear, but much of the climbing is done gymnastically on face holds, resulting in some exciting exposure as you move away from the gear. The upper crux is very sporty. Proper stoked with this find.

Seconding Monty on the FA. Not clean -I got too scared on second on the traverse crux at the start (given there was 35m of rope in the system) and aided off a bolt out to the arete. It then also took me a bit to figure out the mid-height crux.

A very cool mixed route, IMO. The start is a funky bit of traversing (who doesn't love a traverse crux, right?) and the face section is more varied face climbing.

A few okay moves up a thin orange face, but consistently snappy rock, and pretty sketchy equipping. Not recommended.

I used a 2 and 0.4 cam in the initial corner, and a 3 to back up a crappy bolt higher up.

Very unlikely novelty traversing, but the carrots are garbage (at stupid angles to the rock, and unfiled heads makes getting plates on a nightmare) and getting to the first bolt is death.

I was on this for a loooong time on the onsight, struggling to find the holds/line on an untrafficked and weird route.

Bring a 0.5 and 0.4 cam for the first half.

Im giving this classic even with some shitty bolting, and dusty holds. Very Arapilean, asit wanders around between gear, holds, and brackets (only the first bolt off the ground is a carrot) on classy bum rock. This is probably the only route I genuinely enjoyed here.

I used a 0.5 and 2 cam.

With a few long runners, rope drag was not a problem on a single rope.

Pitch 1 only -though I kinda climbed some of the Project as well (it's a confusing bit of wall, here). Probably about gr23 the way I climbed it, though I would describe it as the most logical line. Old school, boulder-problems between mantles and ledges, with some huuuge runouts. Completely dry despite all the crazy rain.

FFA. Gave me more trouble than I expected, taking 3 days of effort for the send (the most time I've spent on a 26 in years). Could be the hideous conditions of late, perhaps? Might even be 25 in good conditions, when the face crux isn't all spooge. A very sporty/gymnastic route. Climbed using 2 bolts, but its still quite risky.

A worthy adventure, where the crux pitch wasn't all that gnarly, but the exit was. Still a good day out, even though I dropped my 0.75 Friend into Katoomba falls

We chose to rap in from above the route for a number of reasons (one of which is how much water there currently is in the creek above Katoomba Falls!) though that proved rather tricky, and necessitated some reverse roof-aiding shenanigans. As such, we didn't do the P1 traverse.

P2 is mostly sub gr20 climbing on good but spaced gear, with a briefly hard crux past a carrot. Save a 0.4/0.5 cam for AFTER this section! (I didn't, and it made the top rather terrifying).

P3 was a type-2 adventure. Route finding was hard (its not obvious where it goes). The gear was spaced and kinda dubious, and the rock was somewhat crap. But my biggest problem is that in 2 attempts I simply could not do the topout roof mantle on link, as it was a waterfall, and the rock was frictionless, slimey ironstone. Took a couple of exciting whips onto a cam I really didn't trust. So, not a real send.

I also tried to pioneer a new top pitch out right with gnarly roof moves that avoided all the water. Came really close despite it being a steep questing adventure, until I whipped onto a black totem with only half its lobes in the rock. After that I got scared and downclimbed back to the belay It would actually be a great line on better rock if you had a cam 1-size smaller than the black totem.

An enjoyable couple of days to get this sorted. Climbed as 2 pitches (linking the top two). Good crack and face climbing, with all the hard moves being bolt protected roofs. Marred solely by some sections of average rock.

Clean Repeat (mostly -the tippy top move was a muddy waterfall, so I stood on a carrot bolt to mantle out) in proper torrential conditions to escape the bottom of this wall at the end of a long day of adventuring. Top tip: Echo Crack is climbable after (and during) record-breaking rain, but it's quite a bit more exciting.

Climbed in via a left hand variant (around the other side of the left arete where we were sussing a new gear line "ground up") to arrive in the final moves of the ordinary gr25 crux. This version was probably harder than the original, and certainly scarier.

We were rather undergunned in the #3 cam department, and I climbed the top (gr22 pitch) using 4 x #3s, 2 x #4's and a #5 in 40m... I'll readily admit that I was rather gripped. If you could scrounge like 7 x #3's for the top pitch, it would be a pleasant cruise.

A genuinely mega trad route, that should be on everyone's "classic cracks" list. The roof of the first pitch is all-time mega steep crack climbing, with great gear, and stacked moves all the way to the anchor. And yes, Anton Korsun they're actual crack moves

The 2nd pitch has a scary start, but otherwise is great crack climbing. I linked the pitch into the top pitch (which was rather gnarly, having only brought 3 bolt plates).

Pitch 3 has a very hard start through a rooflet, followed by pleasant facey rambling. IMHO, I'd suggest continuing up the grey slab to the top, rather than traversing out left to carrots. (I did the traverse, and just found it contrived.)

Regarding my 24M1 grading on P1:

I never managed to do 1 move off the ground (between the slippery righthand crimp, and the first tight fingerlock -which I can only just fit back-3 1-pad in with careful placement- with no feet) so climbed with the left hand pre-set-up, then up to the top (hence a point of aid off the ground). I'm not sure whether the collapse of the foot pedestal at the base of the route may be a factor, or whether I just have to concede that the start is too thin/hard for me. Regardless, doing it with a point of aid off the ground was still great climbing

I had some bad luck on the rest of the First pitch; breaking off a key hold, pinching a nerve in my hand so bad I had to drop off to recover, and taking a gear-ripping fall at one point. As such, my ascent was far from perfect style. Still, the fact I totally rate this crack despite these setbacks, is a testament to how good it is

Led all pitches, done as a 15m pitch (P1) and a 55m pitch (P2-P4) belayed from the ground. Old school equipping and commitment, and as psychologically demanding as it is physically demanding on the crux pitch. Rope management is crucial to keeping this safe. P2-P4 (as a giant pitch) probably warrant "classic" status for the unrelenting arête-y nature of the climbing. P2 is crazy overhanging in the first half!

Clean repeat. So much fun! A great warmup, and just what the doc ordered after a rather trying week.

I always thought Pitch 1 looked mega, and it totally is.

Climbing Pitch 1 via the layback flake to the start, then traversing off (past old carrots) onto The Mind Boggles to rap would be a totally worthwhile undertaking for any trad enthusiast.

FFA. Freed the boulder problem start (might be harder than gr24?) to make this an all-free route. On my retro flash (everything above the start boulder), I fell off on easy terrain at the tippy top after breaking off a hold... so down I came to go again. sigh

A bit old school, but awesome, not-too-hard climbing up an imposing, steep face, following the line of least resistance. Good bolts, so get on it.

2 Attempts. On my 2nd I managed to get to the last 5m body-squeeze/offwidth section with a single rest, but never really managed to work out the last few metres. To me, with my physiology, it seemed like I was going to need to invert? But lacking more big gear, I was too intimidated to commit properly to it. I'll have to come back with bigger gear, and maybe a few more skills.

The rock is a mixed bag, but it's outweighed by the wildness of the climbing, which is varied, brutish, and intimidating.

I used 7 x #4, 2 x #5 and 1 x #6 for the roof part of the crack. I could probably have done with another #6 at least, and perhaps something bigger (purely for the purpose of working the last part of the roof).

Repeat attempt (not clean today). Pitches 2 & 3 only (as a giant pitch).

Sure, this is obscure, but P2 is radical bold-ish gritstone-style arete climbing. Better than I remember, and also quite a bit harder.

Awesome position, and definitely "out there". Old school face adventure where the difficulty is as much in the route finding (especially on the chalkless ground-up onsight) as it is in the moves. With only 8 carrots on P2, its rather "gripping". The traverse on P1 is kinda slippery, and has a proper hard crux for a warmup. Totally worthwhile... but Wild Wild West is probably better

Surprisingly good! Would be classic but for an utterly disgusting exit pitch.

P2 has a nails start, then becomes great laybacking and bottomless chimneying. P3 has a beautiful narrow-corner crack followed by a very rad (but kinda weird) bolted slab that I was working proper hard to onsight. P4 is a blight on the landscape... but at least its short!

Therr is a certain archetype of traddy climber in the blueys that NEEDS to get on this - hugh sutherland I'm looking at you!

Surprisingly good! Climbs like a harder version of P2 of Catch the Wind, on great rock, and with funky moves to negotiate the steepness. It also isn't too hard for the grade (especially considering how sandbagged trad routes at this grade often are), and was just tonnes of improbable fun to climb. With a touch more traffic (and an exit pitch) this should be a Tradsters trade route.