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Summary
Sandstone
Diverse crag with lots of high quality low grade climbing all the way to epic adventures.
Description
Something for everyone and a quick walk from Medlow Bath station. The Sunbath has a good smattering of easy to moderate sport routes, Reservoir Dogs and The Sporting Complex have some excellent rap in, climb out sport routes, the Colosseum has some mega trad and mixed routes and when Alex Megos visited he hit up the mega steep, hard routes at The Underworld - and that's only half the areas at Medlow! Get amongst it.
Access issues
Be wary of where you park, ensuring not to block any driveways or leave any rubbish. The crags are located on land owned by The Hydro Majestic, so act appropriately.
Approach
5-10 min
The Sunbath, Valley Farm, Sooty Crag and Colosseum
Coming from Sydney take the first exit on the left after the Hydro Majestic hotel. Turn left down Belgravia St and park.
Follow the track sign avoiding private property. Pass two indistinct trails turning off to the right and another coming in from the left and take the third right hand turn. (If you get to a concrete platform you have gone too far, back track about 30m).
Follow the path down over some fallen trees, then down a bunch of switchbacks to the bottom of the wall. On the left is Schwing wall and on the right is The Block. The track continues around The Block and to the edge of the cliff where a dead tree rests on the edge. Follow the path down the cliff via cut stairs and ladders.
At the bottom turn right for Valley Farm and Sooty Crag, and left through the tunnel for The Colosseum.
Flying Fox, Pole 28 and Three Brothers
From the highway turn onto Bellevue Cres 100m south of the service station, then left down the dirt fire trail.
Ethic inherited from Blue Mountains
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.
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 becomes part of your climbing routine - do it with a soft bristled brush and never a steel brush!
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.
However, the fast growing scrub can conceal walking tracks in mere months, making remote and less popular crags slightly more difficult and fun to navigate to. Some appropriately discreet pruning is a far better alternative then track braiding (which causes far more damage).
However, do so only on Council land and definitely not in the National Park. 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.
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Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)
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