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.
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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.
Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)
Table of contents
- 1. Birdsnest Area 11 in Crag
- 2. Index by grade
1. Birdsnest Area 11 routes in Crag
- Summary:
-
Trad climbing, Rock climbing and Sport climbing
Lat / Long: -33.552576, 150.221416
summary
NOTE: As of January 2021, all areas of Mount York (including camping) are now open!
access issues
The Blue Mountains are a World Heritage listed area. The Grose Valley, the cliffs around Katoomba and much of the Narrow Neck peninsula are part of the Blue Mountains National Park which is managed by the NPWS. The Western Escarpment - where most of the climbing is - is Crown Land managed by the BMCC. While the NPWS Plan of Management nominates several locations in the National Park where rock climbing is deemed appropriate, the majority of the climbing remains unacknowledged. 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.
Practically all crags are either in National Park or in council reserve: dog owners are reminded that dogs are not allowed in National Parks at any time and fines have been issued, while for crags on council reserve the BMCC leash law requires that dogs be on-leash.
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/
ethic
Many and varied, please try to respect them all!
Retro-bolting has occurred several times over the years and is generally condemned and dealt with swiftly.
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| Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
★★ Radios Appear
Great climbing the whole way but barely adequate trad gear in the first half. Start: Start 1m R of Lishenback. FA: G.Weigand, J.Smoothy & S.Knight, 1982 | 23 | 25m, 3 | |||||
| 2 |
★★ Crystal Set
Independent face just left of Birds Nest. A bit of trad down low and several bolts up high (carrots and hangers). FA: R.Young & A.Prehn, 1983 | 23 | 20m, 4 | |||||
| 3 | ★★★ Crystal Set Direct Start | 20 | 3m | |||||
| 4 |
★ Birds Nest
The attractive flakeline. Good...but not much gear where you need it. FA: R.Vining, W.Williams & J.Lorinez, 1974 | 15 R | 25m | |||||
| 5 |
★ Spangled Drongo
Start 1.5m R of 'Birds Nest'. Thin face past about 5 stainless carrot bolts plus a cam, to loweroffs. The thin crux is unfortunately much harder than the rest of the route. Rebolted 2012. FA: J.Smoothy & A.Penney, 1984 | 21 | 20m, 5 | |||||
| 6 |
★ Sparrow
This is one of the best routes in this section of wall. Sustained, interesting climbing, well protected on carrots and a couple of trad pieces to lower-offs. Easier than CCC. FA: R.Vining, 1974 | 18 | 18m, 4 | |||||
| 7 |
★ Currawongs & Chocolate Cakes
Start 4m Right of 'Sparrow'. Take 4 bolt brackets and medium cams. FA: J. Anderson & C O'Leary, 2004 | 17 | 18m, 4 | |||||
| 8 |
★ Carrots For Brains
FA: unknown | 17 | 15m | |||||
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| Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||||
| 9 |
Ichabod Ichabod
Chimney. Start: This and the next 4 routes are on the right side of the gully heading down. FA: J.Lorinez & B.Blunt, 1974 | 11 | 30m | |||||
| 10 |
★ Crow
Thin face climbing on very slight overhanging wall to break then up. No bridging on the other route. Start is the crux. 5 RBs to anchors. Bold "old skool 80's" climbing. FA: W.Moon & B.Cameron, 1980 | 20 | 15m, 5 | |||||
| 11 |
Paragon
FA: A.Prehn, R.Young & G.Hill, 1980 | 19 | 23m | |||||
2. Index by grade
| Grade | 
|
Stars | Name | Style | Pop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Ichabod Ichabod | 30m | |||
| 15 R | ★ | Birds Nest | 25m | ||
| 17 | ★ | Carrots For Brains | 15m | ||
| ★ | Currawongs & Chocolate Cakes | 18m, 4 | |||
| 18 | ★ | Sparrow | 18m, 4 | ||
| 19 | Paragon | 23m | |||
| 20 | ★ | Crow | 15m, 5 | ||
| ★★★ | Crystal Set Direct Start | 3m | |||
| 21 | ★ | Spangled Drongo | 20m, 5 | ||
| 23 | ★★ | Crystal Set | 20m, 4 | ||
| ★★ | Radios Appear | 25m, 3 |