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Summary
Sandstone
A lovely remote orange face with a good collection of wall routes. Shade until midday in summer.
Description
This cliff is rarely visited however the routes climb good rock and cracks that remain in good condition despite it's lack of popularity.
Access issues inherited from Medlow Bath
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
20-30 min
Best access as for Sunbath (it's about a 15 min extra walk in from that crag). Park at Balgravia St walk to Sunbath. Keep walking past The Block down steps through "tunnel". At the bottom of the steps turn right (facing out) onto Valley Track. Follow this for approx. 200m until a sharp hairpin left. At hairpin continue ahead/rightish. The track is good but then seems to disappear at some ferns. Push ferns aside and keep following track until you cross the creek almost at cliff base. Keep walking 200m to the ringbolted orange wall of Sooty. GPS -33.668228972776085, 150.27503745680545
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.
History
The first routes were established here in the 1980 but never written up. In 2003 the wall was "rediscovered" and some of the original trad routes were retrobolted as sport routes.
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