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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Usage policy
Contributors
Thanks to the following people who have contributed to this crag guide:
Richard Pattison Alex Rogers Graham Dowden Hayden Brotchie Rod Smith Jason 'Archangel' Clay Macciza a.k.a. Macca Chris Bennetts-Cash Will Vidler Mike Patterson
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. The Fortress 19 in Crag
- 2. Index by grade
1. The Fortress 19 routes in Crag
- Summary:
-
All Trad climbing
Lat / Long: -33.643496, 150.347729
summary
Brilliant remote crag with a great walk in (1 hour). Gets a lot of wind and sun. The classics are Tom Thumb and The Wind Cries Mary.
description
It's worth reviewing the information (including topos) available on the Sydney Rockies site.
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/
approach
About an hour on the Fortress Ridge walking track. For a fun through-day, can also be accessed from Govett's Leap, via Junction Rock (about 2 hours).
ethic
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.
At many Blue Mountains crags, the somewhat close spacing of routes and prolific horizontal featuring means that it is easy to envisage literally hundreds of trivial linkups. By all means climb these to your hearts content but, unless it is an exceptional case due to some significant objective merit, please generally refrain from writing up linkups. A proliferation of descriptions of trivial linkups would only clutter up the guide and add confusion and will generally not add value to your fellow climbers. (If you still can't resist, consider adding a brief note to the parent route description, rather than cluttering up the guide with a whole new route entry).
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 and minimisation/removal of tick marks becomes part of your climbing routine. Consider bringing a water squirt bottle and mop-up rag to better remove chalk. Only use soft (hair/nylon) bristled brushes, never steel brushes.
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.
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.
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/
history
Notes from from Bryden Allen's 1963 Rock Climbs of NSW, with his original topo copied here.
This great face was visited as early as 1953 but wasn't climbed till a later date by Peter Melhuish and others (details forgotten). Systematic climbing by the Rhum Dhu began in 1958. Probably 6 or 7 distinct climbs have been done on the Fortress, most of which have been forgotten or insufficient details of the start can be given.
Most of the climbs have been done in the Black Snake Gully area: a route of Dave Tanner and Andy O'Neil; another V. Diff to the right of Kevin Western and Dave Phillips (undescribed). Considerably further round to the right is another V. Diff climb of K. Western and Marcia Montague (undescribed). A climb of Charley Ivans probably goes up to the left of Black Snake Gully. Legend has it that Black Snake Gully is climbed but the walls seem pretty sheer. Old Rhum Dhu climbs called Abstinence and En Passant are also reported in the same area (undescribed).
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Route | Grade | Style | Selected ascents | |||||
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1 |
Voyteks Corner
FA: Zac Vertrees & Frank Moon, 2010 | 24 | 150m, 5 | |||||
2 |
★★ Black Snake Moan
FA: Frank Moon, Zac Vertrees & Damo Taylor, 2008 | 22 | 200m, 5 | |||||
3 |
★ Old Spiteful
FA: Ted Batty & Bryden Allen †, 1963 | 15 | 300m, 10 | |||||
4 |
Trogan Horse
FA: Hayden Brotchie & Paul Davies, 1997 | 14 | 200m | |||||
5 |
Eeyore's Alternate
FA: Hayden Brotchie & Angie Bishop, 2004 | 15 | 55m | |||||
6 |
Landing Gear Down
FA: Frank Moon, Bruce Cameron & John Ewbank, 2009 | 16 | 140m, 5 | |||||
7 |
★★ Tom Thumb
A light rack of cams (maybe BD 0.3 - 3) is more than enough to protect this. Most bolts are carrots
FA: Hayden Brotchie & Jenny Bradford, 2004 | 13 | 170m, 6, 10 | |||||
8 |
★ The Wind Cries Mary
Mixed carrots and trad route up the grand wall right of Tom Thumb, like 4 pitches of Cosmic County climbing. Simon Carter's Blueys guide has description and good topos. Be aware that this has not had a lot of traffic and there are some loose holds still. Steep face climbing, good rock and reasonable pro. Rack: 15 draws, 15 bolt plates, single set of cams from finger to fist. Climb on double ropes or use long slings to reduce rope drag. Bolts are all rusty bash in carrots. Belays are mostly old carrots but some have a single U bolt. Start: rap as for 'Tom Thumb'
Walk left to hit track. FA: mikl law & Brian Simonds, 2011 | 19 | 180m, 6, 25 | |||||
9 |
The Great Rum Beer Chimney
The filthy vegetated gully/chimney system to the climber's right of Tom Thumb. An old Rhum Dhu climb. FA: Doug Litchfield, 1959 | 8 | 200m | |||||
10 |
Grand Central Route
Verbatim description below from Bryden Allen † 's 1963 Rock Climbs of NSW. A magnificent climb up the centre of the face of great variety. Standard: Mild Severe. Start: There is some scrambling at the start and the climb is by no means easy to find. The diagram gives the rough area and it is a fairly obvious line of weakness. It is best approached high on the right.
FA: Bryden Allen † & Ian Logan, 1962 | 12 | 210m, 11 | |||||
11 |
Internal Hatred
FA: Hayden Brotchie & Andrew Jones, 1997 | 15 | 160m, 5, 2 | |||||
12 |
Fortrocity
FA: Warwick Williams, Hayden Brotchie & John Crocker, 2004 | 16 | 160m, 7 | |||||
13 | Self Abuse | 15 | 150m | |||||
14 |
Pseudechis Wall
FA: Hayden Brotchie & Angie Bishop, 2005 | 12 | 120m | |||||
15 |
Trouser Snake
Approach: abseil the route, a rope protector is comforting - sharp ironstone at the top. Some bolts have been recently added (2015?). The bolts aren't always easy to spot, camouflaged by lichen.
FA: Angie Bishop & Hayden Brotchie, 2005 | 14 | 85m, 2, 11 | |||||
16 |
Butt Crack
While it's probably best noted as a good escape route from the bottom of the cliff, it's actually not a bad little number in its own right. Some of the climbing might feel a few grades harder than grade 11, but by and large it's possible to find a line that conforms to the grade. A standard rack of wires and cams (to #3 camalot size) is sufficient, although a #5 camalot is also recommended. Helmets are an absolute must and 60m double ropes are highly recommended as well. Definitely not for the inexperienced.
To get off, walk directly away from the cliff for about 250m and you'll hit the Fortress Ridge walking track. Turn right and follow the track back to the Mt Hay Road, taking the left fork at each junction. It's about 45 minutes of flat walking back to the road. FA: Hayden Brotchie, 1997 | 11 | 240m, 5 | |||||
17 |
Scunge Bob Square Pants
FA: Hayden Brotchie & Angie Bishop, 2005 | 13 | 120m, 4 | |||||
18 |
Rib & Slab
FA: Kevin Westren, 1960 | 12 | 120m, 5 | |||||
19 |
★★ Fortress Crack
Expeditionary undertaking. Classic Ewbank no doubt. Obvious crack in yellow and black wall capped by large roofs on SW facing cliff below Fortress Ridge. Visible from Evans Lookout. Leave car on Mount Hay Rd and walk along 4wd track on to Fortress Ridge. At end of track head WSW along prominent subsidiary ridge. Upon reaching cliffs, head S around small upper cliffline and down bushy ramp. 3 long abseils on double ropes to reach a big ledge. Scramble L along ledge and down bushy gully to short abseil at bottom. Start: Walk NW 300m to base of route.
Set: Ewbank FFA: Trihey & Ewbank FA: Lucas Trihey & John Ewbank | 21 | 200m |
2. Index by grade
Grade | Stars | Name | Style | Pop | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | The Great Rum Beer Chimney | 200m | |||
11 | Butt Crack | 240m, 5 | |||
12 | Grand Central Route | 210m, 11 | |||
Pseudechis Wall | 120m | ||||
Rib & Slab | 120m, 5 | ||||
13 | Scunge Bob Square Pants | 120m, 4 | |||
★★ | Tom Thumb | 170m, 6, 10 | |||
14 | Trogan Horse | 200m | |||
Trouser Snake | 85m, 2, 11 | ||||
15 | Eeyore's Alternate | 55m | |||
Internal Hatred | 160m, 5, 2 | ||||
★ | Old Spiteful | 300m, 10 | |||
Self Abuse | 150m | ||||
16 | Fortrocity | 160m, 7 | |||
Landing Gear Down | 140m, 5 | ||||
19 | ★ | The Wind Cries Mary | 180m, 6, 25 | ||
21 | ★★ | Fortress Crack | 200m | ||
22 | ★★ | Black Snake Moan | 200m, 5 | ||
24 | Voyteks Corner | 150m, 5 |