Bombo Quarry, Rock climbing

Fixed Gear: Sulfide stress cracking affected area

After two bolt (likely 304 glue ins) failure on Butt Mucher (22) in 2020, investigation by D. Reeve (QLD) appears consistent with SSC or SCC.

Generic information from UIAA here - https://www.theuiaa.org/documents/safety/UIAA-WARNING-ABOUT-CLIMBING-ANCHORS-FAILURES_Dec15.pdf

If you have information on route hardware (eg. installation date, bolt/material type, manufacturer) please add it to the relevant route description.

See warning details and discuss

Created 2 years ago

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Map

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1 Bollocks wall 2 Butt Muncher Buttress 3 Bombo Boulders 4 Ocean Avenue 5 Sewerage Treatment Plant

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Summary

Basalt

A heritage listed ex-quarry featuring unique basalt column formations.

Description

Vertical

A large open coastal basalt quarry turned geological tourist attraction and recreation area. Both the quarried and natural character of the rock has produced a variety of vertical formations suitable to sport, trad and bouldering. Loose rock from the largely undeveloped and untouched walls is an issue though in many areas and care should be taken.

The area is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike for the striking rock vista against the ocean swells. A dog training park is located at the Southern end near the carpark, while most of the whole public area is declared dog friendly. Picnic facilities and amenities are located at the beach-side entrance to the quarry.

Access issues

The Southern areas of the quarry including the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) are owned by Sydney Water, with the Eastern area of this leased to Kiama council for public recreational use. The Northern section is owned by the Department of Environment, Industry and Planning, also for recreation use. The bulk portion of the quarry and climbable areas are covered by a State Heritage conservation order (Ref: #177).

While the area is well used by locals and tourists, there is no official opinion on climbing (??), and new routes should be climbed with due discretion and regard for public presence and the State Heritage listing.

Approach

Main access is via the Bombo Beach carpark, which is accessed off an unnamed road off Hutchinson Street (follow road signs to Bombo Beach). On foot from the carpark follow the access road East, then as it gently curves North and downwards towards the STP. Before hitting the STP you will see a well worn access path to the right through the bush, which leads down some stairs and back to the vehicle track. From here the main area of the tall Northern cliffs and Sea Wall bouldering is North along the track, while further boulder areas are East along the track in your field of vision.

Most of the routes are now geo-located on theCrag to assist speedy finding. Also to refer to the OSM map layer for access paths.

Ethic inherited from Illawarra and Shoalhaven

New route potential

Lots of bolts in this region. Most development has been done after the 1980s.

History

History timeline chart

Actual quarrying ceased around 1940. The area saw some climbing from the 1970’s including the rumoured first 27 in Australia ‘Hangman’. In 1983-1985 the Sewerage Treatment Plant was constructed under the tallest Western cliffs of the quarry, robbing future generations of some of these first climbs. Around the same time the heritage conservation order came into effect. Further sporadic climbing continued over the decades with surging and waning interest in the area until the recent decade, when 3 sport bolted routes mysteriously appeared and boulder problems started being recorded…

Detailed knowledge is currently limited, if you have further info or old guidebooks, scribbles etc. please contribute!