This Cathedral, named after the “holy” feature in the centre of the main crag, is a rare find for Sydney suburban climbing. Firstly, it's 25 meters high and the rock is not your average Sydney sandstone which makes for some variety. Secondly, the weird location, the tall trees and the huge mosquitoes give this place a Jurassic Park adventurer like feeling.
People, including Joe Friend, were known to have climbed here way back in the 1970's but in the most part it went underneath the radar. In 1990 two puny teenagers, Kent Heffernan and Graham Fairburn unearthed the place establishing many of the classics. They soon attracted the sharks, Dave Barnes and Mike Law and his band of merry men (and women). Bruce Stevens and his local crew also were working on some hard projects here. There are some wicked cracks to jump on and some technical face and slab routes sprinkled throughout. My favorites are Ozone Action (17) and Hercules (22). There is also a slabby bouldering area on the walk in, described in the SRC guide (below).
There is now a good access route from Menai at the top. P.S. Sorry fella’s, I lost the padlock key to the bracket on Jaded Cravings (23) Doh. However, the padlock does add character to the climb. Have fun. Barnsey
Routes are described left to right as you face the crag.
For over 50 years climbers in the Sutherland Shire have enjoyed free access to many fantastic crags and caves. But as of 2014 there have been access problems emerging at several climbing and bouldering areas due to aboriginal art sites and shell middens in caves. Sutherland Shire Council and the Dept of Enviroment and Heritage have announced closures and sign-posted some of these aboriginal sites, with further closures and signs to be added during summer/autumn 2016/2017. Areas of particular problem are ground level overhangs with flat bases, the type of terrain popular at hard bouldering areas. Whilst the details are sorted out keep a low profile, clean up ALL rubbish (inc removing mattresses in bouldering caves) and avoid climbing at closed areas. In particular treat non-climbers you see at crags with the utmost respect as they could be rangers, archeologists, traditional owners or anyone else with a dim view of climbers and the ability to shut us out. Climbing in Royal National Park has been officially banned for many years - probably due mostly to the Wattamolla 'don't jump off rocks' cliff-diving-into-water ban. For more information about aboriginal sites and rockclimbing please read this link from Sutherland Council: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0KxtU2nUQB9cjhHUWE4cE5HWnM/view?usp=sharing
Park at the end of Shackel Rd, Bangor. Please don't fill up the street and block access for locals. If there are a few cars about then park 50m further up the hill. The track starts on the left side by a fence and gate. Walk in 30m, then left and right 15m later. Head across the shallow gully, then down through a little rock band. Veer right at the cliff top overlooking the river and down gully then left to cliff. The first route is the little corner of Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)
Did you know that you can create an account to record, track and share your climbing ascents? Thousands of climbers are already doing this.
Author(s): Neil Monteith & Simon Carter
Date: 2021
ISBN: 9780645299908
Featuring 1142 climbing routes located at 24 of the best crags in the Sydney area, this A5 size guide book is super user friendly with easy to use colour cliff topos and access maps. Covers sport and trad climbing at a variety of grades, something for everyone.
17 | ★★★ Wacky Tabacci | ||
20 | ★★ Retro Crack | ||
22 | ★★ Hercules | ||
23 | ★★ Imogen | ||
24 | ★★★ Pool Shark |
Main Crag - Dave Barnes 1992 - TheCathedral .jpg
Tom Bes on ★ Chimney sweep punters 16 - IMG_20210708_075812_554.jpg
Main Crag - image-1535584225863.jpeg
Charity Maj on ★★ Ozone Action 17 - IMG_9753.JPG