Routes in Cairns Bay

Step onto the wall from pebbles in the wet sand on the lowest of tides where a square blocky hold juts out overhead. Travesrse right on a sequence of pockets, sidepulls and slopers with smears and occasional ledges for the feet. Finishes at the obvious big hole at the start of the worst seepage, directly over a boulder buried in the sand. Step down onto this.

Tiny problem from on an undercut block of relatively strong basalt on the way to the main area. Sit Start, otherwise your already up it!

Another tiny one squeezed in right of Capsid on the same block. Sit start of course.

A ledge protrudes at knee height from Little Burbage about 4m from the west end. Sit underneath this and mantel/ crimp upwards avoiding jugs on the right. Weird twisted left hand press in the small roof. Stand on the ledge and go for the top. Funky.

Left to right traverse through core sample holes to straight up just left of the roof block with a short jam crack.

The short jam crack up in the corner at the right of Bert's finish. Named for Chunky.

Sit start left of Peregrine at side pulls into upper horizontally cracked slabby wall.

Wall on horizontal flakes diagonally left from left side of Kestrel overhang.

The big overhang.

The ledge/corner system immediately right of Kestrel finishing left at the top.

Hand traverse the ledge of Flightless left to right teh direct up the shallow corner via a couple of breaks and slots.

Direct up the finish of Talon from a sit start via meagre holds and a touch of levitation.

Traverse left and up from Took for a couple of meters. Finishing up the very small hanging corner.

At the lowest point of the wall right of the Flightless corner is a micro problem. Sit start below two good holds lined with quartz and pull straight up with awkward feet over the small overhang.

The wall immediately left of Bat Route without using the corner left or arete right. Sit Start of course.

An eliminate line following Penny but none of the pockets and sit starting with both hands at the bottom right side of the arete.

Sit start with crappy feet in obvious little cave/hole between Minotaur and Pocket. Straight up.

Another micro sit start problem up the undercut corner feature between Took and The Pocket

The first set of boulders at Cairns bay are split into two distinct short edges (Little Froggatt and Little Curbar) separated by just a few meters. The Pocket takes the line on the right end of the left edge before the edge cuts back to the cliff at 90 degrees. See photo.

From the same sit start as The Pocket SS but straight up dynamically.

Finishes the way the dyno went. Out left.

Dyno directly up from part way up Big Freerider. Start with right hand on the pinch on the slightly slabby right hand face. Careful of lose rock at the top.

The overhang at it's widest right of Waverunner. Start low and move diagonally right via awkward side pull on barely hold to finish at sloping mantel on the right.

Immediately right of Big Freerider. Sit start left hand on arete right hand out wide on sidepull. Pull on and slap for top. Finish out right.

Sit start and straight up half way along Excursion starting at obvious jugs.

Climbed the day after and named in recognition of Alex Honnold's free solo of El Cap. Sit start the overhang on the extreme right of The Pocket boulder.

Sit start with right hand and foot around the right hand end of the edge of Little Freerider. Pull your arse off the deck then traverse left through Little Freerider and up before Big Freerider.

Excursion has been unclimbable for something over a year as a result of massive rockfall blocking the first moves.That is until now. Another large boulder has collapsed from the cliff above and like a monstrous game of billiards it has cleaned away the blocking boulder. Excursion is climbable again. The new boulder from above has come to rest on the cobbles nearby and created a few new problems. The first of which is the sit start of the west face by the right hand arete.

Entertaining mini problem. Sit start and mantel up onto the Ricochet block at the obvious sloper facing The Pocket.

Blinkered line. From a sit start avoiding the foot pedestal, pull onto the very narrow blunt aretey thing and slap for a jug, then gently up via good holds and the crack.

Tswsm tackles the small barrel overhang between easy terrain across the pebble bay from Littke Freerider. Avoid using easy ledges for feet. In other words direct direct. Fun.

At the left end of Little Curbar is an undercut slab facing the large detached block. Sit start and direct up slightly left of the line taken by Fraser on his Youtube video of Cairns Bay.

The short aesthetic arete at the left end of Curbar, where the edge turns inland. Sit start, hands below the obvious ledge.

Slightly harder version of Edge Hog entirely avoiding the blocky step left of the starting holds. Fun.

Left side of the hanging slab from a sit start.

Right of TSWSM is an obvious undercut hanging slab. From a sit start climb through the overhang and onto the slab above via a tricky mantel on it's righthand side.

The wall round to the right of Bbq Beef without using anything in or right of the corner.

A tad harder (better) than Sea C's, Bb's tackles the same wall without using the hold on the left arete, rather just use the two small crimps to move straight up the middle. Again avoid the corner and wall right of the corner. Merry Xmas.

4m right of Barbecue Beef. Up the shallow corner via pinches, slopers, smears and grunt.

Sit start direct up past letterbox slot in the undercut slab right of the corner of Ready Salted.

The obvious line through the slight overhang at the righthand end of the edge via the square block hold and big shelf. Don't pull too hard!

Traverse right to left along thin break from round the right hand end of the edge into and up Salt 'n' Vinegar.

Straight up the blankest tallest part of the East side of The Pap without recourse to the corner right or blocky arete left.

As for Fink but anything goes.

2nd route climbed on The Pap. The dusty corner falls down as quickly as you climb it. It takes a certain mindset. Release your inhibitions, cast off your preconceptions and embrace the esoteric pleasure of top roping choss. Then cool off in one of the splendid rockpools nearby.

The crumbling arete right of DRN.

The broken wall immediately right of and avoiding the arete of ZMATLR. This wall will probably be more broken after you have climbed it than before. Nothing unidentified about those flying objects!

5m right of UFO there is another short very broken wall with an obviousb X crack system in the upper half. Climb the snaking left side of the X. Hands in crack only. Careful, it may lay some eggs if you aren't gentle with it....

The right hand twin of the crack system. As for Whitesnake, hands in crack only. Yes these are eliminate lines. And unlike the song she's not rock steady (Bam-ba-lam)!

One Wrong Step is the first line climbed on The Pap and follows an obvious small corner, on the western side, above a slightly better landing than most around this area (see photo).Soloed over a mat by Kai on the First Ascent.

Halfway along the edge tackle the bulging overhang on it's right.

Leftmost end of the outcrop on the right hand side of the arete and just left of the obvious hanging slab. Straight up the longest vertical line on the edge. Extremely loose top.

The juggy square seaward arete of the arch, a good way further around the coast.