Ascensions dans Australie par Paul Frothy Thomson

Pitch 1 only -though I kinda climbed some of the Project as well (it's a confusing bit of wall, here). Probably about gr23 the way I climbed it, though I would describe it as the most logical line. Old school, boulder-problems between mantles and ledges, with some huuuge runouts. Completely dry despite all the crazy rain.

Onsight P1. Interesting climbing, but consists of actual disintegrating sand-choss for much of it.

Linked into P2 to try and climb it as a giant singlepitch, before getting scared of the rope grinding on the choss below and the alpine winds got the better of me. Reversed the crux and backjumped to the belay. Might be okay, but requires bolt plates, and probably a 0.5, 0.75 and 1 BD Cam to make it comfortable.

What a journey! I've wanted to do this for years (we've all seen that photo of Greg Child on the roof cut-loose and mantle), especially because I've never heard of anyone ever doing it (even asking many of the local legends). If it ever gets rebolted and a bit of TLC, this would be a genuine multipitch classic!

I linked P1 and P2 into a giant 40m Onsight, then set up an improvised belay just below the roof (using 2 bolts and a #1 cam) so I could reduce the roof and mantle to a manageable boulder problem. These pitches are beautiful, sustained face climbing on great rock. P2 in particular follows a super-cool vague-flake thing with tricky feet, and finishes with an old-school "padding" traverse.

Ticking the roof and mantle took me a bunch of shots (initially cause I was using totally wack beta) and at one point involved such a massive sideways fall that I broke a biner. Once I sorted my beta and rested up, it went down surprisingly easy. I'd probably call the mantle a V3?

Pitch three is quite easy, but has a proper gripping traverse at the grade. I'm glad I didn't fall off.

Linked Pitches 1 and 2 cause I couldn't be bothered to rebelay... Not recommended (the rope drag was terrible!). P1 would be about gr21, but for a 2m V4/V5 sequence. I wouldn't say I worked out the crux in question, but I also didn't really try. Fun enough, but not one of the better aretes here. P2 had some cool climbing at the start, but was crazy runout (6 bolts in 25m!) I don't think I'll be back.

Wild! Actually thought we were climbing a totally different route... it seemed kinda hard (considering we were expecting gr23 ).

Totally worthwile, and very much "of the era". Old school, weird bits of necessary gear, antique bash-in carrots in hideous locations... but still awesome.

Linked the first 2 pitches together.

Climbed this as a giant 50m pitch from the ground as well. This was by far the better of the 2 routes here, with better rock and climbing on every pitch. P3 might be the best pitch of the day!

P1 was a great sustained burly quest.

Fell off 2 bolts from the top of P2 on the onsight -got a bit lost from the bolt positioning and ended up in no man's land.

P3 was awesome rock and "oozy" style climbing.

My unchalked onsight of P2 ended at the 3rd last bolt (and the last real move) when I finally made a footwork mistake, with all the hardest climbing in the bag . Despite being aesthetically ugly, the moves on both pitches are brilliant, and I had to pull out every slab-climbing trick in the book on the onsight effort of P2. It was dissappointing to drop the ball right at the try-line, but it wasn't absent a whole-hearted effort -I tried hard.

Linked both pitches from the ground with minimum rope drag.

The start of P1 is rather nails, but the initial moves its only about gr21 to the top.

Just one more big Katoomba Cliffs -with everything that encompasses- mixed epic off the list.

I liked P2, P3 and P5, but the other pitches are really just doddly, chossy access/egress pitches.

P2 had some cool, wandery, super runout face climbing, with more sideways than up. The opening mantles were tough! I got off route trying to free an old aid route at one point -eventually broke a hold and took a big whip, realised my mistake, lowered back to a big no-hands ledge, and continued onsighting the correct line. This was my favourite pitch of the route.

P3 was a sketchy solo on loose rock to the first bolt, then a cool fused corner, followed by an easy, but airy traverse.

P4 is just a short vertical walk.

P5 necessitated pioneering some new beta since the crux breakages. I eventually figured out some very unlikely morpho beta that went at the same grade. After the crux, its some pretty wild unprotected campus traversing to the belay.

P6 Is a long death by ironstone arete. Easy, but not much gear.

P7 is an even more death by ironstone pitch, with even worse gear, leading to a vertical gardening exit.

A worthy adventure, where the crux pitch wasn't all that gnarly, but the exit was. Still a good day out, even though I dropped my 0.75 Friend into Katoomba falls

We chose to rap in from above the route for a number of reasons (one of which is how much water there currently is in the creek above Katoomba Falls!) though that proved rather tricky, and necessitated some reverse roof-aiding shenanigans. As such, we didn't do the P1 traverse.

P2 is mostly sub gr20 climbing on good but spaced gear, with a briefly hard crux past a carrot. Save a 0.4/0.5 cam for AFTER this section! (I didn't, and it made the top rather terrifying).

P3 was a type-2 adventure. Route finding was hard (its not obvious where it goes). The gear was spaced and kinda dubious, and the rock was somewhat crap. But my biggest problem is that in 2 attempts I simply could not do the topout roof mantle on link, as it was a waterfall, and the rock was frictionless, slimey ironstone. Took a couple of exciting whips onto a cam I really didn't trust. So, not a real send.

I also tried to pioneer a new top pitch out right with gnarly roof moves that avoided all the water. Came really close despite it being a steep questing adventure, until I whipped onto a black totem with only half its lobes in the rock. After that I got scared and downclimbed back to the belay It would actually be a great line on better rock if you had a cam 1-size smaller than the black totem.

Both pitches climb better than they look, though the rock is not great and the route hasnt really been cleaned. P2 certainly is steep at times, though unerringly juggy. Some traddy thugging.

A proper soaring line, and way more overhanging than you might think! Some sections of real choss (challenging to negotiate without dislodging on your belayer) but outweighed by the quality of such a proud bit of trad.

I fell off the first (wet and dirty) moves of P1, came down, and went again to send the pitch. The upper half is worthwhile, but the start up the thin crack is quite sandy and terrible.

P2 is the money, and probably tonnes of fun with 4+ #3's to actually protect it. As it was I had only a single set of large cams, and spent most of the time being quite terrified, and relying on inferior gear to protect surprisingly gymnastic moves through steepness. It probably made it all the more memorable, really.

I slung the giant bollard at the top for an anchor (since I had no gear left).

Mostly good easny trad with interesting climbing, though the dug-out cracks are still dirty. Probably the only criticism is of the hideous vegetated grovels at the ed of P1 and P2... otherwise: worth a lap if this is your grade and your thing. I was well impressed with the effort the FA's have put into getting this route ready for repeat ascents.

Absolutely brilliant. Aesthetically, rock-quality, and from a pure climbing perspective, this has to be one of the best gear routes at the grade I've climbed in Australia. Pitch 1 rivals Ramadan (at Ben Lomond) for quality, though they are stylistically different. Kinda intimidating at the grade, but worth every moment. The run-out taipan-esque bridging away from the gear on P1, and thugging out through the roof on P2 are very memorable.

2nd shot today, 11th total, placing the gear. Almost managed it as my warmup but botched a sequence at the very top, and then flash pumped into oblivion. Not muuuuch harder than on pre-placed, though pumpier and a bit scarier (I had to minimise my gear for all the hard stuff to a point where it was quite "engaging but probably safe". Pretty psyched to get it done in good style, as its the last of the harder classic cracks of the Blueys for me to tick.

After ticking P1, my Dad jumaared up to join me on the belay, and I onsighted P2. P2 is actually good, varied and sustained climbing, though unfortunately vegetated and bit dirty/snappy due to lack of traffic. It's actually kind of intimidating despite the grade (due to the composition) but totally worthwhile.

A great outing up a major feature (visible from Perry's!) but not necessarily a great route. Steep and atmospheric, but generally average rock. All of the various cruxes are above gear, which makes this feel like a real trad route, despite a few bolts.

The quite bold start to P2 had me get scared and jump off twice before I could change my headspace and push through the runout crux for the send, after which I flashed to the top. A great pitch which is crazy overhanging through multiple roofs.

Pitch 3 is short and steep up an overhanging offset arete, but the rock is hideous.

Pitch 4 is basically unprotected until you regain Superdyke (after which the rock and climbing greatly increase).

P1 only. Long, interesting, wandery climbing, but guarded by a poxy start, and with quite fragile rock. Would be good if done solely as an access pitch to the routes above, and not as a route in and of itself.

Pitch 1 Only as a warmup. I had gear in Pythagoras Theorum so I lowered off to the ground, then had funky self-belay/aid/free fun seconding myself to get my own gear back. An awesome warmup if you're doing Pythagoras, though potentially a nuisence to clean. I got surprisingly pumped towards the end heel-hooking along the slopey break. P2 looks radical and obvious... intriguing.

Only the 1st 3 pitches (too wet today for a big multi) Similar to Black Fire (maybe a bit less fragile) but with utterly abysmal bolting. Climbed P1 and P2 as a giant 60m pitch. Rob then moved the belay to the end of the easy P1, and I continued up P3 (to make another 60m pitch) before rapping. P1 is a slightly loose, super runout access doddle. P2 is a rather hard, technical slab. P3 is an enjoyable steep roof wander. I broke a hold off P3 2m off belay on easy ground and fell back to the belay

The climbing is upper echelon "Very Good", but the bolting is so unceasingly garbage that I can't give this better than "Good".

P2 was quite sustained, with consistently rad moves up the arete (and a funky gritstone finale) but seemed rather easy at the grade (though I can see it being nails if you're short). Regardless, I was pretty stoked to onsight it in good style.

The crux of the day were the moves to the 2nd bolt on P3, which was a solid V4 for me. I'm wondering if the recent storms have caused the block you start on to slide down the ledge, or whether perhaps there used to be a cairn there? I'm keen to hear others' opinions who repeat this after me.

Most pitches were good. The crazy roof on P5 was super unlikely, and the spine chiller traverse was great!

Regarding my criticism of the bolting:

• Runouts with near constant ledgefall potential.

• Terrible bolt placements -over-recessed (biner snappers) and constantly out of reach even at my height.

• Irrational belay stances -Bolts too high, or far too low, or a hanging belay instead of on a big ledge?

Prospective multipitch new routers should climb this if only to learn what not to do.

Straightforward super-duper thin climbing. A bit sandy, with some glued on holds that you really don't need. Really contrived to avoid stemming. Not QUITE the Mikl classic, in my opinion. Maybe 24?

Pitch 1 (23) only. Great! Climbs an obvious feature, getting harder all the way to the anchors. The last 5m or so up the flake is quite challenging, and it was great to score the onsight.

Another dream send to add to the list of mind-blowing climbing memories. Climbed with Gene. P1 - Onsight via Deep Play; P2 - Onsight; and P3 (short trad climb to the summit) - Flash. Adventurous rope management, epic position and staggering sustained arete movement for the full 40m of the money pitch. Hard, thin, tricky to read but blessed by sticky rock. This is truly world-class and I am stoked to be a part of it.

A climb in 3 sections... crazy steep start with big moves on good holds to a rest; shorter, less-steep and less juggy middle-section to another rest; And a final face-climbing headwall with tricky, improbable moves on not-so-good holds to the anchor. The upper section makes this climb! The anchor (which is actually for another climb to the left) needs to be moved about 1m right.

Now this was a long fight, and hard work for a warmup. A long, wandery adventure. I used a #2 and #1 cam, but could also take a #0.75 and #3 if you dont like runouts. Only a short crux section, but lots of techy thin moves throughout that would be easy to mess up. The rightward traverse below the roof is a real chinese puzzle in itself. Quite stance-friendly. I totally bogged down below the final roof for a good 20min before suddenly unlocking it and scoring the onsight. Stoked!

Awesome! With traffic it would be classic. About a 1/2 grade harder than Innocent Fortune. After the initial boulder problem, the angle eases, but the climbing is still quite sustained all the way to the anchors. Lots of very thin moves with tricky feet between good rest stances. So many sidepulls, pockets and underclings. Another LONG route. I enjoyed this very much.

As close to perfect as I could want a route in this style (and in south-west sydney) to be. Only the "accelerated erosion" robs it of my megaclassic status. Sustained, intense, pumpy, technical, involved and on great quality and aesthetically pleasing rock. Need more adjectives to sell the quality of this climb?

Pitch 3 (24) only. An exciting onsight with no chalk on anything. Mostly this pitch is sustained thin pumping at hard 22. However, this climb harbours a seriously tricky crux featuring a desperately long reach off a 1/4 mono-crimp. The finish up the steep, groovy stemming feature is pretty cool when hanging out at the top of the majestic Bentrovato wall.

Super-psyched! It's not often I get to boast about onsighting a 35m gr25 mixed climb in Tassie! Engaging crack climbing for 15m on gear (at about grade 23) with some involved and improbable gear-protected moves. Then an outlandish fridge-hugging sequence past a square-cut rooflet and into technical face climbing (with a few token arete slaps) for the remaining 20m of climbing. Perhaps not too tough for the grade but with no chalk on it, and some wet holds, I'll take it!

Onsight P1 as part of an onsight attempt on the whole route as 1 giant pitch. P1 on its own is great climbing on great rock, but far too contrived and too much of an eliminate to ever be a true 3-star classic. Disappointing considering its rep. Rad crack and flake features with thin face in between.

If this is my last climb before I get unfit from my new job, at least it's a bloody awesome way to finish! Much better climbing than I expected (even the bottom "crap" pitches weren't all that bad by Blueys Adventure-Trad standards, merely "average"), and the money pitches were utterly spectacular. Not as good as Samarkand, but definitely worthwhile! I found the sustained crack sections on the upper pitches challenging, because (with my added refusal to use tape) they are a really bad size for my hands. P1 (Onsight) - Loose-ish easy corner-crack climbing; P2 (2nd Clean) - Okay climbing up a varied corner system for 2/3rds, then loose finale; P3 (Onsight) - Boulder problem to gain and get established into the crack (I ran this out into scary territory above "okay" gear), then very stance-friendly steep corner-crack climbing, mostly off-hands with a few fists in there; P4 (2nd Clean) - Sustained endurance steep fist-crack test-piece, with a funky -and tricky!- face crimping finale. In HINDSIGHT, my ideal rack for this climb would be: 1 x 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.75; 2 x #1; 3 x #2; 7 x #3 (with some "spaced but tolerable" placements). As it was, on the crux pitch, I ran out the crack quite a lot.

I was going to give this Very Good (and it probably is climbing-wise if you finish up Exile or Poggio), but the mess of bolts at the top of this to force a 3m contrived new finish just pisses me off.

The moves until the 2nd last bolt (ie. where the debacle begins) are actually really good, quite sustained, and follow a vague line of least resistance. Onsighting all of that was hard work with all the crux-chalk washed off.

Brilliant! Super-sustained with so many moves that are puntable, but no true shutdown crux. The entire headwall is mega, but don't underestimate the slab (I came closest to falling off there). Probably hard for 24, but easy for 25? Substantially harder than its lefthand neighbour, but this is the real money of the crag.

A tad crunchy, but really pleasant moves. Seemed rather easy at the grade, but I have no idea how to grade anymore.

Cool! had to try pretty hard for a few moves, and thought I was off at the top for sure. Essentially: 3 boulder problems of increasing difficulty, separated by good stances. The middle boulder proved particularly tough and committing with a curious complete lack of chalk on it.

The finale is brilliant, and way easier than it looks despite some rather outrageous steepness. Exciting on the onsight with no chalk on the top half of this.

Probably only 24?

Full disclosure: not a true onsight, as a I broke a wet jug off on the headwall before I could actually clip the anchor. But, whatever.

Yiew!

Gets progressively harder all the way, and I had to delve deep into the bag of tricks to stick the top with no beta.

Not as good as the other routes here.

Surprisingly good climbing, with one reachy sequence. Probably more 23, if I'm honest, but the climbing is enjoyable regardless of grade. The top (easy) section was wet, but it wasn't really a problem. Another worthy addition to the Binary.

Wow, this climb just gets progressively harder all the way to the anchors. The last 5m or so are very physically demanding. Awesome, desparate movement with a tricky crux finger-lock guarding the last moves to the anchors. Genuinely engaging climbing.

Good, but it's got nothing on Fashion next door (which I also thought was harder). Some extremely thin moves between pretty good stances, with reasonable criming to the anchors. The bottom few bolts are pretty bad.

Rad climbing, protection and rock. Tonnes of fun. I think that this is 23, rather than 24. If I hadn't read the guidebook about the "crux" at the end, I wouldn't have even stopped to place the "crux" cam as the runout to the anchors is fine. The anchors are pretty dubious.

Pretty cool, quite straightforward with no real "stopper" moves (though definately a few distinctly harder moves), but quite a few tricky moves throughout. I like tgmhe runouts on the top half to keep it spicy... for a shipley route.