Vie in Pulpit Rock

Grand arete, shade by 1pm in Summer. 2 x 50m raps to tree on ledge. Start: Marked in Blue on topo

1. 50m (22) Start on right and up.

2. 35m (23) Move belay to rings on right side of ledge. Up to good ledge on arete. Hard for the grade.

3. 15m (22) Straight up to rap anchor.

Out there variant 3rd pitch to The Next Doctor. Up and launch out to the right with 100m+ of air below you to arete, then up to anchors. Either lower off back to the belay, or top out and bring a 2nd up to clean.

Aka the Bellbird Wall trad variant, it beggars belief that it took until now for these splitters to be climbed! Approach and rap in as per Bellbird Wall (BbW).

1. Clip first bolt of The Next Doctor to keep belayer safe, then move right and up into corner passing small gear (crux - #0.3 cams/small wires). Take care with delicate and reachy face climbing staying left of some loose rock. Follow the obvious stemming corner through short choss patch then up past great gear and moves into cave. Stem up and out to exit cave on right, be sure to place gear in crack at lip of cave before slab runout above. Take a deep breath and gingerly climb the slab aiming for hand crack a few metres above (or runout can be avoided by stepping left into small corner on left). Continue up crack feature on easier terrain to DBB as per P.1 BbW.

2. Atop first boulder as for BbW P.2, clipping the first bolt, then trend left following the wide horizontal crack aiming for wide chimney and carrot on left wall. Clip this and pull onto arete and up to gear in small crack (#0.3-0.4). Continue up wide crack to rejoin BbW, trying not the clip the bolts when they appear! DBB as for BbW P.3.

3. Start as per BbW's cool bottomless chimney but trend right following main crack at lip to top. (This pitch also goes all on gear.)

Park at 'Pulpit' Rock carpark and walk down towards 'Pulpit' Rock (take care if using Google maps, there are two or three pulpit rock lookouts/carparks. Use the link provided to get the correct one). Turn off left at the 12th drain (wide wooden drains cross this track) after about 200m. Follow the evident trail trending right for about 60m leading to the ridge line. At this point turn L and look for a single RB. Hook in here with your safety line and set up your ropes off the 2RB's around the corner. Rap down 46m passing FH's and RB's to the ledge.There's a belay on the left and on the right, use the ones on the left. Set up your ropes off draws (as there is a lot of friction, hard to pull ropes otherwise) on these RB's and rap 46m to the base. Best to belay to the tree and belay the next climber on the exposed 'walk' to the right. Facing the cliff walk 20m right taking care and up to the tree in the corner where the route starts (single ring belay, and good tree on right). Take 16 draws, and a couple for the anchors.

1. 45m (16) Up the wall left of the corner on a little rib, staying right of dead tree. Diagonally left across slabby wall with one thin section. 16 rings to 2RB belay on the RHS of the big ledge.

2. 40m (18) Move belay 5m to the left. Head up and left to ledge. Head up though exciting bulge and onto slab. Up to traverse then pull up onto face. Climb to crack and up to belay station.

3. 15m (15) The Champagne pitch! Start up 3D chimney with holds everywhere. Shuffle thru this, past 2 bolts and launch out, around and up to exciting headwall overlooking the spectacular Grose Valley below.

Closed project - stay off. Steep line up the guts of the overhung wall right of Next Doctor. Starts as for Bellbird wall. 15 or so draws required.

1. 35m (22) Very sustained slightly slabby wall climbing. First 2m of Bellbird Wall then move onto right wall. Finish up left to belay on comfy ledge.

2. 25m (Closed Project) Long sustained steep wall with corner & flake features. Hanging belay.

3. 25m (21) Up a few moves then long side hussle left along break (#2 Camalot helps reduce runout) and finish for last 2 bolts of Next Doctor pitch 2.

4. 15m (22) As for Last Doctor pitch 3.

Thin crack (with bolts) 2m right of Bellbird Wall.

1. 40m (23) Up seam carck to big ledge then up right to semi-hanging belay

2. 35m (26) Hard move past 4 bolts, right to a rest and up. 15 draws.

3. 20m (20) Up wall as for Stone Poem

2 Beautiful arêtes separated by a short punchy haiku. The wall faces north east and is well protected on winter mornings, and gets afternoon shade in summer. Take 15 draws.

Rap 30m to a stance 10m below the ledge, then either 20m to belay #3 (hanging) or 30 to belay #2 (good ledge but leave slings to pull ropes). Rap 40m and left slightly to hanging stance at a small ledge on lip of choss. On all raps you must bounce to be able to reach anchors. Take prussics. If you're not cruising 27 arêtes, you might leave a rope or 2 fixed.

1. 40m (25) 40m Up wall and left to arete and up to cave (The Master's Ledge)

2. 8m (26) Around bulge to hanging belay (The waiting Room)

3. 35m (27) Out left over the sucking void (past a possible 2 ring belay for those who have bitten off more than they can masticate) and up the arete to ledge.

4. 20m (20) Over bulge and up

A fantastic mixed route on the lower cliff. Perfect finger crack with great (natural) pro, then bolt protected face and exposed arête climbing. One long pitch (take 15 draws plus gear) or use midway double-bolt belay to split pitches.

From the base of the Bellbird Wall double rap, walk left (facing in) around the alcove on loose, dusty ground, hugging the cliff (caution - slack belay off the big tree near rap-touchdown recommended. From the end of the alcove the cliff-top heads out perpendicular to the main Bellbird wall. Traverse around the slope while dropping slightly, to where the cliff-top swings back parallel to the main upper cliff. At the top of an obvious blocky gully (only 50m or less from the alcove) downclimb or rap (25-30m?) from double U-bolts, down gully past a few bolts (used as runners for the exit scramble) to a flat block on the cliff edge proper. Rap again (double U-bolts) to climber’s right of small tree (2 ropes, or single fixed is better - about 35m?) to start of route on the short flat-topped pinnacle next to a tree fern.

Pitch 1 (20): (single 0.3-0.75 Camalots; 5 bolts to semi hanging DBB). Finger crack with small cams, then bolts on rising traverse up and left to blunt arête (double bolt belay). Semi-hanging belay or continue.

Pitch 2 (21): (9 bolts to DBB). Thin and delicate climbing on, and just left of, the arête. Stay left of small tree on final short block).

After bringing up your second you can scramble/climb back up the blocky rap gully. There are 4 optional bolt runners to the rap anchors, if staying roped up, but take care – they will only help you so much on this low-angled terrain. Then up to alcove on half-way ledge and around to base of Bellbird wall and top-out routes.