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Coastal Climbing in Aus?

dieselcam

22-Jan-2010
3:44:27 PM

Hi All, I'd just like to put the feelers out to see where the best coastal climbing spots in Aus are?

And when I say best it would be best for me who is fairly new to climbing and only comfortably leading grade 12-13s on rock.

citationx

22-Jan-2010
4:04:59 PM

at that grade i'd say check out this week's chockstone pic of the week (freycinet tasmania - few easy climbs tehre). otherwise I have no idea about grades in margaret river and/or the adelaide/south australia sea cliffs. only other sea cliffs i can think of are the zawn at newcastle (hard and very, very limited access), sydney (long, hard, limited access eg nth head) and point perp (not beginner friendly at all).
Having said that 90% of the areas i can think of are trad routes.

IdratherbeclimbingM9

22-Jan-2010
4:18:26 PM

On 22/01/2010 citationx wrote:
>sydney (long, hard, limited access eg nth head) and point perp (not beginner friendly at all).

Barrenjoey Headland in Sydney has some good beginner/intermediate grade climbing.
Point Perpendicular also has some at that grade further back within Jervis Bay...

The original post asks a wide brief, and I am sure there are many good climbs to be had on Australias coastal fringe at the grades quoted. It would be a good adventure travelling and finding the better ones.
It would also be inspirational seeing the many more lines to be done if higher grades are achievable!

EJ

22-Jan-2010
4:39:04 PM

Freycinet has some fantastic climbing in a spectacular position. It's also a tad warmer than many other crags in Tassie. As mentioned, Whitewater Wall has some good routes. If you want some shorter introductions to granite, then Lassies Wall is close by.

There are some cliffs on the way out to Mt Brown (South Eastern Tasmania), which are pretty user friendly. If your climbing in the low teens, there are the Parrot Shelf Cliffs which have good access to the top and bottom for top roping and/or leading. Not too far away (5 mins walk) is the Paradiso, which has heaps of sport routes in the low-high 20's with a few high teens as well. The nearby Worlds End is also worth checking out.

If you want some more info on climbing these places check out the online guides at: http://www.thesarvo.com/

As for the sea cliffs in SA, its basically limited to the area around Victor Harbour and the nearby Waitpinga. The granite slabs at the Bluff have some worthwhile, albeit quite short, bolted routes. Waitpinga is a great little cliff (but quite high, ~50-70m) that has undergone some development in the past few years. There is a mix of mid teens to low 20's sport routes. They can feel a little run out at times, but they are certainly safe and rock is bomber. You just have to watch out for the odd rouge wave if the swell is up.

The Waitpinga guide can be downloaded from the CCSA: http://www.climbingclubsouthaustralia.asn.au/guides/Waipinga%20Guide%20Version%20%206.pdf

If your in SA, then the Bluff/Waits is worth checking out but I doubt I'd make a transcontinental trip for it, however Freycinet and SE Tassie would definitely be worth a trip!

nmonteith

22-Jan-2010
4:40:37 PM

North to south....

Kissing Point (Townsville) - short granite sea cliff - some bolts and easy grades
Cooks County (Noosa) - short sandstone trad climbing. easy grades.
Burliegh Heads (Gold Coast) - Basalt columns - easy trad
Zawn/Port Stephens - (Newcastle) - granite sea cliffs - some sport, mostly trad - harder grades
Sydney Sea Cliffs (Sydney) - various sandy sea cliffs - a bit poxy. lots of trad/sport
Point Perpendicular (Nowra) - Awesome! Sandstone - lots of routes - even good easy routes.
Ben Boyd (Edan) - Sandstone that looks like gritstone - shorter - trad mostly.
Wilsons Prom (Vic) - Granite sea cliffs - mostly banned. Was good once.
Cape Woolamai (Melbourne) - allegedly granite. Mostly crap.

Tassie has excellent sea-cliffs (clockwise from the north) Sisters Beach, Coles Bay, Tasman Peninsular and some other granite stuff on the west coast.

gfdonc

22-Jan-2010
5:03:26 PM

A request for "best" "coastal" and "climbing" should never mention Woolamai in the response. Mods, please swoop on this offender.

(Thankfully you didn't mention "Apostles" either)

nmonteith

22-Jan-2010
5:06:53 PM

Supposedly Australia has some of the best sea cliff climbing in the world - thanks mostly to Tasmania...

West Cape Howe in Western Australia looks amazing as well. Basalt?

bw

22-Jan-2010
5:55:00 PM

On 22/01/2010 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
-x-
>Barrenjoey Headland in Sydney has some good beginner/intermediate grade
>climbing.
-x-

was up there this morning, lovely spot! Plenty of easy routes, lots of variety & easy access
to set up top-ropes :) When it gets to hot, head down to Palm Beach for a dip then grab a
beer at the boat shed!

southcol

23-Jan-2010
12:20:35 PM

I think West Cape Howe is generally dolerite. It is a truly amazing place, the combination of remoteness and surging southern ocean under you feet make for an exhilarating venue. The routes are excellent, with a great range. This place makes Point Perp seem tame. Im not sure on the number of routes at either, but WCH always seems bigger. One of my favourite climbing spots in Oz.
Whilst on the subject of WA sea cliffs, Peak head has some classics ( and with a recent local bolting ban lifted in the area, expect a few more routes. ) Of course willyabrup is a classic sea cliff with easy top or bottom access, and I suppose Bobs hollow constitutes a sea cliff (being about 100m back from the beach) some fun cranking on bolted limestone routes.

dieselcam

23-Jan-2010
5:28:51 PM

Awesome thanks heaps that's a great run down on the coastal climbs around Aus. It was the pic of the week in Freycinet that triggered me asking the question and it sounds like that's the place to head for some nice low teen climbs with an ocean back drop. That said, reckon I'll be planning my trips around Aus based on the other climbing spots too and if it's picturesque locations on the coast, then the non-climbing members of the fam can entertain themselves while the climbng is happeing.

Nice one.

jkane

15-Jul-2010
4:59:39 PM

Anyone know where the highest climbable sea cliffs in Australia are? Would it be somewhere on the Tasman Peninsular?

Was reading about Freya Hoffmeister's circumnavigation of Australia and there was mention of some impressive sounding cliffs in WA called Zuytdorp, but from the pictures I have found online, I'm not sure how high/chossy they are. The issue for her was the lack of landing spots. She had to paddle through the night.

nmonteith

15-Jul-2010
5:17:47 PM

I reckon Tasman Peninsula would have the biggest climbable cliffs in Australia (using conventional means!). About 200m high I think...

Here are some we walked past on the way to Cape Raoul pillars

Phil Box

15-Jul-2010
5:20:19 PM

Cape Pillar on the Tasman Peninsular has 300 metre sea cliffs. We went on a boat ride and ogled them from their base. You can climb right out of the sea to the top in one straight cliff line. Would be an awesome undertaking.

jkane

15-Jul-2010
6:09:08 PM

Wow, cool. Thanks guys. No need to go to all the way to Orkney now!

nerm

15-Jul-2010
7:12:33 PM

On 15/07/2010 jkane wrote:
>Anyone know where the highest climbable sea cliffs in Australia are? Would
>it be somewhere on the Tasman Peninsular?
>

http://www.thesarvo.com/confluence/display/thesarvo/Cape+Pillar

prb

15-Jul-2010
8:51:05 PM

On 22/01/2010 EJ wrote:
>As for the sea cliffs in SA, its basically limited to the area around Victor Harbour and the nearby Waitpinga. The granite slabs at the Bluff have some worthwhile, albeit quite short, bolted routes. Waitpinga is a great little cliff (but quite high, ~50-70m) that has undergone some development in the past few years. There is a mix of mid teens to low 20's sport routes. They can feel a little run out at times, but they are certainly safe and rock is bomber. You just have to watch out for the odd rouge wave if the swell is up.

The Bluff also has some worthwhile cracks, but no-one climbs 'em!

I've been wondering what might be the highest solid sea cliffs in SA (I wouldn't try climbing the Great Australian Bight cliffs!) It could be these granite cliffs on the main Greenly Island, some 30km from Coffin Bay. I suspect they're 100m high, maybe a little more. I've asked mates to get a closer look, but they're more interested in catching tuna out there.

There are 16 messages in this topic.