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Australian Landscape Photography by Michael Boniwell
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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

 Page 1 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 44
Area Location Sub Location Crag Links
All NSW (General) (General) (General)  

Author
Cathedral NSW open for business
mikllaw
12-Mar-2011
1:26:34 PM
Over the summer we've pretty much replaced all the bolts at the Cathedral (except for 2 carrots on a crack finsh to Vitez), added a few lower-offs, and re-marked the 4 minute track from the top, so the cliff is open for business. It is undoubtably the best suburban cliff in the Sydney region with fab rock and odd moves. There are a set of easy sports climbs, some middle grade trad, and harder sports. There are about 30 routes on the main cliff.

It's a brilliant cliff, but take bug juice.

When you park at the top, squeeze in so you don't block the local's driveways, or park 50m further up the hill.

Guide on
http://routes.sydneyrockies.org.au/display/nswrock/The+Cathedral

The right hand slabs are next to be rebolted, and are very good but there are only about 10 routes there, and they are all desperate
mikllaw
15-Mar-2011
5:33:20 PM
In removing old bolts from The Cathedral found these 60 mm mild steel glue in bolts with stainless fixed hangers. The glue is unknown, but 2 spun out very easily. The third was very corroded and snapped under light spanner load, maybe 10 kg force on a 150 mm shifter.

LeNuge
15-Mar-2011
5:45:59 PM
Great job down there Mike (+ Bundy). Dropped by the other day and was amazed by the "Modernisation" from the Old Cathedral I knew and sometimes loathed. Was abit spoogey + mozzies still around, but cant wait to plummet off some of the routes asap!.

Dave
mikllaw
19-Mar-2011
9:50:41 AM
We had a trip down there on Friday afternoon and started on Graham Fairbairn's amazing line of Wacky Tabacci. It originally climbed up some rattly blocks in the back of the chimney,traversed out under a roof and then climbed up an arete. Scary trad with 4 bolts. He graciously allowed me to retrobolt it with 5 bolts in 20m to make a 'sporting' sport route.
Wear pants as there is a spot of chimneying to reach the second bolt then bridge easily up the edge of the overhung chimney on good holds.

Nathan on probably the third ascent of Wacky Tabacci (19) (an old bolt is seen between his hands)

Under threatening skies Rob chucked a lap of Retro Crack (20), the laybacking and bridging was made interesting by a deluge, but he managed to finish the smeary top groove while we hid in the cave.

Rob demonstrating how to climb wide cracks....

mikllaw
21-Mar-2011
1:18:35 PM
'nother shot of Rob higher on retrocrack checking out the wet smears



And Rob on the chimney move in Wacky Tabacci


mabsydney
21-Mar-2011
1:23:41 PM
Nice work Mike, I've only been there a couple of times. I'll have to pay it a visit after your hard work.
f_ladou
21-Mar-2011
1:33:38 PM
Hi Mike, climbed once at the Cathedral in 2005 or 2006, I can't remember. We did mainly top-rope and otherwise got scared to death. I'll definitely check it out over a coming weekend and let you know. Again, many thanks for all the hard work you put in. Cheers, François
mikllaw
1-Apr-2011
5:22:23 PM
Now that Autumn is here and the main cliff is rebolted (60 Ubolts) I've been slowly fixing the routes on the Righthand "slabs". As they are a bit mossy I've been cleaning them as well as rebolting. Cos' the old carrots could damage you in a slideing fall, I've been removing some of them (some very easily too!)

Currently refreshed are :-
Isis 23 ** desperate slabbing up to first bolt (stick clip) followed by more conventional climbing
Glacis 28ish** weird and powerful.
Moss Ghyll Grooves 24** the only right hand layback at the crack, all Ubolts.
In the Groove 25 *** classic clip up

There are 6 more routes to fix further right
mikllaw
8-Apr-2011
9:06:47 AM
The last routes have been rebolted on the right hand slabs, some of them are more like granite edging or smearing at Ben Cairn than anything on sandstone.

All routes are sport on Ubolts

Legless 23 hard cranking thru bulge and tenuous finish
Spite 25, like a hard buffalo route
Mr Squiggle 20 groove and slab
Ms Pat 18 Nice slab
Wire brush and Dettol 19
Tourniquet desperate looking 16 (!) offwidth, all big cams and an old bolt
mikllaw
10-Apr-2011
8:35:56 AM
Well, the grades on the 'easy' slab went up a bit....
Mr Squiggle has a hard start but is an easy 20, more like a flared groove on Granite or at ben Cairn.
Ms Pat gained 3 grades and 2 bolts to make it a 3 star 21. You actually have to smear and climb, unusual for sandstone.
mikllaw
10-Apr-2011
8:40:10 AM
On the main cliff Bundy did his project starting up Jaded Cravings and going right (the LH finish is still a project) - "Failure is your friend" 22 and mikl finally did the V5 classic (well, 18 and V5) "Expectorant" at somewhere between 22 and 25.
http://routes.sydneyrockies.org.au/display/nswrock/The+Cathedral
George
17-Apr-2011
12:42:12 AM
On 12/03/2011 mikllaw wrote:
>Over the summer we've pretty much replaced all the bolts at the Cathedral
>(except for 2 carrots on a crack finsh to Vitez), added a few lower-offs,
>and re-marked the 4 minute track from the top, so the cliff is open for
>business. It is undoubtably the best suburban cliff in the Sydney region
>with fab rock and odd moves. There are a set of easy sports climbs, some
>middle grade trad, and harder sports.
Been there last Thursday. As soon as start walking after the parking spot, saw 18 white tapes around trees which guided us though the bush.
tried lots of new rings. Thanks Mikl.

deadbudgy
18-Apr-2011
9:23:35 AM
Thanks heaps guys. This place is awesome.
mikllaw
18-Apr-2011
12:40:25 PM
Also climbed the "Layback Crack" at the left end. In the ACA guide it was claimed to be 18, and had an old bolt, but no FA details. Does anyone have any info on this?

I rapped it and removed a startling amount of loose rock from the crack, so i'm a bit dubious that the crack had been climbed, but it was certainly possible as there was good gear available.

After the cruxy move past the flare it gets easy where there was an old bolt. About 4m above this on the arete (no gear) were some very fragile flake (some I knocked off and some i reinforced). Though the crack may have been climbed, I don't think that the upper arete was climbed previously either.

Now bolted with a lower off, an awesome 20 layback crack (just don't jamb) and arete climb with a laybacky crux and funky kneebar.

nmonteith
18-Apr-2011
2:05:57 PM
Did you bolt that crack? Why! It looked like a lovely jam crack splitter...

deadbudgy
19-Apr-2011
12:10:33 PM
What about the arete project at the left hand end. Have you tried that lately? It looks like fun
mikllaw
19-Apr-2011
12:48:21 PM
On 18/04/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>Did you bolt that crack? Why! It looked like a lovely jam crack splitter...

Yes, it is now a lovely crack after a lot more cleaning than I expected. It was full of loose flakes and mossy to the extreme (It needs another rainstorm to get the last of the dirt)
It could have been an ok trad route to the old bolt at 6m after much hammering and gluing, but the top half of the route required bolts and more glued up flakes (the holds that remain are good).

As a trad route it would probably get an ascent per decade till it got dirty (about 1 year), then never. As a sport route it might get a few per year and stay clean.
Mr Poopypants
19-Apr-2011
8:10:16 PM
Good on you Claw!

Just what The Cathedral needed! Well worth approaching by kayak, now!

Now, can you do anything about the ticks and mozzies???

G.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
21-Apr-2011
10:37:37 PM
On 19/04/2011 mikllaw wrote:
>On 18/04/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>>Did you bolt that crack? Why! It looked like a lovely jam crack splitter...
>
>Yes, it is now a lovely crack after a lot more cleaning than I expected.
>It was full of loose flakes and mossy to the extreme (It needs another
>rainstorm to get the last of the dirt)
>It could have been an ok trad route to the old bolt at 6m after much hammering
>and gluing, but the top half of the route required bolts and more glued
>up flakes (the holds that remain are good).
>
>As a trad route it would probably get an ascent per decade till it got
>dirty (about 1 year), then never. As a sport route it might get a few per
>year and stay clean.

It sounds contrived.
... just like the notion of calling a potential trad route a sport route to justify bolting and gluing it!
cogsy
22-Apr-2011
11:36:13 AM
On 21/04/2011 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:

>It sounds contrived.

... and this is used as an argument by an Aid climber!!!

 Page 1 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 44
There are 44 messages in this topic.

 

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