Today we go back in the archives, not
as far back in time as the Misty Icefields adventure (2008) which I
posted recently. Only back to the end of 2013 when Doug and I were
motoring slowly northwards from NSW to the tropics of Queensland. We
were doing what all rock climbers do, searching out nearby climbing
areas where we could get a vertical fix on our way north. Here is a
compilation of my thoughts on the various climbing areas we visited.
First, the disclaimer. This is not the
usual CYA disclaimer, this is the “I ain't no badass” disclaimer.
Simon Carter, who is a badass, has a new guidebook to the southeast
Queensland crags out and covers the various climbing areas at the
Glasshouse Mountains, Brooyah, Tinbeerwah, Serpent, and Kangaroo
Point. If you want details on exact climbs, and photos of lots of
big balled climbers on scary run-out routes, go buy his book. I
don't own it, but I own some of Carter's other books and, in addition
to all the usual route information, the books are illustrated with
stunning photos, a good smattering of history, and are pretty funny –
in a black humour kind of climbing way – to read.
Australian climbers I have found tend
to be pretty badass because the rock and the routes are pretty
unforgiving. There seem to be very few areas with easy climbs and
solid protection. The Aussies still have a fairly robust – read no
damn bolts here – ethic so long run-outs, dodgy carrot bolts, and
sketchy gear placements seem to be common. None of this is helped by
the tradition of placing carrots (bang in machine bolts) instead of
real glue-ins and the anti-bolting stance of most of the relevant
land management agencies – more of the no damn bolts here
mentality. Layered on to all this is the great Aussie tradition of
sand-bagging which makes every climb a real adventure, whether you
wanted one or not.
Doug leading Witches Cauldron, Frog Buttress
Another long winded digression which
began with the “I ain't no badass” disclaimer and which was
intended to read “I ain't no badass, and this is a sketchy tour of
some climbing areas we hit on the way north.”
Rumour has it that Frog Buttress was
named either for some condoms found by the first climbers at the top
of the crag or because the cliffs are situated on Mount French. Both
could be true. This steep rhyolite climbing area is only about 50
metres high and 400 metres wide but what it lacks in size it makes up
for in burliness. The rock is rhyolite and steep. I want to put
that – STEEP – in capitals. Bloody steep. Back in the hurly
burly early days of climbing, Frog Buttress was really popular, but,
it didn't seem that popular when we were there. We only saw a
handful of other climbers even though it was supposedly prime
climbing season (winter). The routes are mostly traditional,
although there are a few bolted aretes. We managed to stagger up a
few of the easier graded routes, which were hellish stiff for the
grade. I found the climbing varied between good fun and brutish,
with a heavy emphasis on brutish. In keeping with the no bolting
ethic there are very few rap anchors, so getting off climbs can be
difficult and may involve long exposed traverses on minuscule ledges
to reach twigs tied off with dubious tat which you have to rap off.
What fun.
Glasshouse Mountains from Ngun Ngun
The Glasshouse Mountains are a widely
spaced group of about 12 rhyolite plugs from old volcanoes. They
were named by Captain Cook as he sailed north because they reminded
him of the glasshouses back in the UK. There are hiking tracks up
some of the peaks, some are closed off by the National Parks Service
because of ridiculous and unspecified “dangers” and others have
climbing areas scattered along the bases or summits. Climbing seemed
a little more popular here and we saw a few other climbers on our
days out. We had a lot of rain when we around the area so we didn't
climb as much as we might have had the weather been drier. We did,
however, climb some fun, well protected, easy sport routes, as well
as some fun, poorly protected sport routes. There are some
traditional routes as well, but we did not get to any of those. Of
note is the west side summit hike to the top of Mount Tibrogargan
which is strangely reminiscent of climbing at El Portero Chico in
northern Mexico. The “trail” ascends some class3/4 slabs and
attracts a bevy of hikers (the area is quite close to Brisbane). I'd
be interested to know how many accidents have occurred on that trail
as the “trail” bears more resemblance to climbing than it does
hiking.
Doug on the Tibrogargan hiking track
We were keen to climb at Mount
Tinbeerwah near Noosa as it seemed from our climbing guide that there
would be good variety of easy/moderate sport climbs. Not so much.
The National Park service has banned bolting, so there are only a
handful of routes with bolts on them, and, without exception they are
carrot bolts. That would be fine if there were gear placements, but
there aren't. The rock is extremely compact, and greasy. All the
routes we looked at had the cruxes at the bottom where the rock was
slimy with black lichen – the base area is overgrown with lush
vegetation – and, the only protection was carrot bolts with the
first clips five to seven metres up (well above the crux). Carrots,
of course, can't be stick-clipped as you have to first fit a bolt
plate over the top. We climbed a few routes, but shied away from
twice as many (OK, ten times as many) as we climbed. I expect this
place will continue it's rapid slide into obscurity as not many
people are interested in taking ground falls.
Kangaroo Point in Brisbane is the place
that, as far as I can tell, badass climbers love to hate. We loved
it. The climbing area is on the south side of the Brisbane River,
accessible by public transit, has tons of amenities (including a
“beach” swimming area nearby), is lit up at night for night
climbing, has big burly top-rope anchors (if that is your thing),
and, has been so well milked for climbing routes that, on some
routes, holds overlap. There are traditional routes and sport
routes, and rappel anchors on most routes. We did more climbing in
one morning at Kangaroo Point than we did in a day at other areas as
the routes are so easy to find, and, you don't have to piss around
getting off.
Finally, Brooyah State Forest near
Gympie is also a popular area. There is a nice camping area in the
State Forest with a river running along the back and it is a short
drive to the different climbing areas. Again, there is a mix of
traditional and sport routes with nice glue in ring bolts. There are
some very good routes here on typical Australian sandstone. We
stayed a few days and could easily have climbed for a few more.
As I have noted before, there is
virtually no climbing around Cairns. Townsville, however, has a
pretty active climbing scene, and as we are due to head south in the
next week to the Townsville area I may be able to publish the “wimps
guide to climbing around Townsville.” Look out for it wherever
quality publications are sold.
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