Unfamiliar Territory – Sport climbing at Shipley Upper

It's 1:30 on Sunday morning and I'm packing for the intermediate climbing trip that's about to start in five hours. I put a rope, harness and some quickdraws in my pack before thinking, "Wait, that's it??".

Welcome to the world of sport climbing - where packs are lighter, coffee stops are longer and bolted run outs make trad-climbers want to boogie til they poop!

On the Sunday just passed, Eamonn and I took a bunch of budding outdoor lead climbers to Shipley Upper in Blackheath. The crew consisted of Eamonn, Eva, Abi, Jayne, Marie, Kieran, Jess, Ryan, Hayden, myself and after much convincing, Steffi, who was considering surfing instead of climbing due to the inclimate weather. The original plan had been to go to Bardens Lookout in Mt York. However with 9mm rain forecasted by the trusty Norwegians, we quickly looked for a Plan B.

We left Sydney around 7am with the SA car and Jess's 7-seater. The drive up was quick and we were soon marching into Anonymous cafe in Blackheath ready for some sending juice. We got to the Shipley carpark shortly after 9 and made our way towards the Grey Slab area. At this point the low visibility in Blackheath and wet ground was raising some real concerns about the viability of the rock. Maybe we should go hiking instead??? Said no one ever...

We got to the start of the Grey Slab area, which is at the far right of the crag. You didn't need to touch the rock to realise it was wet, but it wasn't raining and there was a soft breeze coming through. Confident that we could climb some of the routes there so long as we were careful, a few of us quickly went about setting up top ropes. We jumped on:

  • Country Special - 19
  • The Bandonline Grip -18
  • Burning Jowls - 17
  • Good Fortune - 17
  • Trinity - 13
  • Pompadour - 13

All the climbs in the Grey Slab area are as you guessed it, slabby, and sometimes a good foot hold at the start is hard to find...

Abi was an absolute legend in teaching Jess how to use an ATC guide. When Jess was belaying Hayden on his first climb, Abi held the break end of the rope as a back-up in case anything should go wrong. What a role model!

Soon afterwards, some of us headed to Hot Flyer Wall where Eamonn led Jack High (19) with ease despite having a stiff finger. Jack high is a popular slab with a deceptively tricky start. People quickly realised that sometimes the most obvious foot hold might not be the best!

Wanting to stay in the same area, I used the other end of the club 70m that we had just won at Boree Log to attempt Lardy Lady's Lats (22) next to Jack High. The start of LLL is a thin and balancey slab, followed by a combination of fantastic technical and slightly steep climbing. Despite being bolted every metre or so, I still found myself wanting more protection. Unfortunately my ripped shirt didn't cut the mustard ):

Everyone then took turns on Jack High and LLL throughout the afternoon, fitting in lunch and/or chalk where possible.

We were thankful to the rain gods for holding out and letting us climb for most of the day. At about 5pm a sun shower rolled in and brought with it a stunning cloud of golden mist. I think we were all in awe of how beautiful the mountains was at this point. The rainbow that appeared as we were about to walk out was the cherry on top of a fantastic day at the crag.

mist

rainbow

groupie

We got back to the crag around 6 and were collectively famished. In situations like this there is only one thing to do, head to Rene's in Katoomba! Here we found comfort, solace and some familiar hikers 🙂

hikersThank you to our drivers Kieran and Jess for putting up with a rambunctious bunch of back seat bandits.