We were talking about our previous trip to Berowra last year, but now I realize it was four years ago: Berowra 2014. Where is our Will to be Weird? Berowra has been one of Sydney’s staple climbing destinations for a very long time. Back in the dark ages of early crag development Mike Law and cohorts established some of Sydney’s first hard sport climbs in the interstitial space between the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains. It is not too far from the city and closer than the mega climbing destinations surround Sydney on all sides: Central Coast in the North; Nowra in the South and the Blueys out West, East is for the sea cliff fanatics. In this sense Berowra came on board long before many of the new craglets appeared in abundance around the sprawling city centre. Several decades later it is still one of the best destinations for a cold winters day. All you need is a little sunshine and your reward will be a sunbaked golden tier of compact sandstone worn by hordes of eager suburban climbing legends. There is a little bit for everyone from the very easy to the desperate. It had been some time since we visited this old crag, which is now sparkling with the latest jewelery - ring-bolts were rusty carrots used to rest. Unlike time, rock appears to wait for you forever: several years pass and when you eventually return, time is frozen and nothing much has changed: the hard move on The Ladder of Gloom, one of Sydney's most icon lines, is still desperate, the reach on 3D Wimp Out is still too far and the mantle on Glamorpus is still gut-wrenching. There is reassurance in consistency and there is nothing like a stone-cold reality check while bathing in sunshine during a crisp winter morning.

It was also a good opportunity to catch up with a few good friends for our occasional rock gathering. This time Jen was kind enough to organize the trip with Jason, Ben, Mark and Roman, who managed to drag Leo along for a posse of six. By 9am the sun had risen high enough above the bush canopy to take the edge of the freezing rock. We started right at the deep end where the Ladder of Gloom was waiting for us.

• Ladder of Gloom (19***)
• Savage Cabbage (19**) crack that always feels much harder.
• Stone Grotties (16*) nice warm up and good for setting up a top-rope for Savage Cabbage.
• Medium Strip (19**) very nice arête moves that also always feel quite hard.
  3D Wimp Out (21**) little lunge to gain the crack before the pocketed wall. Bad pockets lead to jug on the arête. That’s crux one done with at a good no hands rest. Next is the steep wall above with a very reachy crux waiting at the end.

After the warm up session was finished: Jen, Ben, Mark and Jason started to work on the vertical faces:

• Dangerous Currents (22*)
• Eccles (20**)
  

Meanwhile Leo and Roman got to work on the roofs:

• Scones of Dooms (23***) one of the Sydney classics, with two sets of belay rings. We pushed passed the first set and went over the roof to the second set? For move after the crux you bring your left hand to the crimp in the roof. Then turn around and bring your foot up to the sandstone stalactite (ala: Humanality)
• Glamorpus (24***) strong contender for the most vicious mantle starting move in Sydney. Followed by a little boulder problem and tons of jugs through a huge roof. Must do, when Zooloft (18***) is too busy.

Now the sun was getting a little low in the horizon and the wind was toying with our hair but there was one climb which I had never notices before, quietly tucked into a corner with a formidable name:

• Grumpy Old Man (23***) could not walk past a climb with my name on it! Needless to say the bouldery flake was too hard and after a few grunts it was all over.
• Up the Duff (22*) right next to the grumpy men was this thin little menacing face that made lots of climbing guns beg for mercy.
  

We had just enough time to head over to the Bullet Hole Wall for a few warm-downs in the fading light.

• Fox/Sox/Pox  (19**) with its rebar stables felt hard at the end of the day and infinite number of pockets right after the roof were a real brain teaser.
• Mental Fatigue (18***) ultra classic must do a lap before you go home.
• Looks Poxable (21***) climb with split personality – awesome easy pockets up to the half way mark lure you up the wall – then the feature disappear and lead you out on a flat face with amazing cruxy sequence. Very nice especially at the end of the day.

There was just enough time to look at Positive Ape Factor in the lengthening shadows and explore the final wall of the crag with the classic Boundary Rider (19), Wall thing (18**) and Flake Thing (21*) before finding a new exit point at the end of the crag. Maybe next time we visit we will start from here.

If you want more photos go HERE:

See you all out there...

Roman 17June 2018