As 2013 drew to a close there was one last chance to gather for a final adventure in the Blue Mountains and farewell the year in style.  “Our Strong love of grey-blue distance, brown streams and soft dim skies” teased us towards some“glamping” at the save confines of Mt.York, which also marked a return to my first forays in the world of climbing in the Blue Mountains. Much has changed and dedicated campsites are now available with toilets and fire places. Unfortunately all the tracks and cliffs were closed following the ravaging fires below. But with the nearby premier crags of Bardens, New York and Land of Giants we still managed a good crowd to join us and enjoy the “land of sweeping plains and ragged mountain ranges.” Loz, Josh and Jason, Mark, Leo, Roman Junior, Chris, Louise and Roman were joined by Gordon, Brenda, Diane and Elka.

Friday the 27th December, we all met for at the Victory café in Blackheath and traveled to the Land of Giants for a day of sport-climbing amidst the “sapphire-misted mountains, and the hot gold hush of noon.” By about 3pm the sun hit the cliff face and the climbing became much more challenging and easy grades started the feel quite desperate in the scorching afternoon sun. Nevertheless some of the days highlights included:

The slab area:

The Cat that Fought (15*) with the slab finish
Dirty Beasts   (15*)  the middle route with its crux roof crossing.
Boatbuilding for Clancy(15*) with its surprisingly hard crux. 

The Nowra Wall:

Statistical Scare Tactics (20***) with its reachy crux finish.
Starseed (20**) hard for the grade with a reachy crux move down low and a worrisome glued on hold.
Tree Beard (21**) with similar crimper crux to jugs.
TheTwentySeven (24/5**) with desperate start below roof to hard crimper crux and balancy finish.

Just around the corner from the Nowra Wall:

J&D1 (rated as 15*but more like 18)
J&D2 (similarly rated as 15* but more like 18)

Some of us decided to head back to camp while the twins insisted on a cool down at the dam cliffs. That they the top cliff jump was conquered for the first time.

Saturday 28th was reserved for a canyon and we searched to find an abseiling spot for practice to no avail. A quick visit to the nearby New York area revealed a stunning new climbing spot amidst a hidden rainforest, but alas with too much approach time we decided to head straight to Wentworth falls to attempt the majestic Empress Canyon with the whole family. Arriving at the Conservation hut around midday “we watched the grey clouds gather and learned to bless again” the place was swarming with tourists but too our amazement there were no other canyon parties (yet!) Dropping swiftly into the lookout above the start of the canyon our party arrived at the entrance to find it deserted. The water jumps never felt better in the scorching heat. We traveled fast and the kids loved it, arriving at the final huge abseil in record time. The tourists below marveled as we abseiled down in the lush 30 meter waterfall to arrive in the emerald pool below. Live does not get much better.

By the time we traveled back up to the hut, a mere two hours had past in this “willful lavish land”, and at last the commercial groups arrived in huge numbers. We counted at least five large groups beginning the canyon and we were lucky to escape their throng. It was time for some refreshments in Blackheath and at about 4pm there was still time to squeeze in one more climbing spot so we headed to the main wall at Bardens for a few classics in the afternoon sun. By 6pm we were exhausted and begged for return to the comfortable camp ground at Mt.York. The Rosens and Leo cheated (yet again) and headed for a pub meal and cold beer at Mt.Victoria but not without Mark and Jason taking a 6pack back to the campground. The fire was mesmerizing that night amidst the starlight Milky Way.

Sunday 29th was official Dam Cliff time with Elka, Diane and Brenda keen for some vertical adventure. We also had discovered brand new anchor points for a slacklining across the entire dam cliff and we were keen to try out our new 25m longline. To our dismay we discovered that the gap was much too large but since we had never tried the new sport of “waterlining” we searched and found two perfect trees for our brand new line. Two hours of attempts later we discovered that our skillset needed a little more honing since the line was much to bouncy to conquer. A German tourist had set up an even longer line near the climbing area below which also posed a formidable challenge. Talking to him I discovered that the new bolts across the cliff spanned some 35 meters but nobody had yet conquered the new highline across the  water. As one of my famous countryman once said: “I will be back!”
The rest of the day was spent climbing amidst the classic lines of the lush splendors of the dam cliffs with lots of shade protecting yet another cloudless perfect day. "All you who have not joined us, you will not understand" and by late afternoon it was time to enjoy the pub and rest the tired limbs after three days of adventurous activity.

Carpe diem