Before the sensation of 2017 eps away completely and irrevocably there was still time to sneak one more crag into celebrate the passing of the year and before 2018 takes complete hold of our imagination, there is still time to pretend to live in the past - younger, fresher - or is there. Exploring new crags is a passion and this time Will and Roman decided to go exploring for new crags all alone - kind of. Our place of choice was South West Sydney near the Georges River Wilderness, where the steep cliffsides give way to startling bejeweled microcrags that rival Nowra and any indoor climbing gym.There are several and we chose GFC for its variety, steep territory and good mix of grades.

There are several added bonuses: the crag is in the shade in the summer afternoons, there is a swimhole nearby and it is a sport climbing ring bolt mecca. The forecast was dodgy so we wanted roofs to stay dry in the rain, we were not disappointed. Just five minutes walk from the car the variety of climbing styles is amazing with amazing features like giant scopes, hueco holds and the occasional fire ant bite to keep your adrenalin level at full blast.

Tick list of the day:

at the Angry Ant Arena:

1.Disarray (18*) hard start with a crimper crux right at the end. Should have done this one later..

2. Bolt it and they will come (16*) excellent warm up.

3. Harem (18**) another great warm-up with nice moves through the giant scoop. .

4. Fix this Mikl (20*) Felt hard for the grade. Go right to the scoop from the undercling or straight up if you are tall: either way is tough.

5. Fomo (23***) fantastic, big moves on generous holds with a mid way rest to relax before the crux finally. Layback sloper with your left hand, hidden undercling with your right, heelhock right and deadpoint to the thin slot. Very onsightable and fun hole-in-the-wall move in the middle.

At Tiger Wall

6. Aretica (23***) vertical wall with hidden undercling crux to gain rest stance. Traverse out over void to arete, follow balancy arete to top.

7. The Goat Fucker Mega Route (24***) real pity about the name. Fantastic vertical wall with three breaks. One crux in each vertical section to slopers in each break so you can not rest or recover. Amazing crux: grab the decent hold with your left hand and move your foot up high, reach and lock of the mono with your right hand, deadpoint precisely to the break. Suck in as much air as you can and continue to the top....

8. Will's leg was now busted pretty badly after heelhooking and highstepping all day but I managed to squeeze one more belay out of him: Funked up (21***) much easier was it not for the single scoop move high up. I tried to cheat and avoid the move out left but got stuck in a hideous undercling and slopey handhold. Dynoed for nothing and feel, then pulled the shoulder out of my socket on the real crux - marvelous. Finish with a mantel and slab to the top. Simply amazing but do not warm up on this monster.

Amazing sport climbing crag with swimhole and perfect tranquility.

Roman 4 January 2018