We arrived Friday night the 7th October at the pull out on the Bells Line Road in darkness and tried to find the track but it was impossibly faint to locate in the shadows. However the description is very accurate:

Park at large pull out 2.2km west from Mt Wilson turn-off on Bells Line of Road. Cross road to south side and locate well worn foot path.

The foot path is no longer well worn but we can add that about 100 meters past the large pull out where the overtaking lane starts there is a faint fire trail that heads into the bush (left hand side if you are traveling towards Lithgow) and stops after 100 meters under a power line. This is not the track but makes a good camp ground if you stay overnight.
We were ready and found the trail quickly at first light for a 7am start. The guide mentions yellow tape and yes there are some markers but we found several off them on the ground and eventually gave up looking for them. Definitely bring a GPS for this trip especially for the return trip in darkness.

With our maps and good sense of direction (this is where you laugh out loud!) we found Dalpura head after some searching in about one hour and a half. If you remember that to the right you can see Dalpura Canyon (facing the Grose) and to the left you see Better Offer canyon with Dalpura Head in the middle you will find your way eventually.

The rap point offers a panoramic view of the Grose Valley with the Lost Pillar far below. We rapped with double 60 meter ropes first and Mark and Roman ended up stranded in space. One further 60 meter rope still did not reach the notch so we ask Will to tie two ropes together (probably 2x50 m) which just reached the low part of the notch. We left the 100 meter line for emergency backup. The more ropes you have for this trip the better but we brought five altogether to accommodate two climbing teams.

Once we reached the slot in between the Lost Pillar and Dalpura Wall we started our day with climbing the Bendy Banana Chimney (13**) to access the higher climbs above to the top of the Lost Pillar. Mark seconded the chimney and pulled off a giant part of a crumply foot ledge. Rather than sending a missile down the chimney we hoisted it on the ledge above. Gundu (16**) got us to the top of the pillar for our first ascent. Raping from this point is a little tricky since a 60 meter rope will just get you back to the notch but requires a bit of swinging in the slot. Watch the rope length here and make sure you do not dislodge any rock! When we pulled the rope a decent sizes boulder came loss and headed straight for Mark – who was belaying Leo. Quick reflexes saved his poor helmet and we were all a little more carful after that. Unlucky he rolled his ankle when he dived out of the way and the road home was long and arduous for him. But more about that later. (Mental note: top anchor of pinnacle has two ringbolts but half way ledge on top of Banana Chimney has two carrots hard to rap from without leaving gear behind.)

Next it was time for one of the most amazing routes in the country: Waver Thin Flake (23***) with three pitches of the most unusual climbing you will find anywhere. The description of the guidebook says it all:

(21***) The Floating Fin Pitch. Start on right wall of fin, about 5m up the gully. Traverse hard left across the horizontal break (super chossy) past lots of stainless to gain better rock on left side of arete. Up. No, seriously keep going up. Belay on ledge at triple bolt belay. Rope drag is a minor issue on this pitch.

(22***) Sea Cliff Pitch. Go against all logic and traverse out right above the sucking void to gain the knife blade arete again. Up. Yes, the slings are bomber. No, you can't come down. Take care with the top-out onto the belay ledge, there is quite a bit of small loose shale. Double ring belay.

(23) Sandy Boulder Pitch. Surprisingly punchy in the bottom half. First bolt is a dangerously high clip, so pull on belay bolts to reach it. Belay on double rings and FH. To descend scramble to true summit 5m away and locate double rings on west facing block. Rap 30m down into notch. Jumar back up fixed rope for 100m (!!) or climb something on the main face.

Once on top of the Lost Pillar for the second time we just saw Mark and Leo working the first aid pitch ring bolted ladder (M1) of the Welsh Dragon (four pitches 19**), which turned out much tougher than anticipated. Note that there are a number of hard moves between spaced bolts and you will have to do at least a little bit of climbing to get going between some of the more spaced out rings. Leo worked out the crux sequence on the higher bolts and topped out on the scary shale ledge before clipping the top rope anchors.

We had a late lunch and then Will, Mark and Roman jumared the pitch. The second traverse pitch of the Welsh Dragon is graded a lovely 16 but the slab moves are fairly tricky to gain the second belay far to the right. With Marks busted ankle climbing was tough and we climbed as a team of four swapping between leading and belaying.  Pitch three is described as follows in the guide:

25m (18) Great pitch through some scary bits. Don't fall between 1st and 2nd bolt or you will...? 6 BRs in total and a #3 camalot would be helpful to calm the nerves at halfway point. Finish by picking your way through 1 foot shale ledge to bushes and DBB.

I definitely recommend the Camelot and bring lots of bolt plates for the entire trip; the more the better but 15 should be enough if you don’t drop any. Pitch three is stunning straight up an endless supply of small but perfectly shaped iron stone edges. Choose carefully because some of them are brittle. The belay for the last pitch is small and exposed with a chossy one foot shale ledge below. It got a little crowded with three/four people and it was also getting late in the day. The updraft from the valley was now pushing moisture up the wall like spindrift. We literally watched the birth of fog unfolding before our eyes. The bolts became hard to spot in the twilight and I had to downclimb a bit to get some extra spare plates. This last pitch is character building with some stellar moves in outrageous exposure. Leo came up second and was all smiles, then it was Will’s turn. Bringing up the heavy pack with our natural pro he never batted an eyelid, loving it all the way to the top. Finally it was Mark’s turn. Darkness was close now and the valley floor and pillar had disappeared into the mist below. One leg buggered he campused the whole pitch after freezing on the ledge below. What a great finish we all thought but little did we know that this was just the beginning.

We packed our heavy loads in the little light we had left and set off on our way through the bush. Within 10 minutes darkness was all around us and complete. Without rain, the bush turned incredible wet with moisture from the rising fog saturating every blade of grass, every leave. We were soaking and Roman’s navigational skill were put to the test. They failed miserably and his ‘instincts’ made us wander in an almost perfect circle?  You could not see five meters, bodies were tired now and loaded with heavy gear, senses numb after a full day of climbing. Mark’s compass and GPS came to the rescue and we found our way, gradually ever so slowly, zigzagging, backtracking, climbing around obstacles with the hours ticking by. Finally we found the canyon that seemed vaguely familiar, another termite hill we remembered and amidst the wetness a single yellow tape, yes we made. Drudging along the final single trail to the road fifteen hours had past and the smiles returned it had been a glorious day…..

Dalpura and Lost Pillar Resources:

• Better Offer Canyon
• Dalpura Canyon
• north_grose_canyons_2016
• Photo story and rappeling straight onto the pillar

Roman 9 Ocotober 2016