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Chockstone Image of Pitch 1 very helpful to find the start.

 

 

 

Barrenjoey Climbing 9 December 2017

In many ways Palm Beach is remote at the extremis of the Northern Beaches, the end of the road quite literally if you are traveling along the northern beaches towards the North of Australia – upwards in a sense. Yet, this upward trend comes to an abrupt halt when the peninsula suddenly terminates against the illusion of an ocean surrounded by land: West Head is within easy reach, the Central Coast is just ahead but there is water all around with nowhere really to go. Unless of course you are a climber. Palm Beach is one of the oldest traditional climbing areas in Sydney – a crag where ring bolts are still sparse (yet increasing) and the ubiquitous carrot bolt is alive and well – well, kind of! There is an equal excellent selection of trad lines and more often than not, old school ethics prevail: that is to say if it can be protected with a friend, nut or hex you will not find a bolt nearby. This old school quality is still prevalent and means you have to come prepared with a variety of gear and some solid supply of fresh nerves. Don’t worry about chasing the grades here as you might find yourself stressed out looking for your breath on a 17ish line, while trying to place gear high above a bolt sketching out on some slabby footholds.  It’s kind of fun if you come mentally prepared.

But let’s start at the beginning, Will wanted to take Sophie for a climb outdoors – was it the first time, I forgot? So Roman convinced him that there were much better and easier grades at Palm Beach carefully avoiding all of the above. Then a few boys decided to come along for the fun and Louise suddenly decided at 4am in the morning that she wanted to ride her bike up the coast. So the day started pretty early. Our first stop was the Boat House a brilliant coffee shop at Palm Beach where the parking had now been extended for all Northern Beaches ticket holders (Sorry about your 25 bucks Will). Arriving there about 8am it was easy and we had the place literally to ourselves. Roman and Chris had brought Cameron along and we went for the gourmet start of the day. A couple of coffees, croissants and scones later we made the short stroll along the beach towards Barrenjoey Crag, with a posy of cormorants watching our every move. It was only 8am but it was hot already and the shade of the rock in the morning provided welcome relieve when we went straight to the end of the South facing crag where our goal Pulse of Fool (25**) was located. The little buttress just beforehand provided great opportunity for the youngsters to get a feeling for the area:

Breakkie

Mode rated as 16* dead in the middle of the wall has the first bolt about 3 meters up with some nice moves to get your heart started. It has three bolts all in all but we extended some of the draws with slings for extra quickdraws. The top has two shiny new ringbolts for easy abseiling. A perfect warm with some nice cruxes probably about 18/19ish in modern terms.
Mescalito just to the right and before the chimney is rated a 19 with two stars and is desperate at the grade.  The starting crack takes a couple of aliens to protect and moves into a very nice high positive undercling pocket from which to clip the first carrot bolt about 5 meters of the deck. There is always the chimney on your right to take a rest if needed. From here the moves are quite technical for two more bolts until the tricky slab finish to two more top rope carrot bolts. If you do not push against the chimney with your feet this feels quite hard (21/22ish).

Meanwhile Will had arrived with Sophie and started working the classics but Chris was talking to Dylan who also wanted to have a climb. His mother drove him all the way up from Manly and he also joined us for his first ever climb outdoors. So now that our group was complete: Louise, Sophie, Will, Roman, Chris, Roman Junior, Dylan and Cameron the demographics started to slant towards the younger side and it was time to try something a little harder:

Roman Junior led the aptly named Sweetheart (23 *) with a technical unprotected start towards a natural threat. The direct start send shivers down my spine as I tried to clip the threat a couple of meters above my last alien placement. The crux sequence is a tough layback crimp sequence on ringbolts, with a rounded finish and no anchors what-so-bloody-ever. So we had to join the top with Mescalito and chew through one of my precious ropes (some say it was too old anyway – blasphemy.)

Barrenjoey Crag Palm Beach
Bolt Ladder crux
Sophie in Steepness
Cameron on Mode
Chris and Dylan
Roman Senior
Roman Cruxing
Louise Working Hard
Vertical Chris
Extending bolts
Cormorants
Louise,Camron, Chris, Roman
Will on Wrong line of leaning
Dylan
Sophie and Will
Dylan and Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dylan had a quick attempt at classic crack line with the horrible name Abseil Wall 16 * but it proved formidable in the rising heat. The sun was now creeping over the cliff edge at lunch and visibility of any holds was a squinting affair. So it was time to up the ante a little more.

I had been on Pulse of Fool (25 **) many years ago and the line still seemed amazing until the last move. There was not getting past the final crux to the anchor both generations gave up in dismay after noticing that dinner plate size parts of the rock had come of so perhaps the grade was a tad harder, who knows?

There was time for one more gem before the heat of the day would completely engulf the sandstone paradise. Wrong Line of Leaning (22**) shoots straight out of the cave next to Pulse of Fool and covers an impressive roof on mega jugs. The crux is to reach from one massive hold to another far above. Then the climb changes into a gingerly executed slab move with a final headwall. The one and only ringbolt in the roof was too mesmerizing to walk past, but we opted for the toprope anchor just in case. Sopie, Will, and Chris all made light work of this enjoyable classic.

Roman
Dylan
Cameron
Chris

 

It was starting to bake now and we moved over to the highball beach boulders at nearby Palm Beach proper.  The classics are all still there but with bathers putting up tents under the rock and reclining in the shade of the boulders the pickings were a little slim. So we opted for the North Side of the boulders in direct sunlight. The classic line top to bottom right in the middle of the face has easy climbing until the half-way point and then things become a little challenging. Reach for a high pocket and place your feet carefully. Turn the pocket around into a decent undercling and the gently reach for the high double handed slobers. This is a classic position high above the deck, the trick is to sort your feet out and commit fully to the slobers about 5 meters above the soft sand. Mantle and you are done. The grade is anybody’s guess but this is a classic headball and we saw some nice flying youngsters before the cool surf beckoned us.

We left a few gems behind so that we may return this summer for a second session. Cranky is still waiting for us……

If you want more photos go HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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