Easy rock climbs around Sydney

Easy rock climbs around Sydney

Some recommended outdoor rock climbs for beginners or those with creaky knees

Ken Eastwood feeling "Hope" (grade 15), Mt Piddington.

I get such a buzz out of rock-climbing. Particularly lead-climbing. There are very few other moments in life when I am completely "in the moment", focused totally on every move, on every dimple in the rock, on the kiss of the sun on my skin or the breeze at my back.
I also love sharing the joy of rock-climbing, and end up taking out a lot of people new to the sport, or those who want to get out of the climbing gym and try the outdoors.
I suspect there are many people in and around Sydney who have struggled, as I have, to find great areas to take beginners. Also, the reality is that as approach a half century, and don't spend nearly enough time on rock, that I will increasingly need to find easier spots to climb myself.
Unlike some other cities, we don't have that many superb, easy places to climb. Brisbane is so well set up with Kangaroo Point. It's lit up at night, so you can climb in the evenings, and has excellent fixed protection at the top so it is easy to set up top ropes.
After almost 20 years of outdoor climbing, I reckon good areas for beginners (or those who want an easy day out at the rock) have reasonably easy top-rope set ups, aren't overly steep (not past the vertical), and have at least some holds with big, chunky holds, so that everyone can get up at least one climb. These are surprisingly hard to come by.
Once climbers have experience, particularly in lead-climbing with a natural protection rack, the Blue Mountains becomes an obvious choice, because there are just so many climbs up there, and hundreds upon hundreds at easier grades – some of which are superb adventures. Heck, the very first climb in the brilliant guidebook Blue Mountains Climbing is a superb four-star, 150m epic called Tom Thumb, at a very achievable grade 13. However, I think it is ridiculous to think that beginners with no experience would or should attempt that. Some time needs to be spent learning a few techniques and moves, and getting comfortable on rock first.
So, the following isn't by any means an extensive list (and favours the north side), but it shows some of the spots I have enjoyed fairly stress-free times out at a cliff. Please let me know your faves too, and I hope to see you out there sometime.

Lindfield Rocks

A classic bouldering area (meaning an area usually climbed without ropes), this can work quite well for beginners, particularly kids. It's relatively easy to set up top ropes, and if you choose your climbs carefully, most beginners should be able to get up a couple of routes. One of the problems with it as a bouldering area, is that it is high enough to be quite dangerous if you fall, and some of the landings are awful. However, it isn't really high enough for most climbers to be on rope (climbs are only about 6-8m long at best), but certainly works as a beginners spot. (Park at tennis courts at Lindfield Oval, and take the walking track for about 5 mins.)

Barrenjoey

The stupendous view over the isthmus, halfway up a climb at Barrenjoey.

Probably not for absolute beginners, but this is such an absolutely classic, gorgeous spot that it is definitely worth the drive up to Palm Beach. Hike along the bayside beach then bash along the bush for a few minutes and up to the cliffs. One of the best areas for beginners is the first area you come to on the south-west side, and you can spend a fun day poking around on climbs such as Millie, Carrie Bradshaw, Starboard Barnacles, Professor Wigginsworth's Chunder Bucket and Crack of Dawn. The views back along the isthmus are glorious. It will greatly help if someone in the group is confident leading sport climbs at grade 14, in order to get to the top. Afterwards, you get to swim at one of Sydney's best beaches, and can even do some easy and fun bouldering on the sand at the big boulders half way along the beach. 

Berowra

A little higher than the previous two spots, this can be a bit of a struggle for beginners, as grade 16 or 17 is often too hard for them. But there are lots and lots of climbs, you can set up top ropes fairly easily and if people are willing to have a go, you can still have a great day out here. It's also lovely and warm on winter arvos! Kenneth's climb (no, not named after me unfortunately, but after a lovely skink that used to live in the crack) is a challenging grade 14. Drive to the end of Wideview Road in Berowra, head left to the cliff and don't fall off.

The Stables

Hidden up in Pennant Hills, this is a surprisingly good little area in some lovely forest. Good for summer, as it's quite shady and protected. Best recommendations are getting to Storm Wall and doing climbs such as Clipz, Yoink, and Carrots are Vegetables if you're up to some jamming. Find it at the end of Schofield Parade, Pennant Hills and then follow the instructions in the online guide.

Suicide slabs (now called Brooklyn)

A bit of a run-out lead, so take care, but this big slab is in a glorious spot beside the boat ramp at Brooklyn. Exhibitionists will like it, as you usually get a bit of an audience. There's a two-star grade 15, and a couple of 14s, but easy to slide across and try a couple of slightly harder ones on top rope.

The Block, Medlow Bath

If you're up to heading into the Blue Mountains, it can be difficult to know where to start. So many gorgeous areas and climbs. This is a wonderful little spot, and if you study the guidebook and wander around a bit, you can find a host of climbs here. One of my regular climbing partners did her first lead climb here, a 22m long ripper called Manana, with a difficult finish. It's just around the corner from The Block, which has a mix of roots including the very nice line of Ole Biscuit Barrel (grade 14).

Mount Piddington, Mt Victoria

Top of Mt Piddington - glorious views.

With more than 200 routes here, there is plenty to keep you occupied at virtually any level of climbing. The bulk of it requires natural protection though, so not so great for those without access to a natural protection rig (placing cams, nuts, hexes and wires to protect you from a fall, rather than relying on pre-drilled bolts placed by someone else). Still, it's probably one of the best places around Sydney to learn to lead on a natural protection, because there are so many lower-grade climbs. The great unwashed, at Grade 10, is a fun, unusual climb with a great mix of moves. I had a bit of an epic recently on Chicken Hearted (grade 13), and have enjoyed playing on climbs such as Faith (an excellent three-star grade 8 with the ability to set up top ropes on chains to tackle some of the surrounding climbs), Hope, Chastity and Sincerity. Always scope here to take a break and admire the climbers attacking harder leads such as the five-star classic The Eternity (grade 18).

Please remember that climbing, like all outdoor sports, has inherent risks, and if you do not know what you are doing, you should join a club, befriend someone experienced, or pay for some training. Having said that, I maintain that statistically you are far more likely to get injured or killed driving or cycling to a climbing site or crossing the road than you are actually at the site.

Do you have other recommended areas that are great for beginners in and around Sydney? Please let me know!
www.kensbigbackyard.com.au

Australia's World Heritage Areas

Australia's World Heritage Areas

What is the purpose of the World Heritage list? What are the 18 Australian entries on the list?

The brand new Scenic Rim Trail, in the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area.

I'm often surprised when I mention to people from the USA about World Heritage Listing (e.g, of an area such as the Blue Mountains) that most seem to have no idea what I am talking about. I'm even more perplexed when we have a government that is trying to de-list some Australian areas from the World Heritage list, as if it is something terrible that we should revoke.

Set up from 1972 by UNESCO, one of the arms of the United Nations, the World Heritage list was initially designed to prioritise which areas of the world we wanted preserved for evermore. The original list was of 12 places (a list first released in 1978) that were in great danger.
Three years later, the first Australian places were added to the list - the Great Barrier Reef, Willandra Lakes Region (home to Australia's oldest human remains) and Kakadu National Park.
Australia now has 18 entries on the list, including such diverse things as the Sydney Opera House and  Fossil Mammal sites at Riversleigh (Qld) and Naracoorte (SA). Some of our entries, such as the fossil sites, and the convict sites, are made up of multiple places in different locations. Others are large swathes of areas that are made up of different types of land use - national park, state land and private land.
As a science, environmental and outdoor-focused journalist, I've had the pleasure of visiting many of Australia's World Heritage-listed places. In fact, just last week I was hiking in part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a large area around the NSW/Qld border that is listed.
I will nearly always mention World Heritage listing in an article about those places and the people associated with them, because I think making this UNESCO list means that it has been recognised by a worldwide body as a very important place - something worth preserving. Some of the areas are listed for their cultural heritage, others for their exceptional natural beauty, because they clearly show certain progressions in the earth's development, or because they are preserving something – plants, animals, ecosystems, a cultural practice – in serious peril of being lost.
I do find it hard sometimes to look at our list and justify everything on it on a world standard. For example, do we really think that the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, in Melbourne, should stand on an equal world footing as the great pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China? However, we do know that the Royal Exhibition Building is the world's only surviving example of a great hall from a major international 19th-century exhibition. Neither I – nor you, I suspect – have sat on the committee determining what does and doesn't make the list, and so to an extent I believe we need to honour their decisions (although of course they can be questioned and their criteria should always be up for review).
To have something put on the list is indeed an honour for a country, and shows some of the valuable things that the rest of the world feels need to be preserved, and I thought that politicians of all persuasions would accept and nurture that fact. Usually politicians are in agreement on listings.
Much research has shown that World Heritage listing can be of exceptional economic value to an area. In the Wet Tropics of far north Queensland, when logging was halted due to World Heritage listing, tourism rose exponentially in the area, and within two years was worth seven times as much as the logging industry had been. The Adelaide Hills area is well aware of this value, and is therefore currently pushing for World Heritage listing.
Of course, being on the list doesn't really ensure absolute protection, as the current campaign on "saving the Great Barrier Reef" shows. However, it does provide a firm basis for determining policy, and a commitment from the rest of the world to help with advice and support.
I'm stoked that I live in a country with 18 listings on the World Heritage register. How fantastic that we have so much worth preserving, and more people pushing for even more to be listed (current talk includes Cape York, the Great Forests of Victoria and Adelaide Hills).

In terms of the rest of the world, it is hard to make a comparison, but Canada is an obvious choice because it is vaguely similar in size, the population is within the same ballpark (34 million vs 24 million), and our economies are similar. Canada has 17 World Heritage listings, and we have 18. So we are certainly not out of kilter with that comparison.
I hope that we can use the World Heritage register to rejoice over what is deemed by the rest of the world to be important, and to celebrate with them the wonderful things that make up Australia.

Tasmanian Wilderness, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park

Australia's World Heritage list

Great Barrier Reef
Kakadu National Park
Willandra Lakes Region
Sydney Opera House
Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (Melbourne)
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Australian Fossil Mammal sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte)
Convict sites (11 locations)
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Greater Blue Mountains
Fraser Island
Tasmanian Wilderness
Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungles)
Lord Howe Island group
Shark Bay
Heard and McDonald islands  
Macquarie Island