Cave Climb

Cave Climb

A classic, great fun multipitch climb off Narrowneck, in the Blue Mountains, Katoomba.

What a route! Cave Climb, grade 13, trad.

For as long as I can remember I've adored the Blue Mountains. This World Heritage Listed area on Sydney's backdoor step has always been my outdoor playground. From family bushwalks from the time I could walk, camping trips, Christian camps in my teens, right through to modern adventures mountain biking, canyoning, hiking and rock-climbing, its wonders never cease. There are pockets of rainforest, splendrous sites such as Blue Gum Forest and those gorgeous orange and grey sandstone cliffs that beckon those of us that like getting off the ground.
There is just SO MUCH ROCK! I can spend hours just flicking through the Blue Mountains Climbing guide book finding great routes that I want to do, knowing full well that I'll never have time to do even a quarter of the routes that I am capable of doing, let alone all the harder ones that are out of my league.
One climb that had been recommended to me a year ago was Cave Climb, off Narrowneck. It's a grade 13 trad climb, meaning it's relatively easy and fun, but you'll need a full rack of gear and know how to place it. I've been a climber for considerably more than a decade and have climbed trad and sport routes across Australia (including Mt Arapiles), but I only bought my first decent trad rack a year ago, and – after an excellent day of advanced tuition in placing trad gear – was recommended a few great Blue Mountains routes to go and practice my skills.
First climbed in 1962, this brilliant adventure route isn't done a whole heap, because most contemporary climbers just seem to want to stick to steep, bolted routes that are within a short drive of a good coffee shop. The idea of actually having to place your own protection into cracks in the rock certainly isn't for everyone, particularly when you start getting a long way off the ground or have to carry all that gear a long way. But there are just so many beautiful, big, bold routes that those old timers did – with little more than a rope tied around their tummies – and I'm looking forward to crossing a few more off over the next decade or so.

Access

Spectacular view from the anchors

View down the cliff.

It's a 5 minute walk in through some scrub and then a 40m abseil off reasonable anchors. The guidebook refers to a national park sign, but as far as I can tell that doesn't exist at the moment.
Drive along Glenraphael Drive (dirt road going out along Narrowneck) for 1.4km and park in a little turnout on the right hand side. Walk carefully up the road watching on the right hand side and 20–30 metres later you'll see a small cairn and scrubby track heading off to the right. It heads down and to the right, then you scramble down a gully and past a great little bivvy cave. Follow the track down to the cliff edge and on the left you should see the two anchor chains. They are pretty exposed and there is a ring bolt about 5 m back to belay/safely rappel down to the chains. Our ropes got slightly caught up in shrubs after we threw them off, so best to send someone down first who can sort that out if necessary.
About halfway down you'll see the entrance to the cave that the climb is named after.
For another description of finding the anchors, see https://huckanddyno.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/finding-the-cave-climb-rap-point-at-narrowneck.

Start

Cave Climb Direct Start. The original start is to the left.

The initials clearly marking "CC-DS" (Cave climb direct start) are right at the base of the abseil. The original start is a few metres to the left. We did the direct start, with a little tricky first move (a high step) to get off the ground. There are a couple of carrot bolts within the first 5 metres, but you'll need to place some other gear.
In the guide book, it's listed as a three-pitch climb, but it seems logical when climbing to run the first two pitches together, and aim for the entrance of the cave. A combination of following the corner crack and occasionally veering out onto the wall on the right will get you up there. The moves are enjoyable and the rock solid.
BIG TIP: take a lot of big pro. I really wanted a couple more big hexes and a number 4 or 5 camelot. Higher up I found a few places for smaller gear, but the first half of the pitch really requires a fair bit of big gear, and when you get to the cave it would be nice to have some big pieces to back up the two bolts at the belay station.

The cave

View straight up, into the cave. Note jugs on right

View straight out, looking out of the cave.

Sitting on the ledge at the belay station, the view directly above is of a dark cave about 5 metres high. Somewhere up there to the right is the cave exit. It's a pretty dicey and technical lead through the cave, and some parties may take the easier option of continuing the climb outside the cave, rather than going through it. The trick we found was to head up a few metres to the left, place some big gear with long slings, then traverse across a reasonable foot ledge (with two fairly small handholds) to the big jugs high on the right side, and then out the hole back into the sunshine. It's a great fun start to the pitch if you're up to it. I was thankful for a partner who reminded me to just keep really good stances and stay calm while I was placing the gear, as a fall would be awkward at that point.

View from the top of the cave looking down.

The problem

High wind seems to be common on the last bit of the pitch up to the top. It makes it exhilarating and fun, but also means when you get to the top you can't hear your partner, or see them (because they are in the cave). So you'll need to have your rope tug signals worked out. To make matters worse on our climb, the rope jammed in a crack, so I thought I had my second tightly on belay, but they basically had to climb the cave with loose rope until the jam freed.
The belay at the top however is quite good – there are two carrot bolts a couple of metres to the right of the anchor chains, and a couple of good ledges and cracks to back them up with.
An alternate ending that isn't in the guide book seems to be a more vertical route to the left. It has ring bolts and looks quite entertaining.

Overall, this was a fantastic morning out, with brilliant views, great rock and some interesting pitches. I was pretty slow and careful on lead and it took us about 2.5 hours car to car, but I would imagine more experienced trad climbers would do it in half that time.

For a good laugh at another's experience on this climb, read Huck and Dynos hilarious account https://huckanddyno.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/cave-climb.