Routes in Pierces Pass East Side

Classic hairline splitter crack, with a mix of crack and technical face climbing. Visible on your left as you head down the main Pierces Pass walking track. You can access the top rap-anchors for Grasshopper wall via this route: Grasshopper Wall Top Approach GPS Tracklog. Bring a full rack from micro sizes to #3 Cam, with extra small-medium wires (and a set of larger RPs). Start directly below the main crack. 80m rope gets you to the ground.

1. 8m (18) - Short, dirty corner and face to ledge with 2 ringbolts. Harder than you want it to be.

2. 32m (25) - Low-angle splitter crack of varying sizes. Climb to the little rooflet with rings out left. Skip them and continue into the next section past the rooflet and wall above. Bring lots of wires on this pitch (including the small ones).

Climbs a rad orange streak in this grey wall next to Grasshopper, in a great exposed position. P2 and P3 can be combined for a long, continuous pitch of challenging face-climbing. Start as for Grasshopper.

1. 10m (15) Grasshopper P1.

2. 15m (23) 9 Bolts. Up Grasshopper for a move or two (until you can clip the bolt out right), then step out right and follow the line of bolts up the face, getting progressively harder all the way to the anchors below the small rooflet. This pitch can be combined with the next pitch.

3. 20m (25) 7 Bolts. A great technical pitch, but kinda wandery. From the belay, up reinforced flake system, and bust out left to bright orange streak (crux). Up this for 2m, then back right via hard moves on flakes to other orange streak. Up thin face to horizontal break, then up through a final thin sequence to the anchors.

A great long second pitch of sustained technical face climbing in good rock, guarded by an "average" boulder problem first pitch to gain the first ledge.

1. 12m (23) - 5 Bolts. Not great. Start at ground level in small cave right of the 1st Pitch of Grasshopper. Tricky start to gain roof, then around lip of roof (crux) and up easy slab to the anchors. The bolt just around the lip of the roof is hard to clip, and the 2nd is in a weird spot. Single bolt belay (backup off tree or bolts at Grasshopper). This pitch can get dirty when unclimbed, but don't let that put you off, it's all about getting to P2!

2. 35m (23) - 14 Bolts. Jump start to okay hold, then tricky moves to gain better holds. Tricky mantle, then malevolent slab sequence to the next bolt. Easier climbing out right, up small corner, then up right side of "groove" system to massive detached block. Past this (easiest to hand traverse right), then thin face climbing all the way to the anchors at the top of the cliff.

Abandoned project.

Abandoned project.

NOTE: *Pitch 2 does NOT finish at the first set of chains, but instead goes up a short corner to the left, then back right under the roof to a set of carrot bolt anchors around the corner.

*After the recent bushfires, rapping off after P3 is no longer feasible (the rap tree is disintegrating), you must top out (P4) to escape this climb safely.

1. 30m (19) Start up the obvious thin crack with a hard move off the ground. Continue up easier territory to chain belay on ledge.

2. 45m (19) Up and left into steep finger crack and then left again into easy choss corner with one true guillotine block up high. Up to ledge with bolts and chain, step left into thin corner and head up to the ledge below roof. Walk a ways right and round the corner to a carrot belay. Consider belaying at the first chain before the thin corner if you have not made adequate arrangements to mitigate potentially horrendous rope drag.

3. 25m (21) Ultra desperate moves for the grade off the belay past two carrots to much easier ground. Up face to slab and then to ledge where you can belay (trad).

4. 15m Easy (roped) scrambling to top of spire.

Escape: Getting off this route is rather epic and a bit of an adventure in its own right. There are currently (04/18) some in situ slings around a large block that you could rap off at the end of pitch three if need be. Replace them or treat with GREAT caution. Alternatively you can attempt the walk off. Begin this by scrambling off the back of the pinnacle and crossing (with care) the awesome chockstone that bridges the chasm. Scramble down this chockstone on its left hand side to a large tree. Behind this tree is a slot in the rock that is about 2m deep, 50cm high and runs horizontally for approx 15m. Slide into this slot and carefully crawl on your stomach along the ledge trying to ignore the 100m drop to your left. A belay can be set up on the large tree for the leader but there is not much on the other side to protect a second. After exiting the slot wander around left, making upwards progress where it is safest and easiest to do so until you have eventually breached all the major cliff bands and can walk to the summit of Rigby Hill, all the while thinking that the walk off was probably more involved than the route. A classic Bluies trad day.

Two brilliant pitches. On the face around the corner (to the right, looking at the cliff) of The Colours of Spring. Locate the carrot bolt on the arete of P1 before starting up.

Cams BD #0.3 - BD #4, full rack of wires + RPs.

P1 - Up face to ledge stance. Big gear (#4 BD) high in the flake on the right. Traverse to the arete (#2 BD), then up the arete past a carrot bolt and onto the slab.

P2 - Climb the sustained stemming corner to its conclusion past 3 carrot bolts with mixed fiddly gear to keep it sane. Crucial small wire in the flake before the 3rd bolt. At the top, belay off two carrots below Pitch 3 of The Colours of Spring, but consider extending your belay to the edge to avoid dropping rocks on your second.

NOTE: At the moment there are NO rings to rap off from the top of Pitch 2. Be prepared to leave behind a prussic (slinging the carrots) and carabiner to rap 55m to the ground, IN CASE the in situ rap gear is gone.

Classic sport multi up one of the biggest walls in the Bluies - and with a rare cruisy walk-in approach (no rap ropes required!). Rebolted 2022 with glue-in ringbolts so this route no longer requires bolt plates - 20 draws and a single rope is fine. Long draws and a couple of slings will help alleviate rope drag on the longer pitches. Everyone should carry prusiks. All belays are on reasonably comfy ledges and it is possible to rap retreat from 4 pitches up in an emergency - any higher and you would have to down aid the roof pitch (double ropes required).

1. 50m (22) A pumper pitch that climbs way better than it looks. Short left facing wide corner crack to start (1 bolt). Take a breath on the large ledge (belay possible if you have a short rope). Launch left and up long black face which trends left for about 35m before heading up face just left of arete. Belay on tiny awkward ledge so you can see 2nd - then move belay up 6m to larger ledge.

2. 35m (20) Annoying lip mantle to start (crux) then cruisy runout slab to reach another band of vegetation. Scramble through this and up to belay ledge.

3. 30m (22) Traverse left and up wall just left of arete. Belay on ledge below daunting orange wall.

4. 25m (23) Crux. Techy, thin and reachy wall with just enough holds. Belay under roof.

5. 35m (21) Monkey out roof and up juggy slab and then short harder wall to major ledge.

6. 45m (22) Move belay 6m right along ledge to 2nd set of anchors. Steep start then traverse 8m right across very juggy face to arete. The holds are massive but slightly nerve wracking and this traverse should be treated as do-not-fall territory given the risks of a pendulum for leader or seconder across the ironstone. Continue up wall and prow to belay on ledge.

To exit - walk off left and into funnel gully (carefully). Scramble up gully and up hill to small cliffline, walk left and around and up to tourist track which takes you back to carpark (10 mins total).

Jorge & Den

Starts about 25m right of Disco Biscuit (a good landmark due to the chipped square and arrow), below a good looking hand crack. Definitely not Proteus...

1. 55m (18) Up the sustained hand crack, which becomes a V-groove and finally an offwidth up high. Belay on a large chossy ledge with poor gear. Once second is up, move belay 10m right to below a nice looking face and corner.

2. 50m (14) Up for 25m to a large break, where the corner above becomes an unprotectable squeeze chimney. Unprotected crawl right along the break for 25m through spiderwebs and bird shit to a sloping ledge where you can finally get out and set a belay.

3. 40m (2) Continue walking along the break (now a ledge), past a huge loose block, through another crawl section and over to a corner with a small triangular bollard.

Abseil 15m off the bollard (we left a sling here) to a large tree. 45m overhanging abseil to the ground.

Easy to get lost

Much better alternative to Proteus. Up the striking and for the most part good quality corner at about half height of the cliff. This one great pitch probably isn't enough to redeem the rest of the zero star bush rambling.

1. (30m) Start at the base of the slight amphitheatre with some tricky vegetated ledges

2. (40m) Scramble though 30m of bushes and climb the small buttress of rock to gain base of obvious crack system.

3. (35m - Crux) Climb the obvious corner crack at about grade 16 to good belay ledge.

4. (20m + 10m scramble) easy rambling up vegetated corner.

5. (40m) Starting at the most inside section of the amphitheatre climb the obvious chossy crack until blocked by orange roofs. Traverse right with no pro for 25m and up 5m to 2 carrot belay.

6. (40m) Ramble up and right with minimal pro to gain top out. Very exposed on terrible ironstone edges.