This rap-in halfway ledge is situated between the Sunbath and Sporting Complex areas of 'Medlow Bath', with the Hydro Majestic dominating the skyline above. The cliff face is mostly dead vertical and contains six two-pitch bolted routes and one two-pitch trad outing, all just under 40m long. The large ledge, the area above and the climbs themselves feature spectacular views out over the Megalong Valley.
This area is located on private property owned by the Hydro Majestic Hotel. Access could be removed at any time. Please respect the land.
Useful Info: At the bottom of the steps look a few metres to the right to find a pair of ringbolts at the top of a small gully. Rap down the short 45 degree sloped gully then the cliff itself. A 50m rope is easily long enough. It is best to bring a rope for this purpose and leave it in place.
The route you rap down is 'Bohemiath'. If you wish to climb this route and not have the rap rope in the way you could rap from the top anchor of 'Stuck in the Middle with You', a few metres north - two rings a metre back from the cliff edge, set in a cavelet underneath a boulder.
A 70m rope is barely sufficient for rapping or lowering off the <40m routes, with some rope stretch required to get a toe on the deck. Tie knots in the ends.
The crag is in the sun from 1:00pm in summer and 11.00am in late winter.
© (Niall)Many of these crags are located on private property - and could be closed at any time. Do not piss off local residents by parking cars at the end of Belgravia St - park back near the train line and walk 100m up the road.
The Belgravia St descent track and Devondale bouldering is located on private property (it is NOT owned by the Hydro Majestic Hotel). This property changed hands in 2018 for a cool $1.9 million, and the new landowners have not expressed concerns about the public on their land - yet. It is very important that this property is treated with utmost respect - and if you are approached by the owners then please be courteous. If they have concerns please get them to contact ACANSW.
Blue Mountains City Council is the land manager for The Block, Katoomba Bros, Sandpit, Valley Farm & Sooty Crag. Access to all these areas is via the private land mentioned above.
The mega lux Hydro Majestic Hotel owns private land that includes the Sunbath Wall, Reservoir Dogs, Sporting Complex, The Underworld & Pole 28. Access to to these private land crags is NOT guaranteed and could be closed at any time.
DJ crag is also located on private property - with the owner apparently living below the cliff itself.
To find the crag follow the track down from Belgravia St past the circular sunbath itself to the lookout above 'Schwing'. Turn left and follow the clifftop path. (The crag is visible, 100m away to the south, from the next lookout).
From here the path goes in around a wooded gully then back out towards the cliff. It swings left with a thicket of banksias on the right. Where these start to open out there is an old indistinct set of man-made bouldery steps heading down to the cliff edge. If you come across a wide circle in the middle of some cemented rock you've gone too far. Turn around and head back about 20 metres and you'll find the bouldery steps on your left. These steps are marked with a big cairn on their right. Walk down the short scrubby path towards the cliff top. When you walk out of the scrub turn right and look for the sloping gully. Here you'll find the rap rings facing you on approach.
© (Niall)Although sport climbing is well entrenched as the most popular form of Blueys climbing, mixed-climbing on gear and bolts has generally been the rule over the long term. Please try to use available natural gear where possible, and do not bolt cracks or potential trad climbs. If you do the bolts may be removed.
Because of the softness of Blue Mountains sandstone, bolting should only be done by those with a solid knowledge of glue-in equipping. A recent fatality serves as a reminder that this is not an area to experiment with bolting.
If you do need to top rope, please do it through your own gear as the wear on the anchors is both difficult and expensive to maintain.
At many Blue Mountains crags, the somewhat close spacing of routes and prolific horizontal featuring means that it is easy to envisage literally hundreds of trivial linkups. By all means climb these to your hearts content but, unless it is an exceptional case due to some significant objective merit, please generally refrain from writing up linkups. A proliferation of descriptions of trivial linkups would only clutter up the guide and add confusion and will generally not add value to your fellow climbers. (If you still can't resist, consider adding a brief note to the parent route description, rather than cluttering up the guide with a whole new route entry).
If you have benefited from climbing infrastructure in NSW, please consider making a donation towards maintenance costs. The Sydney Rockclimbing Club Rebolting Fund finances the replacement of old bolts on existing climbs and the maintenance of other hardware such as fixed ropes and anchors. The SRC purchases hardware, such as bolts and glue, and distributes them to volunteer rebolters across the state of New South Wales. For more information, including donation details, visit https://sydneyrockies.org.au/rebolting/
It would be appreciated if brushing of holds and minimisation/removal of tick marks becomes part of your climbing routine. Consider bringing a water squirt bottle and mop-up rag to better remove chalk. Only use soft (hair/nylon) bristled brushes, never steel brushes.
The removal of vegetation - both from the cliff bases and the climbs - is not seen as beneficial to aesthetics of the environment nor to our access to it.
Remember, to maintain access our best approach is to 'Respect Native Habitat, Tread Softly and Leave No Trace'. Do not cut flora and keep any tracks and infrastructure as minimal as possible or risk possible closures.
For the latest access related information, or to report something of concern, visit the Australian Climbing Association NSW Blue Mountains page at https://acansw.org.au/blue-mountains/
Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)
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theCrag.com is a free guide for rock climbing areas all over the world, collaboratively edited by keen rock climbers, boulderers and other nice folks.You can log all your routes, connect and chat with other climbers and much more...» go exploring, » learn more or » ask us a questionAuthor(s): Simon Carter
Date: 2019
ISBN: 9780958079082
The latest comprehensive, latest and greatest Blue Mountains Climbing Guide is here and it has more routes than you can poke a clip stick at! 3421 to be exact. You are not going to get bored.
Author(s): Simon Carter
Date: 2019
ISBN: 9780958079075
Simon Carter's "Best of the Blue" is the latest selected climbing guide book for the Blue Mountains and covers 1000 routes and 19 different climbing areas. For all the sport climbers out there, the travellers, or just anyone who doesn't want to lug around the big guide that's more than 3 times the size - cut out the riff-raff and get to the good stuff! This will pretty much cover everything you need!
Paula on ★ I Don't Tip 15 - IMG_3389.JPG
Henryk on ★★ Mr Orange 21 - P1000914.jpg
Hayden at Reservoir Dogs - A8E33197-84CD-4516-A270-C7B6F5C6F7A2.jpeg
Niall Doherty on ★★ Wake Up and Apologise 22 - Niall Doherty - 1st ascent.jpg
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