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Description
Old trad crag with routes detailed (vaguely) in the 1997 Sydney Rockies Guidebook.
Access issues inherited from Medlow Bath
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.
Approach
5-10 min
Simple description: Follow the dirt road down from Bellevue Cres past the dry creek crossing until it turns right downhill, then follow the well made foot track left to the Three Brothers lookout.
Complicated description: From the highway turn onto Bellevue Cres, 100m south of the service station at Medlow Bath. Pass Delmonte Ave then before the right hand bend turn left down a rough dirt road, park on Bellevue if your car has low clearance. Follow the dirt road downhill over numerous water-bars, a dry creek crossing filled with river rocks, and note powerlines crossing overhead with a green power-pole on left – you are aiming for the second pole (visible ahead) accessed by steep left-hand turn a little further on with parking under the powerlines. The access road is not great for cars with particularly low clearance, but an average 2WD should manage with careful driving and a few minor scrapes. You can always discreetly park on Bellevue and walk 10 min extra.
Left of the closest power-pole in this parking spot is the start of a very obvious and well manicured track. Walk 150m or less to a fork, then turn left and head downhill 30m or so to a slabby step-down with the Three Brothers pagodas in front of you. The track swings sharp right here another 30m, then just before a sharp left- hand bend take a discreet track with a cairn on the right. After 10 or 15 metres of flat ground a series of switchbacks descend down short ledges (look for cairns) into a broad gully. The track hairpins hard left at a tall white gum and down a tighter gully between two short walls, before opening onto the half-way terrace between the upper and lower cliff-lines. This is the base of the upper descent gully – 5 mins from car.
Descent notes
Descend directly off the front of the Three Brothers lookout to the shale band at the base of the upper cliff, then follow increasingly decrepit cairns, a fixed rope tied round a Banksia, chain, and reo spikes into the descent gully and thence to the base of the cliff.
Ethic inherited from Blue Mountains
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/
History
Older route descriptions and "quotes' taken from George Owens (1995) Rockclimbs in the upper Blue Mountains, 2nd Ed. published by the SRC. Beware any mentioned ancient pitons and bolts.
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Selected Guidebooks more Hide
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!
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Author(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.
ⓘ
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Sat 20 May
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