★★★ Hard Rain 22 M1

A terrific free climb with one single bit of aid doing a crack transfer to start the second pitch. Pitch lengths are approximate. Havin a few #1 camalots makes the route much more pleasant (HB suggests taking 6!).

Abseil access: To the right of bents lookout (looking out) there is a gumtree between you and the next lookout, sling this and fix a 70m rope there then slab across under bents lookout (climbers right) to three shiny ringbolts on the other side of the slab. Clove hitch the rope to one (or more) of these bolts so your partner can come across on a fixed line then rap down the redirected single line from the bolts. You'll get to the bolted (carrots) hanging belay at the end of pitch one. Leave the fixed line and rap from these bolts with your climbing rope to the start of pitch one leaving the anchor in place. Once you finish the climb, you can use the fixed line to get back across the slab to the gumtree.

1. ~40m (22, crux) Up the right facing, thin hands corner. This eases from vertical to slab as the corner arcs to the right and the crack thins. Hanging belay on two vintage carrot bolts.

2. ~30m (19) Lower from the belay and swing over to transfer to the mega-flake to your right. Climb this on perfect hands jams while ignoring the sound that it makes every time you slide a cam in. Continue through a couple of seams to a small stance near a tree.

3. ~20m (20) Up the crack to where it peters. Slab left past an antique bolt and hanger and into the next crack system. Belay approximately on the slab to the left before the crack goes vertical.

4. ~30m (21) The vertical crack. A burly move or two and then head hard left back to your clove hitched rap rope and eventually your starting gum tree. There is probably some other ways to finish this pitch directly up to the lookout but the convenience of cleaning up the rap rope on the way outweighed the value of a few more meters of vertical climbing for us.

Climbing here varies from trad climbing, mainly up obvious lines and features, to sport climbing up slabs and sections of rock impossible to protect with natural gear. Of course, there are lots of climbs protected with a mixture of trad gear augmented with occasional bolt runners. Given that the trad ethic is still strong here, and the continuing need to minimize our environmental climbing 'footprint', please avoid unilateral decisions to retro-bolt and be restrained in using fixed protection when establishing new routes.