Ascensiones en New South Wales and ACT por Grace Mackie

Never been so intimidated by a climb before in my life but we did it! Stayed at Dow's Camp overnight and sussed out the approach beforehand for efficiency's sake. Needn't have worried though, the climber's track from camp is well-marked with cairns and easy to follow. Ended up being a great day out in a phenomenal location, although the climbing didn't quite live up to mega-classic expectations. Done with 50m doubles but would probably recommend 60m to allow for any accidental off-route wanderings. Started at sunrise, when the cliff was drenched in gorgeous orange light.

P1 - Assuming we did start in the right place (weren't 100% sure, despite the description), this was nothing to write home about and a bit vegetated too. The tat is just visible from the ground, with an obvious stance to belay just above it.

P2 - Second and definitely a highlight, some quality moves through the corner systems. Solid for 18 but still easily manageable.

P3 - As awkward as expected for a sideways abseil. If using 50m ropes, you'll want to set up the anchor as soon as you reach the base of the wing, otherwise you potentially won't reach the next belay. Used the rap rope in the anchor as previously recommended.

P4 - Another highlight. Climbing wasn't quite as good as hoped for, but the position was absolutely crazy and the orange wing is just spectacular. Bit of a rope stretcher but just made it.

P5 - Second. Surprisingly nice! Rock quality and gear were both good.

P6 and 7 - Fairly average and unremarkable, following a clear groove.

P8 - As easy as promised thankfully, only placed 3 bits of gear. Lovely view from the very top belay!

All up, about 9 hours camp to camp. Route finding was pretty straightforward if you knew what you were looking for; we took a double rack of BD 0.3-3 plus a 4 and lots of wires which was easily enough. Psyched to have done this!

Would have been enjoyable if it wasn't covered in so much dirt and crap from the top of the cliff...

Needed some cleaning to start with, suffered from a bit of run-off.

This was really very good! Lovely technical climbing on small edges, and some great sequences up top.

Had a complete wobbly on this one, and I wasn't even leading... Ben did an amazing job on the onsight but I got totally shutdown by the crack at the end of P1 😢 Jamming skills definitely still need a lot of work. Didn't super enjoy the second pitch as the rock was pretty average, broke off 3 or 4 decent-sized holds. Also had to sacrifice a nut to the trad gods to top it all off. Probably a classic but not my best performance.

Totally classic. P1 is brilliant stemming up the corner to some interesting but well protected moves over the rooflet. P2 is strenuous to start through a short steep section but then eases for an enjoyable finish. One of the best I've been on at Kaputar for sure.

Pick of the day for me, can't go past a good arete! Lovely moves on good edges

Highlight of the route was whipping out one of Ben's carefully placed micro nuts along with the piece of rock it was wedged in with

First taste of Kaputar! Pleasant stemming up the corner with good gear the whole way. Top belay was a bit grim in 60+ km/hr wind...

Rock quality was questionable throughout and I was truly sick of the wind by this point, not my favourite

Great fun! Too cold to climb any proper routes today so this was the alternative. Steep schlep up the established track then easy scrambling up to the top of the ridge when the tree line ends. Following the ridgeline was awesome, with funky textured rock and amazing views even on an overcast day. Mostly straight-forward hiking with some more exposed sections of scrambling to keep things interesting. No definite track to get back but the bush isn't thick and is easy to walk through. 3 hours car to car with plenty of stops along the way to take in the scenery. Highly recommend!

Ouch, that one hurts the ego a litte... Burly moves on somewhat polished holds at the start, then a crack that started too wide for my hands and kept on getting wider resulted in a screaming pump. Also scared myself silly at the top after running out of bigger gear

Ben led and linked the first two pitches, which were awesome - a great technical stemming corner with a very cool move around onto the arete. P3 was just a pleasant amble to the top. I reckon getting off the ground could almost be the crux on this one

Thin start followed by much easier terrain

x2, draws up and down, super enjoyable moves

This felt harder than 22 to me, some reachy moves and a pumpy finish

Warm up

Best route of the day, some great sequences - really enjoyable!

So far my favourite of the moderates at this cliff

Nice moves at the end made up for an average start

Lovely flowy climbing on good rock to the crux, which took me a little while to figure out

Really reachy moves between pockets at the crux meant I found different beta to skip them entirely

Awesome to finally try this route, definitely lives up to the hype. The slab section isn't too bad if you trust your feet but the pump still sets in at the top

Very glad I didn't have to put up the draws (thanks Ben Hanley), having a few extended helps enormously

Close!

My turn to hang draws after Ben's mega effort last time - panic draws highly recommended

Wasted too much time procrastinating on the lower jugs. This route is a good lesson in the difference between efficient vs excessive resting

Last shot best shot! Couldn't let Ben have the only send of the day

Spicy crux if you're on the smaller side

Hard start!

Definitely a softie

So good to be back on some real rock

Logging a bunch of old routes

Seconding Ben, some cool moves through the crux

Pool your green cams for this one. Small hands were also definitely an advantage. The crack is a bit dirty in some places but overall a nice, compact route

Some cost-effective bolting

Seconding Ben, fun and consistent!

Had to come back and lead it for myself after seconding Ben Hanley last time, super enjoyable

Seems to get better every time. Can comfortably be done without any gear, except for a thread at the start now the bolt is gone.

Seconding Ben

Unsurprisingly came off at the start, but managed the rest. Probably should come back and do it again...

*Interstate 30, the face climb variant. Following Dan after a solid onsight