Ascensions dans Old Baldy

Adventure climbing at its finest.

The hike in to the base of Old Baldy is hard, there's so much overgrowth. Download the GPX file to your phone (see Approach)!

We climbed Secret Swinger to get to the ledge, and went around and up the pedestal on the right side (easier scramble). Started the climb by 2.45pm. In hindsight we should've bailed, but the 'fuck it we're here now, we got this' mentality prevailed.

Linked P1+P2 in a sublime long pitch, I loved every bit of it! So. Good! Beautiful jams, and getting over the roof was such a joy.

We slowed down a fair bit on P3 and P4, we were both pretty worn out from an intense weekend of adventure climbing. There's an unprotected offwidth on P4, only for a few moves, but it still got to me. Took a take to mentally prepare for it. Felt really good pushing through eventually. Topped out at 7pm.

Did the two raps back to the ledge, and thanks to GPS and Josephine Roper 's wicked night vision managed to find the Secret Swinger rap point in pitch black. Bush bashed our way back to camp in the shortest shortcut ever, 35min (over a 45min approach in the morning). Back at the car at 9pm (edit: 10pm). Wrecked. What a day. Mostly type 1 fun, the bits in the dark were type 2. A great day out.

What a spectacular climb and position. I don't regret going up, even if it meant topping out at 7pm Earlier start next time though!

Was pretty tired and just aiming to make it up by pulling on things at various points, could definitely do it cleaner, except the little offwidth/face climbing bit near the top of pitch 4, which I found very difficult even after bailing back to the anchor and letting Dick lead it. May have just been exhaustion, not sure.

First pitch was like climbing on the beach...very nice route but very scary the overhang going out of the cave. Should be a 16 but was the hardest move of the whole line

Such an amazing line! Ran out of gogo juice at the top of pitch 4. Covid sucks!

How to find the climb:

1. From the road shoot for the middle crack on the upper tier, bush bash your heart out.

2. Its a very obvious corner, I don't think I need be more clear than that.

3. Located 10m to the left of a climb marked "TC" probably standing for "Take Care" the Wolgan version.

P1: Stem in abundance and then stem a bit more. The belay in the cave is actually not that bad, save fist sized cams for utilizing the better rock and a thread runner in the choss will keep you happy.

P2/P3: Keep stemming lads, no one asked you to stop. At the top Remember the tree and its GPS coordinates only if you identify as direction illiterate and if you wish to abseil down it after an epic on the holy ground above.

Abseil beta: NO NO NO, two 60m ropes don't get you down on the ground from the Tree. Abseil 20m or so to a good ledge with another suffering (from the hands of climbing civilization) tree. 35m abseil to the ground from here. Kiss the ground thanks if ropes don't get stuck on the way down.

Should be 21

Good corner crack which becomes steep for a few moves, but the top slab is very dirty!

Classic! First pitch off the ledge superb and well protected. (I used 11 BRs and one 1 no 1. camalot) Second pitch a tiny bit easier but quite scary. Cams down low, and 4(?) BRs. Last pitch joins Scimitar.

Did this a long time ago, recall it being stout for the grade.

with Cate

Led all. Sustained good climbing. Not much broke off. Classic Wade route.

Good position and some good climbing. But poor rock in some places, with potential for catastrophic consequences if there were a bolt failure, mean I wouldn’t recommend this climb. For example the first aid bolt on P1 is close to the lip of a chossy sandy roof. If it failed you’d hit the deck from 15m.

A fitting and enjoyable first climb in the Wolgan for a student following his teacher's footsteps Marty Doolan and a great way to access the upper cliff of Old Baldy. Great climbing through the second pitch.

Eat more beef you bastards

awesome

would be mega if cleaner at top. awesome line and moves with sustained jambing and exposure. I split the first pitch to retrieve my cams, then joined the second. excellent square-cut holds on the wall can help.

Pitch 1 OS - Great crack climbing minus the sand cave. Glad I didn't read Heath Black ascent, I was stuck in the off-width contemplating my demise before face climbing around it on the right. Pitch 2/3 Clean 2nd - Still good climbiing for a while before it got dirty.

Amazing route! As good as Sizzler! One sustained 60m pitch of sick, steep handcrack to the top of lower baldy. Face splitter. Sensational. One of the best routes on Lower Baldy. Tree belay then easy scramble up to upper baldy.

Excelent technical face climbing! 7 bolt plates, dbl rack .5 - #2 friends, 2 smal- medium nuts. Lower off from chains. 60m rope just gets you down.

Finally got on this one. Done in one pitch. Double rack with triples in 0.75 and 1 was more than enough. All in all its a good route! And a fast way to get to the half way ledge. Couple of sections with good jamming! Could use more traffic though! The top was a bit dirty and the fires probably added debrit. You top out between 2 trees. I belayed from the right one, comfortably standing on a little jaggered arete below it. Then we scrambled up to do Central direct (which is directly above). On the descent we retraced our steps back to where ghoul tops out (we lowered each other/rapped, as everything is very loose on the half way ledge) and then rapped back down 60m from the other tree (on the right side of ghoul top out - facing out) Where we left a 7mm prussic cord to rapp off.

Nice climb with some good jams, a tad dirty in places, lead the whole thing in one pitch.

The first third of this route was pretty good but quite dirty. The rest, after the garden hanging in the crack where it widens to body size, was pretty unpleasant. It was so dirty and the line becomes unclear. Done as one 59m pitch. The belay position on top is crappy and you need to then rope up for the climb and scramble up for some time to the base of the upper cliff.

I have given this one star for the crack at the start. If it and the rest of the route are reasonably clean it would be a pretty good line. Get on Secret Swinger instead. Excellent line with far better access from top to the upper cliff base.

Unreal, really stellar jam line.

Really dirty at top.

Lead p2 + 4

with Cate

with Dave Filan

me (1,2) w/ CM (3,4) & DD

Led P1 and P2 (crux). Carl P3 and P4..

With Hethos

One of the best on this cliff.

Brilliant, sustained and with a hard crux (for a 19) finger-crack corner on near-perfect rock. Thoroughly enjoyable, and would be a trade route anywhere else. Bomb-proof gear including hexes and tonnes of wires.