Grampians
 |
Climbing in Australia is diverse and varied, and offers some
extremely good crags and sites. Most cliffs are in National Parks or undeveloped areas. A
low numbers of climbers combined untouched and undeveloped territory gives unspoiled and
pristine climbing. Guidebooks usually offer a description of the route, but rarely any
diagrams. The Australians use the Ewbank Grading System, which means that you will be
pushing much higher numbers than ever before!
There are just a few pockets of "sport climbing" in Australia. This style of
climbing is the exception rather than the norm. Climbing on your own placements, on the
excellent rock down here, gives an awesome feeling of unconstrained freedom.
Most bolts in Australia are hangerless. They require a bolt plate or a wire for some of
the old fat ones. Buy a set (5 - 6 would be enough for most routes) and put them in your
chalk bag before you head up a climb. |
Burnley Bridge
 |
Bouldering is the only option for us if we want to get
adequate climbing practice down here. Except for that, the large distances in Australia
translates into about 60 - 100 km to our closest climbing sites. Melbourne offers
excellent urban bouldering though. Several of the bridges in the area, and some stone
walls, are built with strong blue stone. This gives interesting holds and small finger
pockets for climbing. A lot of work has been put down in some places, and both artificial
holds and real stones have been attached to make superb out-door climbing walls. |
