> Will's Climbing Page > Crags > Blue Mountains > Old Baldy

Old Baldy

The Word: Impressive wall with soaring cracks.
Sun/shade: Shade all day.
Wet weather options: None.
Style of Climbs: 60-120m multipitch cracks, and some mixed routes. Now has a rap descent (which is probably no quicker!) so consider bringing 2 ropes.
Grades: 17-24
Best Route(s): -

The Details: Just another Wolgan cliff with a hard slog up the hill!! The Upper Cliff is one of the most impressive faces in the Blue Mountains, a massive smooth 300m by 100m face, perched over 150m above the valley floor with three cracks shooting up it (Sword of Damocles (16M5), Excalibur (17) and Scimitar (18)). The Lower Cliff is generally bypassed for these better known routes, however it does have a number of stylish cracks and the well known (and highly visible!) beginners classic, Diarrhoea Chimney.

Access: 20mins to the Lower Cliff, 40mins to the Upper Cliff.

Described L to R, facing the cliff.

Lower Cliff

* No Complications 60m 16 (OS p1)
A very stylish 60m corner crack system, possibly 2 stars with the 2nd pitch. 1) (* 30m 16) The 45 degree overhung start is damn hard (18 in my book!). Jam/jump to undercut stemming, then the twin cracks are a bit sequency between jams/sidepulls, and need some grunt. Sustained corner above offers nice climbing to a ledge at 15m, sling tree, then another 15m fairly sustained climbing up a nice finger crack in the next corner. Note, its fairly gear intensive for #1 friend sized gear, and keep one for the belay. There’s also 2 fairly solid wires plus a slung tree 5m to the right, which can be rapped off if necessary. 2) didn’t do.

Upper Cliffline

A surprisingly enjoyable wander with only about 10 minutes of steep uphill, plus the tricky gully.

Excalibur 100m 17 (L, p1)
1) Start at chossy corner. Easy to ledge, then steeply to sandy wedged blocks, and a hard move to haul out left. More easily to ledge below roof. Clip the 30+ year-old rusty shitty bash-in carrot, back it up with a cam in the slightly chossy roof crack, then bloody hard moves round lip and up crack (super hard for 17). Continue up the slightly overhung face praying for gear, (there's a good wire 8m up). Another 8m without gear brings a stonker #10 hex then the belay. The belay is only any good if you have #1 friend size cams - don't be tempted to use them all up the initial corner! Otherwise you'll be on one of the crappest semi hanging belays you'll ever see, #00 cams in choss breaks and surface wire placements.

Rapping off the #10 hex 2m below the belay is a good investment to get off such a crap route.