Our first line was Chimney and Wall 36m Grade 8. I found this a bit technical for a grade 8. I consider a grade 8 a line that any first timer should be able to get on and finish no trouble. I'm no hard climber but I found this corner/chimney/crack pretty tricky in places. When I reached the first belay point I had concerns whether Sunshine would get up it! Sure enough, the corner - as all large, open corners do to first timers, dragged her into it, and into a difficult chimney position hard to get out of. Sunshine still managed to get up it though, but with a lot of effort. So we backed off at the first pitch. No anchors so I down climbed...
Thankfully Chimney and Wall wasn't enough to put Sunshine off climbing for ever, and she was willing to have a go at another one. This time we chose Hocus Pocus 49m grade 10. It's a fine fine line of slab and face climbing. No corners to be found, and enough exposure to make it feel like you're climbing something.
We only did the first pitch as the sun was setting (and what a lovely sunset it was) but we swore to come back and finish it.
Today, Sunshine has gone straight out to buy a climbing guide
The Blue Mountains Climbing - Third Edition. Martin Pircher and Simon Carter is a very very comprehensive guide listing almost all the climbs in the Blue Mountains, but at the expense of route descriptions for many of the climbs...
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