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The place to be for climbing

Sidney

13-Jan-2011
1:03:20 AM

Dear all!

I am French and Australian, but actualy in the Netherlands... Very flat country (but I am only here for 6 months!)!
I am planning to come to Australia, but because I do love climbing (bouldering, sport climbing and trad climbing), I want to find the best place to get installed. That means close cliffs and maybe a nice climbing gym for evenings or rainy days.

Could you please give me advices on the best places where you can climb.

Thank you
Sidney

egosan

13-Jan-2011
8:13:11 AM

Hey Sydney,

There is more climbing than you can shake a stick at here.

You can live in Sydney and ride the train to the Blue Mountains to clip bolts, go do crazy adventure climbs and boulder in the city. The down side is that Sydney is a shit hole with long commutes, a high cost of living and a cultural waste land. Some people mitigate this and live in Blackheath walking distance from a mess of sport crags. Many of them end up commuting into Sydney to work anyway.

You can live in Melbourne and have a hand full of decent crags within an hour's drive. Then drive 4 hours west on your weekends to Mt. Arapiles or at one of the endless amazing crags in the Grampians. Drive 4 hours Northeast to Mt. Buffalo and climb on a granite massif. Much of the worlds finest trad climbing on your door step. If you like clipping bolts and can't climb 24, don't bother, learn to place gear or boulder in the Grampians. On the plus side Melbourne is a great city with lots going on culturally. Unfortunately, it too has a high cost of living. You can live in the inner city and ride everywhere on a bike, but you are 4 hours drive from the good climbing.

You can try what I did last month and move to Natimuk. Live the rural life and climb everyday at Mt. Arapiles.

I am sure someone will post about the pluses and minuses of Tassie and Canberra climbing.

So if climbing is the only criteria by which you measure your quality of life, Sydney may be the place for you. There is no question in my mind however, that Melbourne is a nicer city to live in.

Good luck,
Sol


ajfclark

13-Jan-2011
8:18:48 AM

You spelt his name wrong.


Superstu

13-Jan-2011
8:23:42 AM

> So if climbing is the only criteria by which you measure your quality of life, Sydney may > be the place for you. There is no question in my mind however, that Melbourne is a nicer > city to live in.

As one of many Melbourne refugees, I beg to differ. I will go as far to say that the best climbing in Australia is in the Grampians and Arapiles (the rock is just superb, and if you like trad you can have fun and still live a long life). However, as rural Victoria is full of rednecks and there are no jobs, Melbourne is full of pretentious twats and has miserable weather, a bleak city skyline and no soul, the only sensible option is to live in Sydney, enjoy the beautiful harbour and learn to love chossy sandstone held together with modern engineering.


climbau

13-Jan-2011
8:34:47 AM

For climbing convenience, Sydney wins hands down.
A bunch of climbing gyms of various standards (15+mins), reasonable employment, bouldering and routes(15+mins) within the Sydney basin, Blue mountains sandstone sport and trad within spitting distance (1.5hrs), granite within projectile vomit range (2hrs), and limestone adventures to be had just beyond (2.5hrs). Not to mention, Nowra is a longer day trip away (3hrs), Buffalo 6 hours, Canberra 4 hours, Armidale 6 hours, Warrumbungles 5(?) hours, Kaputar 4 hours.
In conclusion, Sydney has plenty of climbing for an afternoon, day, weekend, or 4 day workplace sicky long weekend.

Downside is that the commute to and from work can be hell!

mikllaw

13-Jan-2011
8:47:24 AM

when you come will affect where to base yourself Winter is reserved for sydney local crags or Nowra (though you can climb some winters in the Blue Mtns) or Queensland, Melbourne is generally too miserable in winter.
Summers rule qld out
the whole place may be underwater by then anyway

widewetandslippery

13-Jan-2011
9:39:53 AM

Bungendore. Access to lots of horses, we all know you french are a sick lot, black range, bungonia, nerriga, nowra, booroomba, sewer wall. The list goes on.

Another place would be Wollongong. Mt Kiera is like Font by the sea.

Wendy

13-Jan-2011
9:44:33 AM

For climbing convenience, Natimuk wins hands down ... 10 minutes to one of the best crags in the world, 1 hour to almost anything in the Grampians. Virtually nothing to distract you from the important business of climbing. Except possibly sandbagging and recarpeting. But that has the added bonus of riverside living.

Somewhat more seriously, are you looking to move permanantly or holiday?


wallwombat

13-Jan-2011
9:50:10 AM

On 13/01/2011 davidn wrote:
>Anyone here live in Nowra? Talk about rock on your doorstep...
>

You seriously don't want to live in Nowra.

widewetandslippery

13-Jan-2011
9:50:54 AM

Yeah Bomaderry is the place to be.


nmonteith

13-Jan-2011
9:53:23 AM

BTW - Nowra is less than 2 hours from CBD Sydney.


Gavo

13-Jan-2011
10:52:51 AM

Wendy: More like river-in living at the moment!


will5686

13-Jan-2011
11:19:22 AM

I'd vote for Gerringong, Huskisson or Jervis Bay if you were going to live close to Nowra. And if you live in Sydney city, I'd go for somewhere in the inner west close to St peters, Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym is the only place where I even remotely like to climb indoors.

I too have lived in both Melbourne and Sydney and Sydney wins hands down. Rent is expensive but the city is beautiful, the beaches are good, and the weather is infinitely better than Melbourne. And as for those crags that people say are an hour form Melbourne, most of them are actually more like two hours away once you count the time you spend getting through the city and the walk in to the rock.


nmonteith

13-Jan-2011
11:23:01 AM

On 13/01/2011 will5686 wrote:
>And as for those crags
>that people say are an hour form Melbourne, most of them are actually more
>like two hours away once you count the time you spend getting through the
>city and the walk in to the rock.

From Melb CBD to the rock...

You Yangs - 45 minutes
Camels Hump - 50 minutes

I used to regularly go to these places after work in summer.


will5686

13-Jan-2011
12:03:14 PM

On 13/01/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>
>From Melb CBD to the rock...
>
>You Yangs - 45 minutes
>Camels Hump - 50 minutes
>
>I used to regularly go to these places after work in summer.

Fair enough, I've not been to either of these places (my boyfriend refuses to go climb "scarily run out slabs" as he calls the You Yangs, he really just has poor technique and strong upper body strength, so he likes overhangs). If camels hump is really that close I have to get out there. I was really talking about Werribee gorge, I should have specified. And I am coming from oakleigh on the other side of Melbourne, so it takes me half an hour just to get over the west gate bridge.

I guess Melbourne would be way more awesome for climbing if I lived on the right side of town. Still, I used to be able to climb happily five days a week in Sydney, because of SICG, and then get to the blueys or a little crag down south on the weekends. I miss having a good climbing gym nearby, hard rock just doesn't do it for me - its always super busy and I never feel like they have put any thought into their route design.

That said, I finally got to the grampians recently, and it is definitely the best place I have ever climbed. I am looking forward to getting to araps, maybe once I have done that I will vote for Melbourne, :)


nmonteith

13-Jan-2011
12:28:06 PM

Camels Hump probably has the best selection of quality steep (ish) sport within two hours of Melbourne - and a less than 10 minute approach. The whole of Omega Block is gridded and all quality.


cruze

13-Jan-2011
12:28:56 PM

Melbourne sucks. Sydney is not only more beautiful and closer to a range of fantastic climbing options climbable in all conditions but it isn't full(****) of people pretending to live in the best city in the world. Big flat and boring.

Having said that I would probably choose Wollongong: beautiful, not too big but big enough, close to fantastic beaches, the Point/Nowra, local/Shire crags a couple of hours to the mtns and even the southern highlands and canberra.

**** full minus one or two people - myself being one of them

One Day Hero

13-Jan-2011
12:41:29 PM

On 13/01/2011 cruze wrote:
> but it isn't
>full(****) of people pretending to live in the best city in the world.

Clearly you haven't tried living in Surry Hills! Never in my life have I met more people so utterly convinced that they are living at the beating heart of modern civilization.......the fuchers go 6 months without ever leaving Surry Hills!..........many have never been further west in australia than Newtown


nmonteith

13-Jan-2011
12:47:10 PM

On 13/01/2011 One Day Hero wrote:
>many have never been further west in australia
>than Newtown

It's hard to ride long distances on a fixe wearing stockings and coke bottle glasses.

bones

13-Jan-2011
12:56:50 PM

If you don't mind cold/unpredictable weather then Tassie must be awesome. Everything is 2 hours away from everything and it's all excellent.
The best alpine climbing in aus, the second best seaside crag in aus, the best crack climbing, cool rock features, decent sport climbing, ok bouldering (apparently) and by far the best scenery. Throw in good food and wine

There are 35 messages in this topic.