New South Wales has a lot to offer a rockclimber. Anything from super steep sport routes to long multi pitch Aid climbs.

To the west of Sydney the Blue Mountains are by far the biggest climbing area within NSW. Climbing has a long tradition in the Blue mountains. The Australian Grading system originated here. The Blue mountains have a variety of different crags and are blessed with an incredable quantity of unclimbed rock. The Sandstone varies from large regions of amazing choss to walls of beautiful sweeping orange that climbers dream of.

The NSW south coast is home to the Australian sport climbing mecca that is Nowra. Climbing here is generally similar to nowhere but Nowra. To the East of Nowra lies Point Perpendicular. It is home to some fantastic sea cliffs which rise up to 100m from the crashing waves. The climbing at point perp can be quite daunting when the wind is up as the exposure can be imense. Inland from here lies the massive Limestone cliffs of Bungonia Gorge. These cliffs in the gorge are upto 400m in height and are the largest limestone walls in Australia. The routes are often of a serious nature and not for the faint hearted. Good caving is also found here as a sideline to the climbing.

The North of the state is largely under represented in climbing terms although there is great climbing to be found. Try the granite of New England, the Sandstone of Coffs Harbour or the massive face of Mt Warning (home to the longest climbs in NSW) if your heading that way.

If none of these areas suit your needs you may have to settle for the masses of suburban climbing and bouldering which is to be found within the reaches of Sydney itself. There is climbing here to grade 29 on all manner of cliffs and bouldering to V13 hidden within the suburbs. For information on climbing in Sydney the Sydney Climbing Site has a comprehensive guide and for more bouldering information try the Australian Bouldering site. A new Rebolting fund has been created for NSW and they are currently very active in the Blue Mountains, Nowra and Sydney Areas.

A great place to meet NSW climbers is the crag X forum website. Check it Out!

For further information contact shawkshaw.