Easter weekend brings a lot of visitors to the Blue Mountains and the crags get as busy as the roads. This time I was lucky and Mat and Ryan joined me for a new crag exploration. It was Mat’s very first time in the mountains. And he squeezed in his first Blue Mountain lead climb, first route clean and also tried his hands on some of the harder lines. It was a difficult choice to pick the right location but there are some crags that provide solitude even amidst the maddening rush of the long Easter break. One of those ‘secret’ crags is Little River. It comes with a nice selection of beginner friendly warmups and some mid-range hardness. This crag also has several bonuses: the roots are generally very long in the 20-30 meter range. Quite a few of the routes have modern top rope anchors with gates so you can just sling your rope through them and clean right away. I have not seen this anywhere else in the Blue Mountains and it makes cleaning super easy. Finally the crag is in the shade until lunch and when the afternoon soon arrives you can go for a dip in the river below. The approach to little river was a little tricky as the path is fairly overgrown. The final path along the rock spur is managed via Cairns. A quiet seclude crag, in a beautiful amphitheatre with a stream for swimming below. Great if you want to escape the crowds.
One move wonder 17** fantastic warm-up with two nice cruxes but not too hard.
Scrabble Nerds 18** Mats first lead in the Bluyes very impressive. Steep start on jugs to tricky mantle. Awesome headwall with good moves to the top.
Fully Furnished 20*** the leftmost line of the three long lines going all the way to the too of a little buttress. Awesome climbing with a distinctive crux up a flake. Midway lunch ledge and then amazing steep headwall with orange rock above. Probably felt a little stiff for the grade.
Sunny war 20** the right most of the three long lines with great moves throughout.
Glue Tube sensation 22** requires 4 bolt plates then rings. 30m line that has it all, slab start, vertical midsection and steep roof for the grand finale.
Lina Patina 19*** short powerful climbing on steep jugs. Great fun with lots of jugs and a bonus campus start.
