North Head

Before driving out there and taking a look, however, be aware that the headland lies within the Sydney Harbour National Park, one of the few National Parks in NSW where not only is climbing illegal, but rangers actively patrol the popular climbing spots, handing out on the spot fines to people caught climbing.

The first time I went out to do The Fear (which happened to be the same day I nearly got arrested at The Gap) we were bailed up by a ranger in the car park and told to piss off. We then went down to the Fairfax lookout (where The Fear tops out), to see the same ranger fining a couple of guys who'd just finished The Bolt Ladder.

To sum up, take great care if you plan on climbing out there. All of the successful trips that I've heard of took place mid-week (we did The Fear at 8:00am on a Tuesday morning, for example), and even then there's no guarantee you'll get away with it. We had the misfortune of topping out to find a couple of rangers brush cutting just behind the lookout. Luckily they were making so much noise we managed to get up and back to the car without being noticed.

One last comment before I launch into the route descriptions: North Head is definitely not a place for beginners. Access is difficult and dangerous, retreat is almost impossible, the rock isn't particularly good and virtually all of the fixed protection is seriously weathered. Take care!

The guide for the area is the newly published Sun, Surf and Sandstone online guide book. This crag is described here.

Some people (myself included) find the hideous descent the psychological crux of this route. Take care, take care...

Pitch 1 18m 16
A nice enough pitch, although nothing to write home about. Start about 5m past the nasty step across, below an obvious hanging V corner 10m up. The route heads up this corner, although you wander off to the right past the 3 horrendously rusted 1/2" bolts (take wires) to get there. At the top of the corner, an easy traverse left leads to the comfy belay cave (3 belay bolts: 1 good, 1 barely tolerable and 1 dreadful rusty little mushroom of a thing).

Pitch 2 20m 17M1 or 19
The pitch of the route. Clip the two bolts (1 rusty, 1 good) from the belay ledge, then do "the move" up to the dinner plate in the roof (stick a cheat sling on one of the bolts if it's too hard!). From here steep jug hauling past 1 mediocre bolt leads to a corner (2 ghastly bolts) and the roof. One final "bolt" (I hesitate to call these things bolts!) starts the traverse, which can be well protected with mid size cams at foot level (hard to eyeball, however). At the end of the traverse, take a quick look down into the harbour, swallow your heart, then reach around the lip of the roof and layback on jugs up to a good stance (heaps of bomber gear in a deep horizontal). Take a breather then launch up the overhanging headwall, past a horrible piton (backed up with good mid size cams in the same break) and reach for the top....only to find it's not over yet! The crux of this pitch (at least for me) was the top out, which is a horrendous undercut mantle. Of course you could always just clip the belay bolt (which is as pumpy as hell, but probably easier than attempting the mantle!) and then haul on it. Belay off the fence (if you're not worried about rangers), or off a selection of small to mid size cams this side of the fence.

Incidentally, the traverse on the second pitch is a bit reminiscent of the traverse on the second pitch of "The Spartan" at Mt Piddington, only a lot shorter and a grade or two easier.