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Cosmic County
Located about 6km east of Lithgow is Cosmic County, a crag renowned for its concentration of classic routes. Not only does the crag feature great routes, but the rock is also of consistently good quality, with many fine walls, slabs, aretes and rooves.
Most of the routes here are single pitch, with both great sport routes and some amazing crack lines. The cliff faces primarily south west, although because the walls face in many different directions sun and shade options abound.
Note: Access to Cosmic County is currently in dispute. Please don't piss off landowners or the SRA by climbing at the crag. See the climbing news page for details.
The guide books for the area are the "Rockclimbs in the Upper Blue Mountains (2nd Edition)" guide book and Rock magazine's "The Cosmic County Guide".
Midlife Crisis 28m 21
Marked. A great, direct line that gets increasingly difficult with height. 5 BRs, 2 pitons and a #3 camalot placement make this a generally well protected excursion, although gaining the first little roof is quite a way above the first bolt and the crux is about 2.5m above the last bolt (but it's a pretty clean fall, as we found out!). Take some slings for the tree belay.
Xerxes 30m 16
Marked. A deceptively tricky but extremely well protected start leads to easy, low angled slab climbing. 7 BRs in all (take brackets) to a triple BR belay (take brackets for the belay, too).
High Plains Drifter 40m 16
Marked. A nice, longer route with well spaced but adequate pro down low then increasing gear higher up. From the undercut start (take care, since the first gear is about 5m up) head straight up the wall past a hollow flake (take care!) then basically straight up to a ledge below two BRs (which are not part of the route). Step left to the thin crack (wires/small hexes) and up this to the top and a bolt and chain belay. There are no bolts on the route itself, so take a standard rack of cams (to #3 camalot size) and a set of wires.
Clutching at Straws 40m 20
Marked. A hard, bouldery start leads to pleasant slab climbing past 4 or 5 BRs (take brackets) to a ledge. Straight up from the ledge past another 2 BRs (crux) to a short crack (take some wires). Double BRs for the belay.
Clip or Die 40m 21
Marked. Easily up the slab past the spike and the first BR (be careful with the spike since large carabiners won't sit in it properly). Continue up the slab past many BRs (about 13 clips in total) and the occasional rest, then traverse left to the base of the roof. Crux moves to get up into the roof, then hard moves right under the roof to the double bolt belay.
Eighty Minute Hour 30m 18
A truly excellent climb up a spacey, undercut arete. The start is hard and underprotected, so it might be wise to preplace the first cam (by traversing in from the left). Once started, easily up to the first ledge, then step left over the void and up to the next ledge. Step left over the void (again!) and easily up the juggy wall to the top (double bolt belay). 4 BRs, but take some large hexes (#10/#11) for some pockets about halfway up and a variety of small to medium cams for the rest of the climb. A must do climb while at Cosmic.
How Much is That Doggy in the Window 27m 14
Not bad to warm up on, perhaps, but otherwise pretty ordinary. Four BRs plus one RB to a chain and huge ring bolt belay on top of the block. Rap descent off the chain and rap ring.
Wagland's Effort 35m 15
A surprisingly good route, with a wide variety of moves, and some good exposure higher up. Start just right of the bolted overhang, where a slightly chossy crack punches through the bulge. Boulder up this to a ledge and then on up the thin, right hand corner. Traverse left and up to the scooped arete (there's a hanger around the arete to the left for protection) then nice moves up the arete to another ledge and a ring bolt. Continue easily up the arete and either belay on the comfortable ledge just below the top (cams) or continue up to the top (ring bolt and fixed hanger belay).
Allied Chemical News 15m 17
A really nice climb up an exposed, juggy wall. A little run out, particularly given the quality of the bolts, but the moves between bolts are basically easy, so there's no cause for concern. A single move crux just above the third bolt provides the excitement, then its a juggy cruise to the top. Take some tape for the first bolt, and for one of the two belay bolts.
Beef Industry 30m 16
A nice, if somewhat vegetated, corner crack with good gear and good holds. Good small cams and medium wires the entire way up, with a cam and tree belay on the ledge to the right.
Cocky's Shout (Trogolodyte Variant) 33m 13
A very unusual outing up the inside of the cliff (in a cave behind the obvious wide crack). Squeeze chimney or pleasant face climbing to the cave at the base of the wide crack, then chimney up the cave (take at least one #4.5 or #5 camalot as they're the only protection). The climb re-emerges at about 3/4 height, and continues up the face above (various cams/hexes) to a small ledge. Either belay here (small to medium cams) or continue up the easy wall above to the top (tree belay). Be careful of rope drag over the chockstone at the top of the chimney.
Piece of Edge 30m 11
A great climb up a nice clean face, with a touch of exposure at the top to spice things up. Easy but runout climbing to the bulge at about 10m (small cam on the left), then really nice moves up the discontinuous crack system above (lots of wires - small then large) to the top (comfy tree belay).
Extensions 30m 11
Another great climb, and a tad harder than Piece of Edge. Easy climbing beside the vegetated crack to a nice (but short!) jam crack. Up this past a bush then on up the upper crack (great wires, hexes or cams) to the top (comfy belay off two large trees).
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