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The Cathedral, Woronora

The Cathedral, Woronora is situated barely 50 metres from the edge of the Woronora River, in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Located in the middle of a large reserve, the crag is leafy and pleasant, and is very peaceful when the numerous speed boats on the river aren't about (which isn't often!). Presumably because of the (relatively) long walk in, The Cathedral doesn't seem to see as much climbing as other Sydney crags either, so you can have the pick of the climbs here, too.

Access to the crag by public transport isn't the best, with a 40 minute walk from Sutherland railway station the easiest way to get there. Walk west from the station, past the cemetary and then down the cement path to the river. Walk upstream and cross the footbridge, and continue upstream on the waters edge for approximately 1km. The crag is quite obvious, about 20m to the right of the track, but the path up to it isn't all that clear. If you drive, its best to park at the footbridge and walk from there (you save yourself the walk down the hill from Sutherland).

The main attraction of The Cathedral is its height. The highest part of the wall reaches almost 30m in height, making it one of the highest suburban crags in Sydney. The rock itself is also quite unusual, being much more coarse grained than other Sydney sandstones. The wall also contains some unusual rock formations (such as Ozone Action, described below), that make for interesting climbing.

A major disincentive for climbing at The Cathedral, however, are the millions of mosquitoes that seem to swarm out of everywhere whenever climbers turn up. Not only that, but a number of people have found ticks on themselves after climbing here. In other words, bring a strong insect repellent!

There's a large tree towards the middle of the cliff (above Get Out of Town), that's great as a permanent rap station if you've brought a second rope. Be careful though, since my 50m rope didn't touch the bottom when it was doubled. A better idea is to tie one end of the rope to the tree and abseil on the single rope instead.

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


Sport Neuron Nerd 10m 16
One of the short slab climbs at the right hand end of the cliff. Scramble up to the Tarmac Traverse (marked), and left to the second line of bolts. Clip the rusty old fixed hanger then up the wall past 3 BRs. Belay off a large-ish tree about 5m back from the edge. More like 14.


Sport Cathedral Quack 10m 16
The next line of bolts to the left of Neuron Nerd. Clip the rap chains, then up past 3 BRs. Belay off the same tree as Neuron Nerd. More like 15.


Recommended Ozone Action 20m 17
A great, sustained climb up an unusual water-cut chute formation. Layback up the lip of the chute (crux 1) past a fixed hanger to the top of the first shield and a hands-free stance. Clip the second fixed hanger and continue to the top of the chute (sling over second shield). Continue up the crack (crux 2) on rounded holds to the face (cams/hexes and maybe a large nut or two). Face climb up the crack (small cams low down) on good holds past a marginal, rusty bolt to the top (the face is a little runout, so place good pro lower down). Belay off the same tree as Neuron Nerd and Cathedral Quack. The first fixed hanger is spinning on the bolt, so if someone is planning on a visit to the crag, bring a spanner.


Recommended Get Out of Town/Vitez 25m 18
These two climbs are very close together, and make for a fantastic, sustained climb when combined together. Jam/layback up Vitez past a dodgy-looking bolt to a large opening (the pea pod). Shimmey and stem up the pea pod (cams/hexes), then cross over onto the face (Get Out of Town) at about the height of the chains. Thin face climbing up the wall (crux) past 3BRs to a pretty bad top out (head right for the block). I made a couple of layback moves on the edge of the Vitez crack higher up Get Out Of Town, but didn't actually get back into the crack.

Map of The Cathedral, Woronora


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