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Hi,
Moving to Perth next August for work from ChCh, NZ… 5-yr contract at UWA.
questions:
– best gym for training? My training is steep bouldering, campusing. and traversing for fitness.
– closest & best outdoor bouldering around town (as i’ve been told there’s no decent sport climbing near town)?
Thanks
“as i’ve been told there’s no decent sport climbing near town”
You’re right! There’s absolutely no climbing anywhere around Perth or WA for that matter! All the photos at http://www.climberswa.asn.au/photos/ have just been scanned out of books from other states or overseas or photoshopped so it looks like there is climbing in WA!
nice one numbat. convince him that wa is full of sarcastic a-holes…. not that reading this forum would make him see otherwise.
and yeah, i think that you will find mate that WA is purgatory for climbers. most take up kiteboarding, road bike racing or lassitude coupled with cynicism.
Wow, neither of you answered this poor guys questions:
Sadly my kiwi friend, perth is no Christchurch for climbing. HOWEVER there are places around to keep yourself busy.
Thereās a few gyms around the metro area, I like rockface, which is close to the city centre. Good bouldering, plenty to keep you traversing, and they encourage people to mark out their own problems, and the other gym junkies can come try out your moves š
If Iām not wrong, UWA has some limited indoor stuff on campus too.
I havenāt been bouldering everywhere around perth, but certainly blackwall reach is a popular destination in the summer (oct-april) āitās limestone that sits out on the swan river, so if you take a spill, you land in the drink āwhich, if itās on a day like the bureau is saying about tomorrow (42 degrees) then youāll probably happier in the water than out š -keep in mind that itās limestone, so expect to find yourself in the water every now and again with your latest handhold still in your hand. (thereās a couple of vids on youtube of some guys mucking around to give you an idea of the place)
Sadly for bouldering, you will find perth and surrounds remarkably free of anything that looks anything like a boulder. They just donāt seem to hang out over here.
There is a range of hills which run in a north-south orientation about 50km inland from the ocean, and thatās where youāll find most of the near-perth climbing āor traversing, if thatās what youāre after. A fair shot of the climbing is quarry, but there are a few notable exceptions which you can browse through on this site.
I hope this helps
thanks ben for your help. it’s true that we’re a bit spoiled in ChCh, with the Cave 5km from downtown, and castle hill an hour away. oh well, i guess i’ll mostly try to stay fit on plastic and plan the odd trip on rock here and there when family duties permit.
cheers
etn
yeah nice one ben and you really answered his question. truth be known, bouldering is one thing that perth does have (more and better than the rope climbing that is)
crankdownproductions.com/areaPage.htm
sport climbing round perths pretty much limited to mountain and stathams quarrys, there are some good routes amongst them , but dont be surprised to find that most are at least partially (or almost totally) manufactured.
it can be excruciatingly hot there in summer unless you get up early and follow the shade
youll need some bolt plates as well
kalbarri has some excellent sport climbing (7hrs north) for the cooler months
wallcliffe has some very good limestone routes 3 hrs south at margaret river with the added buzz ahem of resident bees
bobs hollow is a nice steep limestone crag in the same area with some great lines
there are also a handful of quality sport routes at willyabrup (3 hrs south) plus some excellent trad lines and is well worth a look
blackwall reach is excellent for training being right on the river in the city with the bonus of plummeting bogans and swimming, there are some good steep circuts , generally the rock is very solid even when it looks brittle.
there is some great developed granite bouldering in the hills around perth but my knowledge of this is limited
rockface is a decent gym, good steep bouldering wall etc. in a suitably dingy urban setting
there is some absolutely stunning climbing in WA its just a matter of being prepared to drive (for kiwis) long distances, and in the interval, there is enough around town to keep you busy
“If Iām not wrong, UWA has some limited indoor stuff on campus too.”
There are some holds bolted onto a brick wall on the South side of the swimming pool, I don’t know of anything indoors though.
Boulder Rock and Kalamunda Boulders (some mini-guides are avilable made by a ‘Ben’ – this Ben?) are great bouldering places… just don’t expect the kind of choice you get with Castle Hill, Font, etc.
A reminder that offensive language or abusive messages will be removed from the forum.
My sincere apologies for the extremely rude and sarcastic response you received from someone who appears not to have anything better to do with their time and does not even have the courage to use their own name. In keeping with website use policy, those posts will be deleted.
Thanks to those who bothered to provide some useful info.
Please also consider joining CAWA when you arrive. We run trips periodically and it’s a good way to make climbing contacts.
I also meant to note that Mike is correct-there is plenty of bouldering around Perth.
“i’ve been told there’s no decent sport climbing near town”
“offensive language or abusive messages”
I am offended by all the people saying there is no ‘decent climbing’ in WA. There is probably more ‘decent climbing’ within 3 hours drive of Perth than any other city in Australia apart from Sydney. With 4 hours, well, Melbourne wins easily. Extend that to 6 hours and Perth probably wins.
Numbat, I don’t see how the original poster’s query could be considered offensive. Sure, you might disagree with the assertion about decent sport climbing, however they were simply asking about what they had heard. Since you feel so passionately about this, perhaps you could have helped them out by describing why this isn’t the case.
I haven’t been there yet, but some of the boulder problems at Millar’s look amazing. Probably not ideal for a quick session after work though…
There are about 800 climbs within 1hr drive from the CBD, about 1/2 of them are pretty good. See downloadable guidebook on CAWA site. It will keep you going for years….unlike you like overhanging sport routes in which case welcome to hell š
Being a numbat and therefore WA-centric you have obviously never been to hobart.
Hi,
PLenty of decent bouldering around perth, from just outsdie the city at a place called Pipeline. To Millars about 45 minutes drive south, and then Mt Cooke and also Point 45. Shit-tonne really. Go to delacy.smugmug.com and go to the climbing gallery. There you’ll find photos and also there are a couple of guides there. At least for Millars and Mt Cooke. Evertything done thus far is up to about v8-9 in those areas. harder stuff may not exist, but with vision anything is possible. No to mention you’re probably used to doing problems without holds on em (i.e. castle hill) so you’ll probably see things the locals have not.
Also for the Pipeline guide, follow that webpage to a guy called mushy. He has got a guide on his smugmug account for pipelines.
Few classics around to make mention of. Prize Fight, V8 highball, in my opinion is world class (coming from a world travelled boulderer to by the way, castle hill, hueco, bishop, joes valley, rocklands, grampians etc), take some pads. Savage bliss, V8 ish, at Millars, perfect 45 degree incut crimps to a dyno lip move and commting top out (mind the landing). Inshala, V7 Millars great start in huecos, dynamic moves to gain the lip. Secret government ninja moves V6, Pipelines, very cool and tricky.
Anyway, good luck on your 5 year contract at UWA (no bouldering there). Be sure to get out there and dont let the naysayers beat you down.. Fuck em!! Get out and enjoy the bouldering especially. You’ll find the sports climbing easy enough as thats all anyone does there now. But go get onto the blocks.. you’ll find enough to enjoy yourself for a couple fo winter seasons at least.
oh yeah.. crankdownproductions.com.au also for guides. Really good website.
Hey, thanks to all who provided helpful info. Sorry if I hurt the local pride of some ppl by saying that “i’ve heard there’s no decent sport climbing around town”. By around town I meant less than 30 min drive, the type of stuff you can do after a work day.
Anyway, thanks for the info and I look forward to sample some of WA’s rock. In any case, as years go by I find that with climbing it is the quality of climbing crowd that is most important. Good rock is a bonus.
Cheers
etn.
From UWA, the nearest bouldering is at Cottesloe Wall. Of course, whether or not you ignore the signs that say ‘Climbing Prohibited’ is entirely up to you. Cot Wall is a 2 – 7 m high granite block wall next to a rugby field and is about 10 minutes drive, 20 minutes bike ride, 30 minute bus and walk from UWA. It’s pretty boring, but can be fun on a nice evening with friends before you go to the Left Bank or Albion (pubs).
About the same distance from UWA and only 5 minutes from Cot Wall is Peppermint Grove. This is a 8 m high overhanging limestone … ‘cragette’. Bouldering there is OK, but you get bored after 15 minutes. There are also two bolted lines. You need a rope if you do these, as a fall means you go splat. Once again, if you so desire, ignore the warning signs there.
Here’s a photo taken by someone:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12193756
Then on the other side of the river is Blackwall Reach. Limestone, up to 8 m high. More deep-water bouldering really. This is where most people go for an ‘after work’ climb/boulder/swim.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12219422
Hay, Princess Dena, you wrote “A reminder that offensive language or abusive messages will be removed from the forum.” and “does not even have the courage to use their own name”
So are you going to delete the naughty words by ‘Boulderer’?
Can we please stop picking apart whether every single message should be deleted? It is getting boring. Just provide useful information, like you have done, and avoid the drama.
