Diamond Falls and Narrow Neck trad crags reopened back in June and our access into the northern Narrowneck climbing areas is now permitted. However, this is a reminder to please still stay away from all crags beyond (south of) Diamond Falls until Autumn 2021. This is to reduce the spread of a sporadic phytophora fungus (spread accidentally by us when walking around) which can eliminate local species during this sensitive regrowth period.Access NOT PERMITTED into: – Red Ledge and Red Ledge Pass- Far Side- Boganville- Castle Head / Ruined Castle HeadAccess permitted into- Diamond Falls – Narrowneck Crags (Pump Station to Herbaceous Gully) Native vegetation regeneration is very sensitive to trampling and trail formation after the fires. We can all have a positive impact by strictly following established trails in these recently opened areas and avoid entering areas which are still closed. If you don’t know your way – go with someone who does. The usual rules apply in National Parks – no dogs, fires or smoking (see ACANSW’s update on Winter Access Issues). Thanks to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service for working hard on recovery efforts and keeping us updated on the status of access into these areas that were so badly affected by the summer fires. Everyone’s ongoing patience whilst the last few areas recover from one hell of a bushfire season is appreciated. ACANSW will continue to stay in touch with Blue Mountains Council and NSW National Parks regarding access into areas that were impacted by the summer bushfires. Happy Climbing!

The NSW government is proposing to build a 4 lane highway across the top of Centennial Glen and Porters Pass as part of the Great Western Highway Upgrade. We need your help to stop this environmental vandalism! Our crags are in danger of being heavily affected by traffic noise, polluted water in the creeks, rubbish and destruction of the very bush we walk through to get to these climbing areas. Your emails to politicians and the government is the only way of stopping this.

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There are several on-going access issues in the Blue Mountains. Don’t let your actions stuff it up for everyone else! When climbing in our wonderful Bluies, please adhere to the following to ensure you’re not having a negative impact on our access.

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Hunter/Central Coast Crag Care had its first Crag Care Day on Sunday September 8^th at Monkey Face, Watagans National Park. There was amazing support from the local climbing community. About twenty enthusiastic, hard-working climbers turned up on the day to help out. These included members from Newcastle University Mountaineering Club, staff and members of the Pulse Climbing Gym, and other local climbers.

The morning started with motivating briefings from the Watagans National Park Local Ranger Jeff Johnson and NPWS Bush Regeneration and Volunteer Coordinator Nicola Booth. The main target of the morning was to remove Lantana from the area between the Lower Crag Access Trail and Gap Creek Falls Camping Area. Lantana is regarded as one of the debilitating weeds in Australia because of its invasiveness, potential for spread and environmental impact.

The group put in a huge effort and we got great results. Acknowledgement must be given to Pulse Climbing Gym for the wonderful morning tea sponsored by them. Dan Wilde organised a beautiful range of fruits, nut bars and muffins. They were thoroughly enjoyed by all.

 It was a fantastic way to get together, to meet some new people and to have the opportunity to give back by helping to restore and maintain the ecosystem of one of our favourite rock climbing sites.

Sixteen keen bods turned up for the first clean and climb day at Sydney’s iconic Lindfield Rocks bouldering area. The first 90 minutes were spent hunting sparse rubbish. We got about 3 big bags of rubbish, a pallet, 10kg of tiles, and a few syringes. This was run as a satellite Clean Up Australia event which gave us gloves, bags, a first aid kit, and helped with the council picking up our pile’o’crap at the end. Many thanks to all that helped to keep our park clean. SRC hopes to make this a regular event.

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Many climbers don’t know that this popular Blue Mountains sport crag is actually accessed via private property. Car-parking along the narrow country road has become a major issue in recent years, with the land owners becoming increasingly worried about potential traffic accidents and people camping in the carpark for multiple days. ACANSW has worked with the land owners to replant the edges of the road with native seedlings to limit the available car parking spots. There has also been new signage installed to encourage more sensible car parking and highlight the no dogs & no camping rules. Please be on your best behavior at this crag as access is very much the whim of the private land owners. Any concerns please get in contact with ACANSW.

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On the 17th of August ACANSW’s Nowra group held their inaugural crag care clean up day at the Grotto cliff-line. Working with local Bushcare volunteers they collected a heap of rubbish that had been thrown off the lookouts by tourists and locals (not climbers). Several bikes, shopping trolleys and even a scooter was collected! Good work crew.

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A few weeks have passed since Radiata Plateau (The Pit, Waylander, Elphinstone, The Egg and The Nest crags) was listed for public sale. Several players have shown an interest, but no one’s bought it. Yet. So what’s been going on? Well, after a few weeks of radio silence we have something to report.

We’ve been working with several organisations to get this crowdfunding campaign off the ground, and one of them is the Blue Mountains Conservation Society. They have been lobbying the State Government to buy Radiata Plateau and make it part of the national park estate for decades, and now they‘re giving it one last shot. They’ve been getting great press and putting the plateau on the agenda.

Here’s how you can get behind them:

1. Copy this text:
Dear Mr Kean,
I believe that the State Government should purchase Radiata Plateau, with a binding commitment to include it in the national park estate, secure public access and protect it from development forever.
Sincerely,
(your name here)
2. Put your name in the (your name here) field.
3. Go to this website: https://www.nsw.gov.au/…/minister-for-energy-and-environme…/, fill out the required fields and hit send.
(Of course if you’d like to write your own personalized letter that’s fine too!)

If this works out, we might not even need to crowdfund 💕 We’ll keep you posted as things unfold.

And a massive THANK YOU to everyone who’s following this with us! We are so thrilled to have you here 😃 Here’s hoping we see a good outcome for Radiata Plateau soon.