Climbing news, events, guides and advice, from new walls and competitions to how to start climbing.
The Blue Mountains hold about 7,300 routes, many of them bolted sport climbs on sandstone around Blackheath, Mount Victoria and Katoomba. Here's where to start, when to go, the access rules, guidebooks and courses, and the gyms on the way.
Joe Rushton
What a casual entry gets you, what shoe and harness hire cost, why you sign a waiver and do an induction, how belay and lead checks work, what weekly direct-debit memberships involve, and the age, chalk and etiquette rules at Australian climbing gyms in 2026.
Joe Rushton
Melbourne's free outdoor bouldering walls, from Burnley's volunteer-built walls under the Monash Freeway to council walls in Brunswick, Footscray, Southbank, Chadstone, Point Cook and Cranbourne South, and a campus wall in Frankston: where each one is, what it's like and how to use it well.
Joe Rushton
Kangaroo Point Cliffs is a free, floodlit crag on the Brisbane River, a short walk from the CBD. Here's what the climbing is like, how the old quarry came to be, the council's rules on anchors and groups, and how to move safely from the gym to the rock.
Joe Rushton
Sport Climbing Queensland's youth bouldering championships come to GRIPswich Bouldering in Ipswich on 31 October and 1 November 2026, with state titles and qualification for the Australian Youth Boulder Nationals at stake.
Joe Rushton
The same headline day price does not make three gyms identical. Compare Zagreb's bouldering venues by training boards, location, entrance instructions and the conditions attached to a ticket.
Joe Rushton
From Sarajevo's training boards to evening sessions in Mostar and Banja Luka, the important first step is choosing the right club session—not simply turning up at a map pin.
Joe Rushton
Every Belgian crag is on private or public land, and only members of a climbing federation may climb there. Here's how access works, how to bring a friend who isn't a member, and where to start, from Freÿr to the Ourthe.
Joe Rushton
Belgium has no legal belay licence, but many Flemish halls ask for the KBF's KVB card before you climb on a rope, while halls in Brussels and Wallonia run their own briefings, tests and badges. Here's what to expect, hall by hall.
Joe Rushton
Austria's Alpine Club issues Kletterschein belay cards, but almost none of the halls we list asks to see one. Here's what they ask of roped climbers instead, from signed declarations and staff checks to membership rules and children's consent forms.
Joe Rushton
Where to climb on real rock in Austria, from bouldering in the Zillertal and the Maltatal to sport crags in the Wilder Kaiser, the Ötztal and the hills around Vienna, plus how via ferratas are graded and when to go.
Joe Rushton
From Flatanger's granite cave, home of the first 9c, to Lofoten's granite and Rjukan's ice, here are Norway's best-known climbing areas, when to go, and the right-to-roam rules climbers need to know.
Joe Rushton