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
The Rock Adventure Centre in Newtown, Geelong's indoor climbing centre since 2001, closes for good on Saturday 7 November 2026. Here's what is ending and where the city's climbers can go next, from Industry Boulders in Grovedale to the granite of the You Yangs.
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
Ipswich, Gympie and Campbelltown got their first bouldering gyms in 2026, Rocky Climb opened in Rockhampton and Geelong's Industry Boulders expanded. Three Melbourne gyms are on the way, and two long-running gyms close in November.
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
Since August 2024 Adelaide has gained three bouldering gyms: Urban Climb in a former Hindley Street cinema, a new Beyond Bouldering gym in Thebarton and Laneway Boulders in Stepney, and Adelaide's Bouldering Club has moved to Urban Climb. Here's what opened when, and what each offers.
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
9 Degrees is closing its Lane Cove bouldering gym on Friday 13 November 2026, after eight years, because its landlord is taking the space back. Passes and memberships carry over to its gyms in Chatswood, Parramatta, Waterloo and Alexandria.
Joe Rushton
The Canberra Climbers' Association is marking 60 years since the first recorded climb at Booroomba Rocks with a members' trad meet on 21 and 22 November 2026, two months after the crag's access road reopened following a closure that began in May.
Joe Rushton
Winnipeg is on the prairie, but the Canadian Shield starts just east of the city. Here's where to climb outside, from Lac du Bonnet's granite boulders to the 350-plus routes around Kenora.
Joe Rushton
Nova Scotia's coast is covered in sharp granite. Here's where to boulder and climb near Halifax, from Chebucto Head and Peggy's Cove to Dover Island and Mainface, and the access rules to know first.
Joe Rushton
From Canmore's long season to ice walls and frozen falls in or near Edmonton, Quebec City, Montréal and Trois-Rivières: where to try ice climbing in Canada, and how to start safely.
Joe Rushton
