- Written by Mat Young. Outdoor Professional, Tasmania Guide, and an Ambassador for K2 Base Camp. -

10 Rock Climbing Routes in SEQ to Level Up Your Progression

South-East Queensland is home to a huge amount of climbing that is both adventurous and accessible. It wasn’t until I moved away that I realised how fortunate local climbers are to have such an abundance of accessible climbing to progress through. It’s a great training ground for aspiring climbers with everything from super simple, low-grade sport crags to challenging, adventure trad lines which I have heard described as “death on a stick.” Whatever floats your boat!

I’m proud to have climbed hundreds of routes throughout the region while I lived in Brisbane and I think this gives me a great understanding of what’s on offer. It’s also where I progressed from a gym climbing noob to a solid trad climber. The following list is based on this experience and provides a reference for climbers based in SEQ to judge the next step in their progression from what’s on offer nearby. Of course, there are other routes and crags, as well as different directions you might take: Sticking with sport climbing is an obvious one. But for anyone who sees themselves climbing abroad or climbing bigger routes; progressing from single-pitch sport, through multi-pitch to trad is a natural progression.

It is worth stressing from the outset that many, many pitches need to be climbed between each stage of this progression to prepare you for the next stage.

1 – Andromeda Wall, Mt Ngungun

This is the perfect place to lead and climb your first outdoor pitches, for anyone just getting into climbing it’s a great place to build confidence and progress your skills in a low-commitment environment. The crag is a short walk from the carpark and offers highly featured, low-angle rock to practice the mechanics of leading and cleaning a route.

2 – Candy mountain, Tibro

This small crag offers slightly harder climbing but is still a very beginner friendly spot with a straight-forward approach. Again, a short walk from the carpark, with slightly more vertical routes to continue your grade progression. Here you will continue to gain confidence and competence moving in vertical terrain. It’s also a good place to get used to the style of climbing at Tibro, given the rest of this list.

3 – Zeitgeist, Tibro

At 105m or 3 pitches, this is a great first multipitch, short with a simple descent unlike Traxion Action or Troposphere which are slightly more complex outings. It bears saying that multipitch climbing is significantly more complex than single pitch climbing, specific systems are utilised to progress up the wall and knowing these before setting off is important. Other skills like rappelling are also essential prerequisites for completing multipitch routes so your progression from single to multi-pitch is likely one of the bigger steps you’ll take in your climbing journey.

4 – Banished for Infidelity, Tibro

Once you’ve done the lower-grade classics like Zeitgeist, Troposphere, Traxion Action and Ross Miller Route, Banished is a good, challenging multi with an optional adventurous finish. The reason I picked Banished instead of any other route is because of my personal history with it. As a brand-new outdoor climber, it took me 3 fear-filled attempts to get up this route; climbing it again, years later, my partner and I romped up it and had a great time doing so. This being the case I think it’s a decent benchmark for multipitch competence. There are plenty of multis around with higher grades for those seeking progression with more of a physical challenge, but this progression continues in another direction.

5 – Upper Cliffs, Mt Ngungun

There aren’t many places that beat this crag for an introduction to trad climbing, it features low grades, decent rock and plenty of gear. Unlike other places in the Glasshouse, where trad is synonymous with being “a bit deathly” as one friend put it, the column structure of the cliff provides ample gear placements. The highly featured rock also makes it a bit more friendly to learn at than Frog which requires new trad leaders to learn crack climbing techniques at the same time. Unfortunately, there are only a few routes here to work through, but I still think it’s a great crag for your intro to trad.

6 – The Martian, Mt Beerwah

A spectacular day out, combining a fairly long approach with bolted slab and moderate trad, all in an adventurous setting. Route-finding challenges, bolted anchors and good gear combine to make this a fun route for climbers comfortable on moderate terrain. It’s a good step up for those who are looking to use their new trad skills in an adventurous yet relatively low consequence setting.

7 – Ruby of India, Mt Maroonek

Once you can comfortably lead Icehouse and maybe a couple of the easy trad multis on Tibro, as well as having a solid understanding of the mechanics of trad anchors, ROI is the next logical progression. With relatively sound rock and lots of good gear ROI deserves its place as the mega classic trad multi in South-East Queensland. It’s a great route and another benchmark of the region indicative of a certain level of competence. Once you can safely climb the route while swinging leads, placing good gear and building solid anchors that is.

8 – Frog Buttress

If you’re going to continue pursuing trad, a trip to Frog in winter is a rite of passage. Generations of gripped trad noobs have imbued the cracks of Frog with sweat, blood and fear, myself included. If you progress past climbing at Frog congratulations, you’ve made it, many don’t and just go back to clipping blots. Crack climbing can feel desperate to learn, it did for me, but I think it makes you a much better, more well-rounded climber. It’s also an essential skill for a trad climber, as cracks are often where you’ll be placing gear regardless of the route/rock type.

9 – Leaning Ridge, Mt Barney

A slight variation from the trend here but bear with me. Leaning Ridge is a long scramble offering exposure and an obligatory rappel. Skilled movement through mountain terrain is essential for this adventure; that and the fitness gains will set you up well for the next route in this progression. Experience in other places, on bigger routes, has taught me the importance of developing this skill if you want to progress past what’s on offer locally. Being able to crush some vert and still climb strong is essential in my experience.

10 – The Governor

Another benchmark in SEQ climbing: The Governor is an adventurous, committing and sustained outing that takes a full day to complete. It’s only after you’ve hiked up 1000m of vert, rapped in and climbed several pitches that you reach the crux, at the very top, with massive exposure. As a day out The Governor is as big as it gets and a proud achievement for any climber. The vision of the first ascensionists is commendable and as a climber, once you have successfully climbed it, your eyes will open to a world of possibilities. It’s that kind of route.

This piece is not meant to be instructive, in fact, I’ve stayed away, as much as possible from making references to how you should complete any of these routes. It is simply my intent to provide inspiration, I remember as a newer climber often wondering where and how I should direct my energy to continue developing my skills. Climbers capable of progressing through such a list will be self-motivated, strong leaders, and savvy outdoors people who are confident in assessing and managing risk.

Have fun and climb safely!