Bicheno
5-10 mins
Mostly morning
Granite - Slab to Overhung
Introduction
The bouldering in Bicheno is located on coastal boulders. The boulders can be found at the Blowhole and run north for 300m to a large block with more at Peggys Point. The problems here, although limited in extent, are some of the best in the state. The rock is funky granite that is quite different from the rock at Coles Bay. Generally the rock is clean, except for barnacles. The majority of problems depend on a low tide and swell. See the Mercury or http://www.ntf.flinders.edu.au/TEXT/TIDES/TIDES/tas.html for tide predictions. The weather in winter here is amongst the best in the state, with lots of warm sunny days, which makes Bicheno a good escape from Hobart. In summer you've got the sea right next to the bouldering to cool off in.
Access
Bicheno is on the east coast of Tasmania, about 2 and a half hours from Hobart or Launceston. It is about 35 minutes drive north of Coles Bay.
Camping
There are plenty of campgrounds, motels, shops and takeaways in town.
GPS
The Blowhole Area
There are some great problems on the freestanding boulders and walls around the blowhole. Follow the signs off the main road to get to the the parking area for the Blowhole, then walk 50m out to the obvious block.
Blowhole Boulder
There have been a few problems done here on the boulder next to the Blowhole.
Unnamed
V?Some easier lines have been done on the slabby side of the boulder
Sit start on small crimps up slightly overhanging face. Excellent problem
Whale Boulder
This is the south facing wall about 40m south of the Blowhole.
Sitstart on low hold hit arete and up
Project. Same start as no 1, blast high and right then up.
Flakes
Undercling and up
Flakes to high topout. SDS is project
Classic steep arete to slopey topout
Old Man Boulder
This block is directly across from the Whale boulder:
Sitstart at flake and up groove
Just left of arete, pull up through pockets.
On the back of the same block:
Up nice flake/crack
Warm Up Boulder
Across from the previous problem:
Up juggy face
Up quartz jugs
Up steep quartz arete
Layback off the bulge, pull up through the ridge.
Layback on the crack.
One handed start off the round arête hold, up through jugs. Can be campused for an extra grade.
Starts on the large horizontal overhanging flake. Start hanging underneath, work your way around and up to top out.
Blowhole Walls
There are some great vertical and slightly overhanging square cut walls below and immediately to the south of the Blowhole. Most of these problems depend on a low tide and swell.
Style up the right side of the arete. Sitstart looks hard - V8?
Step onto the wall and its done.
Up from break to small pockets
Up from break
Easy slab
Easy slab
Start on pockets just right of arete
Project - start from big flat hold
Up crack
Up from underclings to pockets
Easy slab
Easy slab
Awkward sitstart and up crack
Awkward sitstart just left of arete and up to jugs
Sitstart off low slot and up steeply to jugs
This is around the corner into the next little zawn, below Blowhole Boulder:
Sitstart up flake to slopey topout
Face using big slots
Project - knob to shallow pockets
Up face using high crimps (hard to reach) to slopey topout. The sitstart will be very hard if it goes.
This is directly under Blowhole Boulder:
Layback up corner
Up arete
Up arete
Exploding Crystal Boulders
These three free standing boulders are about 40m north of the Blowhole. The rock isn't as good as some of the other boulders and tends to be a bit gravelly.
This is the side facing land:
Slab
Slab up highest part of boulder
Slab with underclings
Project
Sitstart at arete
This is the seaward side of the boulders:
Slab
Slab
Sitstart and up crack
Project
This is the northern side of the boulders:
Pull over the slopey shelf from sitting.
Start on slopey protrusions at the base of the left cleft. Slap up and left to the lip and fight upwards.
Hang start on lowest hold on lip above overhang and slap up.
Mushroom Boulder
This is next to the exploding crystal boulders, and the problem faces inland.
Pull up using the crack and anything else, gain the slopey arete and then the top.
Crab Boulders
These boulders are about another 50m north of the Exploding Crystal Boulders.
A heel helps pull up the hanging arete.
Slab
This is the north facing side of the boulders:
Arete over awkward landing
Start off flakes
Go into the gap between problems 1 and 2. There are four different slab problems in there.
Gaston Wall
Some way back towards land from the crab boulders is a nice face.
Pull to a hard move from a thin gaston. V9?
Suntrap Cove
Halfway between Crab Boulders and The Block Area is a small cove with several large boulders on the southern side.
Suntrap Boulder
This is the smooth boulder closest to Suntrap cove. A short walk south along the Foreshore Walk from the Suntrap Cove roadside sign.
Up on flake.
Ugly first move leads to crimp and highstep. Best avoided.
Step onto hold/rock and head for the top.
Pull onto the face with a high foot.
M Hitchcock 2017
Start on slopey rail and head up through more slopes.
M Hitchcock 2017
Start right hand in the corner and left on the arete. One hardish move to gain a higher handhold on the arete then up to a mantle top-out.
Start in crack using right arete.
M Hitchcock 2017
Sharp boulder
This boulder is 100m south of the Suntrap cove boulder. It is sharper than most of the boulders in this area.
Move up left arete.
Start at base of crack using hold and crimp layaway. Move to top of crack layaway and then to the top rounds.
Sit-start on layaway and good hold. Up face to crimp, left hand arete and up.
Start left hand on the undercling and step up into it. Just one move and then the mantle. Sit start would be hard.
Start on the obvious flake. Layaway and head for the top jugs.
The Block Area
Park at the little picnic area on the coast just south of the Gulch area and 300m north of the Blowhole. Wander down to the obvious square cut blocks.
The Wall
This is the vertical wall directly opposite the Block
Using left arete and slopers pull to ledge. Sitstart might be possible, but very hard.
Start off 2 slopers, pull to ledge
Nice corner
Thin face 1m right of corner, don't use corner
Straight up the middle of the wall on crimps with a throw to the top jug.
Corner
Crack
Unnamed
V0Diagonal crack around corner to right of previous problem
Traverse across very thin wall finish up 4.
The wall continues on around to the left:
Right to left traverse
The Block
This is the main free standing boulder:
On the boulder there is a completely blank overhanging face. This problem climbs the steep left arete on pockets.
Pull up off thin slopes
Up off jug to slopes
Up corner
Sit start on the big jug and pull through to the top on slopes
The opposite side of the freestanding boulder:
Unnamed
V3/4(Stand)Just left of the arete pull up on flake and do a tricky mantle over the top of the steep face
Near left arete
Up slab
Up flake
Start as for previous problem but go right to pockets
Start in little depression and up slab using underclings
Up using undercling/crack.
Grey Dog Boulder
This is the orange slab adjacent to the Block.
Unnamed
V0(Stand)Left side of slab
Unnamed
VE(Stand)Crack in middle of slab
Unnamed
V0(Stand)Right side of slab
This problem is just around to the right.
Use the undercling to the top then head left.
Glory Hole
★V0(Stand)In the middle of the back of the Grey Dog boulder, start down in hole, climb the nice flake.
Unnamed
V2(SDS)Start a couple of metres right of Glory Hole off the blocks. Sitstart off sidepull, move L up face.
Unnamed
VE(Stand)Easy cracks to R of previous problem
Unnamed
V0(SDS)Diagonal crack left of arete
This small boulder is just behind the Grey Dog boulder.
The Orange Slab Area
These slabs are about 40-50m east of the Block area and face out to sea.
The Black Slab is about 20m left of the Orange Slab.
Unnamed
V?(Stand)Prow around to the left of the Black Slab - looks nice but a bit scary.
Unnamed
VE(Stand)Crack on left edge of slab
Unnamed
★V1(Stand)Slab 1m R of crack
The Black Slab
★V1(Stand)Up middle of slab on nice dimples
Unnamed
★V0(Stand)Slab 2m R on more dimples
This is the Orange Slab itself.
Project - very thin up the steepest part of the face
Project - Up thin seam on small flakes
Up thin slab
20m right of the Orange Slab is a smaller lower angled slab - The White Slab.
Unnamed
★V1(Stand)Diagonals on L side of slab
Unnamed
V0(Stand)Crack in middle of slab
The White Slab
★V2(Stand)Nice slab 1m right of crack
Unnamed
V0(Stand)Diagonal on R of slab
Peggys Point
The following great free standing boulders are on the Gulch side of Peggys Point. Park near the Silver Sands resort and walk across the oval and down to the coast. The boulders are obvious if you are on the right bit of coastline.
Abalone Boulder
This is the more southerly of the two free standing boulders. It has excellent fine grained rock.
From jug up left to flake
Up large flake
Arete and corner
From the curving crack, pull up the face. V2 from standing.
Up face. SDS is a project
Corner left of arete
Sitstart at the crack. Move left to the big undercling flake on the arete and up. Eliminating the crack from the start would make it harder.
Crack
Sitstart the face (rh pinch the undercling) and pull up to gain the short hanging crack. V1 from standing.
Crack
Face
Crusty arete
Traverse the top lip right around the boulder
Project - Start at Mullet and traverse leftwards without using the top of the boulder to finish at Crab Stick.
This small boulder is about 20m north of the Abalone Boulder:
Low sitstart and up jugs
Crayfish Boulder
This free standing boulder is less than 100m north of the Abalone boulder, and has an overhanging east face.
Up jugs on hanging face. Project - start down in cave and climb up to the face.
Start dangling on slopers over void, throw left heel into groove and mantle into left roof hold, link up onto face.
Brendan Heywood Dec 2013
Project
Sit start in break and up
Sitstart at break and up groove using honker jugs. Brilliant easy problem.
Jump for the great jug and haul your arse over the top. More fun than a barrel full of monkeys.
Start on the big jug on Crayfish and traverse around the horizontal line to finish up Craypot. At problem 3 (project) move between horizontal breaks using awkward jams. A great problem with a little bit of everything - juggy traverse, handjams, campus moves, deep water soloing and a slopey topout.
Diamond Island
Diamond Island has some nice freestanding boulders and walls on its seaward side. To get there park at Redbill Point and walk north along the beach to the spit which connects the island to the mainland. At low tide you should be able to easily walk across. Walk around the southern side of the island for 5 minutes or so until you get the south east corner, where the boulders start.
Moby Dick Wall
This large sheared off wall is the first decent bit of rock you come to. I'm not sure of the names and grades of these problems, but they had chalk on them.
Diamond Boulder
This beautiful free standing boulder is hidden behind the red slabs to the right of the Moby Dick Wall. The first topo is the back of the boulder.
Sitstart up little corner on left side of boulder
Easy featured slab, also the descent
Sitstart under arete, up on big jugs
Up face just right of arete. The thin sitstart might go.
Slab in middle of face. Sitstart might go.
Project - Sitstart up arete to tricky slab
This is the front of the boulder, which faces the sea.
Project - start on high flat hold 1m right of arete. Up to flake and topout.
Sitstart in corner and follow ramp rightwards, then up onto ledge
Up arete from awkward sitstart
Beautiful featured face.
30m south of the Diamond Boulder is this little roof.
Start on hold under left side of roof. Don't use rock to the left.
Start on the right hand edge of the roof, traverse left and then up.
Random Slab
This slab is up and to the left of Moby Dick Wall.
Left side of slab
Middle of slab on nice holds
Right side of slab
Traverse from left to right
Diamond In the Rough Area
From the Moby Dick Wall, head left down a small gulch to find this great area of freestanding boulders and walls. Most of the problems here are easy to moderate, but there are some blank slabs and walls that may or may not have been done.
Face and mantle left of crack
Crack in middle of face. The sit start is a bit awkward
Face using sidepulls.
Easy right arete
Arete
Crack
Sitstart to jugs
Traverse right to left along jugs
Project? - hard slab up arete
Hand crack
Sitstart on arete, up left
Sitstart on arete, go right then up
Nice crack in slab
Nice crack in slab. Can be done as a SDS
Start under little overhang, up and over.
Crack
Nice little arete
Project - start under arete on R of face, move left and up
Cracks up face
Jugs left of arete
Flake in middle of face, up to slab
High holds 2m right of flake, up to slab
Traverse jugs in either direction from corner to corner
Start a couple of metres left of arete on jug, pull up and mantle
SDS, up arete
Little Beach
Little Beach is 35km North of Bicheno. Several km's past the Elephant Pass turn off look for the Little Beach sign almost at the bottom of a dip. Its a lovely spot for swimming, fishing and bouldering. Head down to the beach then north, the boulder is in the first alcove along the beach.
The sand now is completely gone and probably made the boulder better. The starts have now dropped by around 1.5m.
Take a couple of pads and it should be good.
Most problems below will have changed a lot, rename/rewrite as necessary.
Straight up using jugs. The sit start will probably go.
Use more jugs and up. The sit start looks hard but will probably go.
Project. Head up and left.
Pull up to side pulls then jugs to top.
Hardest line. Cool looking problem.
Project. Arete to slopey topout.