Flinders Island

Flinders Island has a lot of bouldering potential. It is mostly undeveloped as of yet. The following text is from Nick Hancock, and is included here with his permission.

Located off the northeast coast of Tasmania, Flinders Island is home to a largely undeveloped, and magnificently varied, granite, climbing wonderland. Extensive multi-pitch cliffs vie for attention, along with a myriad of shorter climbs and an almost unlimited number of boulders. To visit the island is much more than just another climbing holiday, it means a return to the Australia of old, a place where nature and the landscape dominates, and the few inhabitants are really friendly and genuinely interested in what you are doing there. Flinders Island is so much more than the perfect climbing destination, it is an oasis of unspoilt mountains and beaches, where encounters with wildlife, both above and below the surface of the ever present sea, is as important as the designer boulders and the vast number of, so far, untrodden lines.

The coastal boulders are what really makes Flinders Island unique, and with the current popularity of the sub-sport, are likely to become the major drawcard for climbers in the future. This is real bouldering, the aim being to get to the top of seemingly impossible summits, with the nearby crystal clear seas providing a welcome distraction, if it gets too hot to send your latest piece de resistance!

Killiecrankie

She Oak Point and Blyth Point in the far north of the island have a great collection of easier problems to about V3 in a beautiful situation, with countless new possibilities.

The Dark Crystal

The amazing boulder before the climbers hut on the seaward side of the path has a few high quality problems. The bolted route seen from the path is called Stingray.

Stegasaur

★4mV0

Lovely but often slippery! Sit or stand start. Down climb the problem.

Wearing Rags

★★★5mV2

Sit Start on red stained hold. Move right to pinch, back left to jug and out left and up via a good pocket.

April 2022 Simon Bischoff and Hannah Vasiliades

Fatal Shore

★★5mV3

Sit start on jug, move up and right to cool underling in the crack. Cross over 'Wearing rags' at the jug and finish up the crack on the right.

April 2022

Climbers Hut boulders

Killer Crank

★★★V6(Highball, Stand)

The standout problem of the island can be found on a huge leaning boulder directly opposite to the entrance to The Castle. Very reminiscent of Midnight Lightning in Yosemite's Camp 4, and like that climb needs a cool head to top out on the V2 climbing that comes after the crux!

Nick Hancock

Killer Crank Right

★★V6(Highball, Stand)

Start as for Killer Crank, but head out right via lng move/dyno after crux move, to finish via right arete.

T. Krauss, 2014

Killicrankie High Violet

★★V11(Highball, Stand)

Right hand arete of the boulder from a stand start to the top.

J. Trainer, Some Time In The Past

Killiecrankie Castle

The following problem is inside Killiecrankie Castle.

Unnamed

VE(SDS)

Climb up and out the back of the hut. Harder if you exclude the rafters.

The following boulders and problems are located on the boulders backing onto the climbers hut.

Front Boulder

This is the largest of the boulders in the small group next to the climbers hut.

Unnamed

VE(Stand)

Climb the slab and runnel.

Unnamed

On the western side of the boulder next to the trees. Jump to the pocket and mantle onto the slab.

Middle Boulder

Unnamed

V1(SDS)

Climb the right arete of the petite stand alone boulder.

M. Hitchcock 2010

Unnamed

V3(Stand)

Start on the obvious rightfacing hold in centre of face and righthand crimp. Pull on and head up to topout.

M. Hitchcock 2010

Unnamed

★V4(SDS)

Start matched on the low crimp then boulder up right following the arete.

M. Hitchcock 2010

Unnamed

V3(SDS)

Starting on the same crimp as #3 this problem climbs the point of the boulder.

M. Hitchcock 2010

Back Boulder

The next boulder south has some great overhanging problems.

Up the South-western arete starting on the low horizontal crack.

Unnamed

VE(SDS)

Layback the crack to the right.

Unnamed

VE(SDS)

Big moves up large ledges on the face to the right.

Boat Harbour and its nearby Sentinel Island offer many opportunities on not so small boulders, as do Twelve Hour Point and Roydon Island, near West End, but to make the most of these areas you'll need access to a boat of some kind.

Golden Goose Boulder

The Golden Goose

★7m

Stand start with a few jam and underclings. Lay back to the top. Best not use the large hole out left as its quite thin rock.

April 2022 Simon Bischoff

The Seal Returns

★★5mV2

Sit start on the rail.

April 2022 Simon Bischoff

The Rail is mine

★3mV1

Sit start on the rail and traverse right.

April 2022 Hannah Vasiliades

Diomedea

★V2

'Albatross' - Starts with right hand on undercling and left on lowest sloper, knee scum in small roof.

April 2022 Simon Bischoff

The Whillans Boulder

Located in the scrub below the access to The Brain.

The Whillans Traverse

★★V4

Sit start on the left side of the crack with a heel, move up to good crimp with left hand and traverse along the crack. At the end either finish up the line to the summit or make a few moves downwards to the sharp flake.

April 2022 Simon Bischoff

Emita

A bit further south near Emita is the most amazing boulder I have ever seen. Castle Rock is a massive block over 15 metres high, set in a magnificent location with the sea lapping its foot, and a perfect crack running horizontally around it at half height. Unfortunately this crack is way out of reach unless you have a very long stick, and are happy about jumaring up to a blindly placed cam. If you are then I can thoroughly recommend an ascent at 18 M2.

Of more free climbing interest is the collection of boulders around Settlement Point. Allports Beach, Port Davies, Bird Island, Lillies Beach and Sawyers Bay have a virtually unlimited supply of problems, up to V4 so far, mostly above soft sandy landings, on perfect fine grained granodiorite, like that found at the Bluestone Bay cliffs of Freycinet.

The two problems described below are on large boulders a few minutes walk around the coastal track from Allports Beach at Emitta.

Prestidigitation

squeeze through bottom of corner crack (legerdemain) into hidden chimney and up to exit. Probably even funnier with friends.

Dave James, February 2015.

Legerdemain

The steep RF corner crack.

Dave James February 2015, previous ascencionists likely

Sleight of hand

step up then move left to flake on southern end of Fraud boulder.

Dave James, June 2010.Previous ascencionists likely

Fraud

on southern end of northwest boulder. step up on flake at double dimples and onto slab.

Dave James, june 2010. previous ascencionists likely

Roughin' Up Them City Hands

The finger / hand crack around the back of the boulder.

Speerios

chicanery

Handcrack on northern end of east facing wall on 'Boulder' nearest trail.

dave james june 2010. previous ascencionists likely.

Trousers Point

Last but not least is Trousers Point, at the south west tip of the island below Strzelecki.
There is a massive boulder in the paddock on the way out to the point with the semi-highball Love Life (V0). The owners of the paddock have expressed (Jan 2021) that they do not want people climbing on it, so leave it alone.
There is more climbing on some awesome freestanding coastal boulders just west of the campground.

This next boulder is located off the road near the Love Life Boulder but to the East. It is visible from the road and approach takes about 2 minutes of bush bashing.