Bronte Cutting

	Crag faces east and west
	Bouldering on quarried sandstone

Introduction

A surprisingly good little low to mid grade bouldering area quarried out of the southern headland of Bronte Beach. The bouldering is on the walls of the Bronte Beach carpark (listed in some Sydney street directories as Calga Pl), just off MacPherson St. Although the rock looks pretty chossy, it's actually pretty good in spots, particularly towards the southern (uphill) end of the cutting. The traverse on the eastern (seaward) wall is about 40m long, and will give you a good pump in no time. The traverse on the western (inland) wall is also quite good, and of a totally different style to the other wall (lots of big flat holds and much better feet). Because of the wealth of holds, eliminates are the order of the day, although be cautious pulling on some of the smaller edges - they tend to be a bit fragile. There's also a couple of belay bolts on the rocky platform at the northern end of the cutting, but the walls below them look pretty chossy and encrusted in bird shit. The biggest problem with the area is the touron factor - it's part of the extremely popular Coogee to Bondi cliff top walking track, so expect to get lots of strange looks and smart ass comments if you boulder here on a weekend. Also be wary of hoons screaming through the carpark - a fall at the wrong moment could put you under their tyres! During summer and on sunny winter's days the carpark can fill up with parked cars, in which case you should definitely give the place a miss - you wouldn't want to fall through someone's windscreen!

Access

Parking is a snap - you can park in the carpark itself, although the local council recently installed boom gates at the top and bottom of the carpark, with a pay station at the entrance. Currently (January 2002) the charges are $3 per hour, but I don't know whether these charges apply in winter as well as summer. In any event, you can also park for free up on MacPherson St, near the "Bronte Cutting" bus stop (where MacPherson St and Bronte Rd meet) and walk down into the cutting from the top end.