North Queensland Bouldering

INTRODUCTION

THIS INTERNET GUIDE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE PAPER GUIDE RELEASED IN 2002. IT COVERS WHAT IS COMMONLY REFERED TO AS THE INNER CIRCLE AT HARVEY’S. THERE ARE SEVERAL HUNDRED MORE PROBLEMS FURTHER AFIELD, AS WELL AS THE 380 OR SO PROBLEMS IN THIS GUIDE. YOUR BEST BET FOR ACCESS IS STILL TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR BY EMAIL (fnqbouldering@yahoo.com.au), SO YOU CAN BE SHOWN AROUND ON YOUR FIRST DAY.

FINALLY, WHEN USING THIS GUIDE PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO PRINT THE TOPO’S, AS THIS GUIDE IS PRETTY MUCH USELESS WITHOUT THEM.

Discovered in 1999 by Dr Madoc Sheehan, Harvey’s Marbles has fast become North Queenslands premier bouldering area. Situated atop Harvey’s Range, at a pleasant altitude that keeps temperatures and humidity down, the crag is littered with granite boulders of all sizes. The pleasant dry forest provides a perfect backdrop against fields of boulders, scattered with a wide variety of flora and fauna.

The area is something special, yet very few people are aware it exists. Even amongst the Townsville climbing community, who are vaguely aware that something is going on, no more then 20 people have made the 40 minute drive to Harvey’s. This is primarily due to a lack of interest in bouldering, and a preference for the longer routes on Townsville’s other major crag, Mt Stuart. Yet for those who prefer to go it without a rope, you could scarcely ask for more in a bouldering area.

99% of problems at Harvey’s will top out, with hard mantles often being the downfall of any would be ascentionist. Almost no eliminates exist, most of the lines flow beautifully and are completely uncontrived. Indeed, many lines tackle startling features, often on spectacular aretes and superb faces. The rock is mostly excellent, and will probably be unlike any other granite you have climbed on. Most holds are features of the rock, rather then flakes, and so are likely to remain as long as the boulders do. The problems range from blank low angle friction slabs through to overhung crimpy walls, although most are around vertical. If Harvey’s does lack anything, it’s steeper powerful problems. Although they do exist, they are far outnumbered by those problems 10 degrees either side of vertical. Hard problems at Harvey’s often require more footwork and precision then strength and power, or a combination of both.

There are loads of problems at all heights, currently up to about 7m, but with huge potential for some truly amazing highball desperates. There is also an abundance of short problems, ie- grab the lip and mantle, of which only the better have been included in this guide, and a heap of pleasant low angle slabs. Landings range from excellent to horrendous, although most are good. Keep in mind that the first couple of years of development took place without a bouldering pad.

CLIMATE

The climate is dependant upon which season you choose to visit Harvey’s. For a start, forget about summer, unless you have a particular desire to alternate your days between hiding under a boulder waiting for the torrential monsoon rain to stop, (It won’t), and peeling your severely burnt flesh off the rock as you slide off that slippery and sweaty jug for the 15^th time. Having said that it is possible to climb all year round, but with the winters that we have up here, why would you want to visit at any other time? The months of June, July and August offer an endless stream of cloudless 25 degree days, that cool substantially, (you will even need a jumper!), in the mornings and afternoons to give you the friction you need to send your project. If you can’t make it in mid winter, any time between the end of March and September tends to be really good as well. You may still get rain, but probably not the stuff that can last for 6 weeks at a time. As a rule try to time your visit as close to the middle of the year as possible. Remember, some problems can be up to two grades harder in summer.

ETHICS

Please respect the local ethics and at all times look after the environment. This means definitely no chipping, use your wire brush sparingly and only on the holds that you are using, leave the trees alone, (it is often possible to pull them aside temporarily if they are covering a problem) and of course take out everything that arrived with you. The rocks are covered in beautiful lichen that for the most part doesn’t interfere with climbing. If you must do a problem that is covered in lichen, remove only what is essential, and preferably as little as possible.

ACCESS

Two issues surround current access to Harvey’s. The area is under Pastoral Lease to local farmer Ray. Ray has so far been extremely generous to climbers, and for this to continue it is essential that we respect Ray’s wishes for his property. DO NOT:

·         Start fires, and if you are a smoker make certain your buts are out. Better still take them out with you in an empty film canister.

·         Leave any litter behind.

·         Interfere in any way with fences, gates and livestock.

The second issue is the nearby army training area, High Range. It is often possible to hear things being blown to pieces as the army undertake explosives and weapons training. The gate across the road that you reach forms a fence that continues along the road before cutting away from the road about 500m past the gate. Do not cross this fence!! If you do you may be shot. Almost all the good bouldering falls outside this fence anyway, so you would have no reason to cross it. In fact you should not cross any fences while at Harvey’s.

To get to the area follow Harvey’s Rd out of town, past Willows shopping Center, and follow it for about 35 minutes. After this time you will reach the range. Follow the road up the range, and just under 1km after you reach the top take the first road on your L. It is marked appropriately with a massive boulder perched above the road on your L just before the turn off, and there is also an old ‘TABLETOP’ sign. Follow this dirt Rd, which turns back to bitumen as it passes up another small range, until you reach the army gate across the road. Park on your L, leaving enough room for the gates to open and large trucks to get through. All descriptions for the different areas start from the top of the road embankment on your L. Walk up the obvious track, passing under a single strand of barb wire. With your back to the road, you should be able to see the hill of the upper terrace directly ahead. Take a moment with the overall topo, to familiarize yourself with where things are.

USING THIS GUIDE

This guide is designed to be used around the topos, with written descriptions used to help find some hard to identify problems. The very nature of the area, and the fact that you will be identifying a single boulder amongst thousands of others will probably result in some problem finding difficulties. However, most of the problems should be relatively simple to find once you reach an area, especially once you get your eye in. It took me several trips to the area to be able to identify lines, and I expect it will take you roughly the same amount of time. Here are some hints and tips for using this guide.

·         Use the overall topo to find an area, and then switch to an individual area guide and topo.

·         Identify other areas on the overall topo as you go. It is easier to find an area if you know where it is in relation to other areas. Use the individual area guide to check you are in the right place.

·         Each area tends to have several distinct problems, boulders or features. Use a combination of written descriptions and topo drawings to identify one problem or boulder, and go from there. Don’t necessarily look for problem A on boulder #1, as it may be a short hidden slab. The same applies when looking for problems on a boulder. Identify one, and then the others will be easier to find.

·         Remember, the topo maps are simplified versions of what is there. There will be boulders, trees and other features that are not marked on the map. Identify the biggest most obvious features, as they will not be left out. I have tried to include features like trees and small boulders especially when they lean against the rock. Other trees on the topo may represent a group of trees. If there is a large area without any problems I may have left it blank, even if there are trees and boulders there.

·         The maps are not drawn to a specific scale. While I have tried to be relatively precise, some boulders will be bigger then they should be, and others smaller, although in general they tend to be drawn slightly bigger then they are for the purpose of marking problems on them.

·         Everybody makes mistakes, and there will be mistakes in this guide. If you are certain you have found a problem, only there is a tree next to it that is not marked, consider the fact that I have probably missed that tree. Some boulders will be out of shape, and incorrectly distanced from other boulders. Problems may be marked incorrectly, grades may be mistyped and all sorts of errors could be present. Hopefully, though, the errors will be small in number. Just remember to use the topos, written descriptions and a bit of common sense in finding problems.

GRADES

Firstly please don’t get too caught up in the grades. Although they serve a great purpose, grades are only a very rough indication of difficulty and can be different for every single person. Grades at Harvey’s may be soft, just about perfect or solidly sandbagged, we just don’t know. Probably there is a mixture of the three. Split grades have been used to indicate that we are even more confused then normal. What is mostly consistent at Harvey’s is that a V0 is easier then a V1, which is easier then a V2 and so on.  For those that haven’t bouldered before, a very rough comparison can be found below. Note that this is based around grades at Harvey’s, not elsewhere, as Harvey’s has essentially been developed in isolation.

Stars are given, but are only my opinion. Most things without stars are still OK, one star problems are good, two star problems are excellent, three star problems are sensational and to do the four star problems bring a towel to wipe away the drool!

CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

All abuse to- UpYourArse@ScrewYou.com

Everything else to- fnqbouldering@yahoo.com.au