The sandstone cliffs of the Blue Mountains are a playground for Dr Angus Farquhar of Katoomba Veterinary Clinic in NSW.
“There are two factors that can have a dramatic impact when you are rock climbing—the quality of the rock and the weather. I have had a couple of instances where I’ve had to be very careful. Generally, it’s just a matter of staying calm, keeping your head together and being experienced enough to make sensible decisions. “I’ve been climbing for 35 years and things can still go wrong. A couple of years ago, I put a 13-centimetre tear in my hamstring when climbing around an overhang. I had to get lowered to the ground and then my friend helped me hobble out. “I did a lot of bushwalking when I was at school and my interest in rock climbing grew out of that.
When I was at Sydney University, we restarted the University Mountaineering Club after it had been defunct for a few years. “I started climbing back in the late ‘70s when there were no indoor climbing centres. If you wanted to climb, you had to get out on the rock face. To this day, I hardly ever climb indoors. “Living in Katoomba, I was lucky enough to climb the Three Sisters before it was banned. It’s an easy but quite spectacular climb. The Katoomba walls have a number of far harder routes that I’ve also climbed. They are called multi-pitch routes that you attack in segments. One person leads on the sharp end of the rope and the other person comes up on the blunt end of the rope. At the end of each pitch, the roles are swapped so both people take turns leading and following. Some of these climbs take a couple of hours while others take all day. There are even longer routes in the Grose Valley [also in the Blue Mountains]. “For me, rock climbing is not about the indoor experience that so many people enjoy these days. It’s about getting out and about, usually with good friends, and testing yourself on the rock. I really enjoy the whole experience. Sometimes you push yourself to complete a difficult climb and when you get to the top, there’s a real sense of achievement. Other days you might do an easy climb and it’s still a fantastic day out. “My favourite time to be on the rock face is when the mist is rolling through the valley floor and the sulphur-crested black cockatoos are around. And every time I climb, there is always the adrenaline buzz!”
