Climbing Townsville's Premier Crag

By Lee Skidmore

People usually get stuck in Townsville. It's just not a place you willingly go. For some, it's the Army. Townsville hosts one of Queensland's biggest Army contingents. For others, it's James Cook Uni. Between those two, you've probably got 60% of the population. I have no idea what the other 40% are doing there. However, if you are stuck in Townsville and are a climber, there are fringe benefits, the biggest being Mount Stuart.

The quality of the routes on Stuart can rival those anywhere in Australia, as attested by those "well-climbed" individuals who have spent some time here.

It's located 22km from Townsville's city heart, and any map of Townsville can show you how to get there. 

Right: Doug Hockly on Physical Meditation (25)

The rock type is a smooth, fine to medium-grained granite. It has a tendency to form lots of fingery flakes and while cracks aren't overabundant, most walls sport at least a few crack routes. In fact, the hardest route here (A Mighty Eructation - see news and gossip) is predominately a crack route. The striking thing about the routes at Mt Stuart is the variety. Sport, trad, flaky wall routes, crack lines. In the realms of free-climbing, you name it, and Stuart has something to offer.

The 300+ climbs graded 0 to 26 are spread over an extensive area. There are heaps of little (and big) walls, and most of them have climbs on them and are named. The Playground is the most popular and most easily accessible area, but only represents a tiny portion of what's available. There are over 150 climbs on the Playground up to about 23m in height. There are multi-pitch climbs in other areas up to 100m+. New routes go up on a weekly basis on this massive crag.

Take a full rack and bolt plates. Anchors are usually set up off boulders, trees and natural pro.

Below: Mt Stuart with labelled areas

Getting to Townsville

It's not as far away as you might think! 16 hours from Brisbane isn't that bad! 12 hours in one day is easy driving, so if you were to break it into two days, it's a cake walk. Around $150 in petrol should see you right, and then it's time to qurank sweet granite in one of the best climates around. 

Camping
Camping is very difficult due to the complete lack of water at the crag, and is also undesirable due to the rocky ground pretty much everywhere. You certainly wouldn't do it for more than a night unless you were super-keen. A better bet would be to stay in one of the caravan parks down the hill.

When should I go?
Well winter is awesome with 25 degree sunny days, and summer is hot (31 degrees on average), but due to the perfect positioning of the crag (and the omnipresent  wind), it is still very climbable. The trick is to never turn up before lunch time, that way when you arrive at midday, the sun disappears over the top of the Playground, throwing the majority of the crag into shade. Brilliant! Besides, we climbers all know of the perils of waking before lunch.

Guidebook 
Currently, the best paper guide to get is that compiled by Mark Gommers in 1994. Since then there has been heaps of development, so the guidebook is very much out of date. Because of this, an online guide was created. Lee's Mount Stuart Select Guide 1998 gives a rundown of 70 routes ( the better routes in each of the areas). If you want more detailed (but less up to date) route info, you can buy the paper guidebook from Adventure Camping Equipment. Mark Gommers is supposedly in the process of constructing a comprehensive online guide that will be continuously up to date.

Left: Lee Skidmore redpointing Joy Boy (21)

List of classic ticks 
Decisions decisions! Well, just print the online select guide, but here are a few that'll get you drooling.

Joy Boy (21) - classic face, Playground

Yankee Logic (21) - yet another, Playground

Tristar (23) - the best moves, Lower Colorado Wall

Deliverance (18) - five pitches of joy, Great Wall

A Few Good Men (24) - amazing positions, Colorado Wall

There are also a number of clean beginner classics on the Playground. 

Mt Stuart is in a unique position, because it's quite a user friendly crag with the option of increased adventure for those who desire it. There's something for everyone (except Nowra roof junkies), so get up there and enjoy it! 

Don't go thinking Mt Stuart is the only climbing destination on tap. There's also the areas behind the University, West End Quarry, the massive Castle Hill, Kissing Point, Magnetic Island, and the huge adventure potential of the Hervey's Range areas and The Citadel. Information and route guides to all of these areas are freely available online at The Original Queensland Climbing Reference.