Unroped In North Queensland - chapter 2 

[click here for chapter 1]

By Steve Baskerville

To me there seemed to be only one option, yet Jason seemed somewhat hesitant. 

He was standing atop one of the numerous large boulders in the Harvey's Marbles area, with all sides sheer and vertical, and none shorter than four metres, having just nailed yet another classic V1. The problem was that there was no obvious way down, except for a thin dead sapling growing about a metre away from the boulder. It wobbled way too much and was far too thin for Jason's liking, but the only other option was a solo abseil onto the less then perfect landing below.

Getting down can be one of the great challenges at Harvey's Marbles, especially with the abundance of highball classics, often on isolated boulders. The crux of many problems is reversing them and down-climbing the route you just ascended. However, due to the technical nature of many problems it is often easier to hurtle yourself through the air for the nearest tree, even if it is a couple of metres away. As you can imagine this creates a fair number of humorous situations for all bar the party actually on the boulder, and the situation with Jason was no different. In the end it was all a bit of an anticlimax. The tree wobbled a bit as he pulled into it, looked like it might snap, but in the end he just lowered off, living to climb another day.

Harvey's Marbles was discovered by Madoc Sheehan in 1999 and soon became the premier bouldering destination in North Queensland. With around one hundred problems discovered by only a handful of climbers in a relatively small number of trips the potential can be seen. Now with increasing attention from many more local climbers, one may think that the area may soon be climbed out. Yet take a quick half hour walk around the area and the potential at times seems almost limitless. There are numerous acres of crown land containing plentiful outcrops and as yet only a few of these have been visited. Of those areas that have been established, many at present have only a couple of problems with potential for dozens and dozens of new lines. This was my third trip to the area and by far the best to date. The key for a good day at Harvey's Marbles is to stick to only a few areas and not try to visit every single area, because if you do you will only have time to do one or two problems at each. On this trip we had decided to stay within the confines of the Cow Paddock and the Castle, mainly because on this day, one of the hottest all summer, they had the advantage of being closest to where we parked the car. We had warmed up on the classic Bum Crack V2, a boulder split by a thin seam leading to a blank and rounded top out. The problem is somewhat reachy, and we had watched little Pete Trezona defy the lack of length in his appendages and somehow get the slope that marks the end of the crux. Working from boulder to boulder we ticked many of the great problems in the area including Creaking Limbs V2, a classic thin and desperate slab to a hanging flake, the short and steep Pull Hard V3, and Sneaky V4, which truly tested our crimp power.

Above: Creaking Limbs V2

The need for shade took us the short distance to the nearby Castle. The Castle is one of the smaller areas consisting of basically only a few boulders, but one of these is a perfect 7m high dome of rock, littered with beautiful flakes. Spider Bite V1 is a great warm up on a pillar leaning against the main dome. Feet And Knuckles is a fantastic long line of flakes that starts out steep and gradually gets slabby, resulting in some relaxing final moves, even though you are several metres of the ground. Jason found a second thin line that climbed the full height of the dome, and set about creating Scorched Rubber at a dubious V2. The crux is in the first few metres and involves a dynamic slap to a slopey pinch. 

Spotting the climber can take on a new meaning on some of the higher problems at Harvey's Marbles, and I can remember several situations where somewhat larger climbers threatened to peel of the wall from a great height and flatten me into the ground. In the past we have lugged a mattress along, which is useful despite the relatively good landings found at most problems. Another interesting aspect of the Harvey's Marbles experience is the proximity to the nearby Army firing range. On days when the live firing can be heard in the background, it is quite easy to imagine your progress up a problem being suddenly halted by a shower of bullets. The firing range is well inside the fenced off army land and when speaking to army guys they assure us that if we stick to our side of the fence there will be no problems; let's just hope that any stray bullets follow the same rules and don't cross over onto our side of the fence.

Above: Bum Crack V2

If you manage to not get shot by the army, your only worry then is any local rednecks. The abundance of empty shotgun cartridges will attest to the fact that they often visit this area to defend themselves against vicious native wildlife, such as possums and kangaroos. If you come across a pack of shotgun loving, tobacco chewing men or women that look just a little too slow to have not come from a marriage between mum and her first cousin Bob, chances are you have had an encounter with these rare people. Don't make any sudden movements (they might shoot you), and suggest they might shoot in an area where you saw a vicious looking bandicoot (preferably an area as far away as possible). Of course, almost all the locals are very friendly. Just don't trust anyone who has a name for their shotgun.

Toward the end of the day, having survived the threat of being peppered with bullets, a few projects were scouted for next time, and Pete and myself found an unclimbed boulder and put up a further four new problems between V0 and V1. Developing new problems is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Harvey's Marbles, and there are plenty of projects to be claimed at any grade you want. In the end the heat took its toll and cut our trip short. The unanimous consensus was that while the heat was so oppressive, any trip to the area would be short, and we should probably wait till winter before returning. Needless to say that plan didn't last long as we were already planning another trip within the next couple of days.

Steve Baskerville, Jason Shaw and Pete Trezona are all local Townsville climbers. For more information on Harvey's Marbles, check out the guide with topo's and gallery at The Original Queensland Climbing Reference, or the guide on Steve and Jase's North Queensland Bouldering site.