Home > The Guide > Mt Ngungun > Babylon, Mt Ngungun

The hanging gardens. A very varied tier of rock shyly hidden in the trees to the NW of The Hidden Slabs. About 200m of cliffline faces N (i.e. runs parallel to the road), but then faces NW as you follow it around, at which point Beerwah and Crookneck are visible. All up, Babylon comprises about 500m of cliffline, but due to the generally poor quality of the cliff, routes are limited to the better walls. "No development can really be done as there isn't really that much to climb!" - Neil Monteith, 1996 Ngungun Guide.

Access along Sahara Road as per The Sentinels, but don’t turn into Springburn Drive. Instead, continue a further 750m to park in the wide dirt area off the side of the road. Walk straight up the hill crossing two vehicle tracks to reach the rock (three minutes).

A good landmark as you walk up the hill is the tallest section of cliff. It’s 40m high and capped by a steep orange headwall. Acumen climbs this. 35m L of this is a low-angled slab which hosts some beginner routes. To descend, locate convenient rap rings below a grassy ledge at the top of Bulbasaur.

Baby Grit 15m 7 Start: 2m L of arête. A couple of nice smears up the smooth water groove. At 15m, walk 10m R to the rap rings. Good rock, but no useful pro. FSA Lee Cujes 09/10/1999	Pikachu 18m 7 Start: 3m R of arête at tennis ball pocket. This is the pick of the easy lines here. Up nice start crack, then up the higher crackline. Take biggish hexes. Traverse R 3m to rap rings. Lee Cujes, Philippa Newton 09/10/1999
Charmander 18m 7 Start: 1.5m R. Up the crack to stance, then a tiny steep section to an easy top. Rap off. Lee Cujes 09/10/1999	Bulbasaur 17m 5 Start: At blocky face 1.5m R. A wide pod at half height takes a #5 camalot, but apart from that, there isn’t much gear. Rap off. Lee Cujes 09/10/1999
Access Route 10m 4 Start: 27m L of Acumen's orange wall. Neil's magnum opus. A spectactular piece of climbing. Up slab on jugs to big ledge. Downclimb. FSA Neil Monteith 1995	Piss Easy 25m 5 Start: 7m R - directly in front of biggest black tree. Up slab trending R to vegetated top. Scramble up through this to top. FSA Neil Monteith 1995
As Thick As Two Planks Stuck Together With Stupid Glue 25m 12 Start: Seven BR's up the water-polished blunt arete 10m L of Acumen's orange streak. Finishes at rap station. Ross Ferguson, Matt Williams 10/2001	Acumen 35m 20 Start: At the highest section of cliff which is capped by a steep orange headwall. A longer adventure. Slab up L-trending ramp until it ends. Step R into corner (BR) and up to superb orange stone, climbing this past a BR to the headwall. Follow good crack (popular wasp hangout) up L to clip FH, then blast directly up the steep headwall with some serious exposure past a final FH to easier ground, and rap rings. Wires and SLCD’s required. Lee Cujes 31/10/1999
Acumen VF 40m 18 Climb original to base of headwall. Instead of climbing this past the FH’s, continue diagonally up L. Involves balancy climbing on soft rock. Quite runout, but off good gear. Stephen Parker, Lee Cujes 21/07/2001	Rumble In The Jungle 16m 20 Start: 14m R on a shorter, black, blocky wall. Sporty. Right up the middle of a blocky wall, which overhangs 1.5m in its length. Up slab then pull through into corner (FH, BR). Crux past the third BR, then through to the top passing a final FH to rap rings. Lee Cujes 31/10/1999
Hijinx 16m 17 Start: 2m R. Babylon’s first bolted route. Juggy, yet balancy climbing past a FH, BR and FH to rap rings. Lee Cujes, Philippa Newton 09/10/1999	Gossamer Threads 13m 19 Start: 5m R, just around the arête. There’s a big spider entombed behind the first bolt. An attractive, smooth, steep face. Lean off cheat ledge to clip first bolt, but start directly. The grade depends on how much you use the arête. BR, FH, BR. Lee Cujes 31/10/1999

From the arête R-wards, the rock faces NW. 100m R of Gossamer Threads is an obvious 5m overhang which hosts Brummagem. The following routes are in between.

Dang Fool 8m 14 Start: About 70m R of Gossamer Threads. Some nice thin moves up a short wall past two BR's to chains. FSA Ross Ferguson 02/2002	Fool's Errand 10m 14 Start: 4m R. Up, moving L at top to chains. No pro. Lee Cujes 28/02/2004
Pockets Of Fun 10m 9 Start: About 20m R at the big chimney/groove. Climb up 2m onto ledge. Up easy slab on pockets and jugs past three BR's to shared chains. Ross & Claudia Ferguson 10/2001	A Bad Dose Of Rigamortice 10m 10 Start: 2m R. Up on good pockets past three FH's to shared chains. Ross Ferguson, Matt Williams 11/2001
Friday Afternoon Nutcases 13m 13 Start: 2m R at wide chimney-crack. Up the chimney on gear, the exit R and up passing a bolt (missing hanger) to rap station. Note: Not safe until hanger is replaced! Ross & Claudia Ferguson 03/2002	Brummagem 13m 21 Start: Ground level, underneath overhang. Hit that sequence right or it’s "take me!". Waltz up easy slab to base of overhang (optional #1 SLCD in horizontal slot). Clip FH from jug, then power R-wards to tricky second clip. Hand jam on the lip, then up to top. Rap rings on L. Lee Cujes, Erik Smits 11/20/1999

30m R of Brummagem is another series of slabs. One slab is composed of odd-looking rock. Downhill (R) further, the track runs down into a water runoff gully which forms the lowest point in the track.

Flat Out 30m 11 Useless. Starts on the far L of the gully, about 8m L of Strange Ritual. Weave up the smoothest section of slab to rooflet-capped ramp. Follow this up diagonally R to meet Slap Slap Shit Splat at the bowl stance. Finish up SSSS. Belay and rap as for SSSS. FSA Lee Cujes 07/11/1999	Slap Slap Shit Splat 30m 16 Start: 6m R of Flat Out and 2m L of Strange Ritual. The big V. A committing start at the grade - use an alien or a spotter. Master the bouldery crux to get into the V, then up it to wide crack. Follow this line directly up past gear over the first rooflet. A stonking medium chock just over the lip of the second rooflet reduces anxiety. Once through this, up and R to the fishbowl stance. R out of this and up acne-covered rock very easily to ledge (SLCD belay). Scramble down R (facing out) to a 25m tree rap. Lee Cujes, Erik Smits 20/11/1999
Strange Ritual 30m 20 Start: Below bolted groove. This’ll have you thinking. Up slab, then bridge into groove. Bizarre contortions through this (two close BR’s) to easy ground. Straight up passing a last BR to fishbowl stance. Finish up Slap Slap Shit Splat. Belay and rap as for SSSS. Lee Cujes 20/11/1999	Aqua Aerobics 30m 18 Start: 2m R. A short sloper problem. Up slab (wire) into corner (BR). Hold that crux slope to get through it. Up and R with care, climbing easy but runout slab to grass ledge. Up into easy waterfall gully. Lope all the way up L to the ledge. Belay and rap as for Slap Slap Shit Splat. Lee Cujes, Erik Smits 20/11/1999
Boulder Problem Gone Wrong 50m 6 Start: 15m R and uphill of gully base and 5m R of a corner crack. Soloed as an exploratory jaunt. Totally sans worth. Haul up the vertical face on big scooped buckets to easy ground. Meander up to vegetated ledge minding loose blocks. Walk R down ledge (facing out) and rap off a big tree. Not inspiring. FSA Lee Cujes, Aaron Jones 02/10/1999