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Korrowall Buttress

menu_book picture_as_pdf bookJohn Newman Bushwalk Australia New South Wales Blue Mountains NP
Issue_49_October_2021-16

At lookouts I often daydream about traversing the appealing features I can see in front of me. Sometimes a simple thought leads to a fantastic adventure. “I wonder if you can follow that spine all the way up onto Mount Solitary.”

I imagined a pleasant stroll along the ridge and onto the mountain top. Looking back later, I smile at how naive I was.

We traversed a ledge into the orange cave at treetop heightAll pictures by the author

Korrowall ButtressJohn Newman

16 | BWA October 2021


I asked Rob Mann if he’d ever been along the southern spine and up onto Mount Sol. Rob is an excitable adventurer who seems to know a bit about everything in the Blue Mountains. “Korrowall Buttress? Yes, years ago.”

“How did you get past Point Repulse, the cliff at the top of the ridge? Did you take the ledge to get around it? Is it sketchy?”

“I did. Bit of an airy step. You’ll be fine.” Did Rob’s eyes twinkle when he said the word “airy”?

Brendan Davies joins me. Shortly after sunrise we descend the Goat Track to the Jamison Valley floor, then jog along fire trails towards Rucksack Point. The hill begins to narrow into a spine.

An unsettling rock face halts our progress. Korrowall Buttress is flanked by cliffs. The inviting smooth landscapes I admired from

Brendan calls out: "Can I get down from here?"

Morning light above Rucksack Point

Did Rob’s eyes twinkle when he said the word “airy”?

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afar turned out to be a jagged, vertical maze. I try the eastern side, but the ledge narrows, the ground falls away and the cliffs grow higher. We trace the base of the buttress, looking for an acceptable climb. Holding tiny shrubs and digging finger holes for grip, we ease ourselves up onto the knife’s edge. Boulders bigger than houses are stacked on top of each other.

We reach countless dead ends, cliffs above and below us. We inch along a one foot ledge and crawl into a small cave. Inside we find a stone fireplace. We squeeze through a crack and discover an exit ramp to the saddle. At one point, having no alternative but defeat, I resort to a free climb. It isn't difficult, but it’s somewhere I would prefer not to fall. It is never bad enough to turn around, but in a few places I consider it. In these moments, I remind myself that there is a difference between fear and acceptable risk. A simple guideline keeps me out of trouble can you retreat if this becomes a dead end?

When we reach the infamous ledge at Point Repulse, I glide across without hesitating. I am surprised that this is the feature people speak about and are afraid of.

I am scratched and weary as we bushbash across the top of Mount Solitary. Brendan is still keen to complete a south-north traverse, so I banish the thought of a shortcut down the eastern col to the car. Neither of us has done the Miners Pass before. Fire, wind and storms have disfigured the route, so it takes us a couple of hours to navigate the first few

Korrowall Buttress rising from the mist to Point Repulse (centre)

Fireplace and mist over the Jamison Valley

... I remind myself that there is a difference between fear and acceptable risk.

18 | BWA October 2021


Brendan scrambling between pagodas

hundred metres. We scramble down rock slopes, comparing the route to photos from a blog when we find ourselves stranded in the cliffs. We follow a spur down to Jamison Creek, occasionally getting razored by lawyer vine, but mostly moving freely and occasionally even managing a jog. The hillside is strewn with tiny purple flowers that look like orchids (Hardenbergia violacea). When we reach the Sublime Point Fire Trail, Brendan asks me if I’ve ever run all the way up the hill before (600 metres of gain in four kilometres). “I always die as I reach the swine fence,” I say. “It’s a great training goal. Are you up for it?” Brendan asks. The idea of finishing before sunset is appealing. “Happy to try,” I say. Thankfully for me, Brendan walks the end of the hill, so I do too. We reach our cars just under nine hours after we left, having covered 31 kilometres and 1800 metres of elevation. I call Rob as I’m driving home. “An airy step? That was fine, but what about crawling along a ledge, trusting my weight to a single rock wedged in a crevice? What about the four metre climb onto a crumbly slope?” He laughs. “I forgot about that.”

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