Electrical Engineering, H17Death Crimp, V0. Starting near the door on the far right and moving left. Death crimp is the short traverse move over the "fixed hanger". Note that the hanger is not a hold and the variant for tall people does not involve the crimp itself (hint: Gaps between bricks are sometimes all you have). FA October 2000, Mr Black.
Hollows Follows?, no grade. This was probably the first ever ascent of the Scientia, during mid-2000. I couldn't say it was done in any great style, or even that it is a real climb. Start between the southern hall and the Civil Engineering buildering, up the fixed ladder (a sling over the lowest rung makes life easy) and onto the spacious roof. Bring your own portable ladder, set it across to the main glass roof, and quickly, as you're in sight of the whole of lower campus, get across. A belay is recommended here, off fixtures on the hall roof. Once up, get someone on the hall roof to remove the ladder. The descent is by abseil off a sling left on the roof. FA July 2000, anon, Mr Pink (Mr Red assisting).
Safely Home in Bed ***, grade 19M2. A far more daring ascent of the Scientia, involving climbing the actual sculpture that draws us to this building while in full view of security (who drive past without noticing you) and passers by (who notice but don't care). Start on the balcony halfway up the building, facing upper campus (lower campus side is an identical climb) then either leap or aid across to the main pillar. Climb up to the little nest with the massive metal pillar inside it then up to the top of that. From there, out across the diagonal wooden pole, horizontally along the thin metal pole to the grey metal 'V' then beast mantle up to the roof. Admire the view . . . FA November 18, 2000, Mr Pink, Mr Black.
The start of SHB has now been climbed at both ends of the Scientia Building, in order to install psychedelic light flavourings. This was part of Operation Lucy, April 30, 2001. Thanks to Mr Red, the two Ms Greens, Ms Purple, Mr Orange, Mr Blue and Mr Black for their excellent efforts! Once I develop the film in my camera there should be some photos of this one. (The film didn't turn out!)
Electrical Engineering, H17Roller Door Delight *, grade 15M0. A fairly straightforward route up Electrical Engineering, climbing the obvious white latticework found in several places around the building. This route, the first ascent of the EE building, takes the north facing latticework behind the building. Most of the climbing is very easy, moving quickly up the latticework. This is quite fun, especially as you gain height so quickly! The final move involves a decent overhang and a somewhat spooky mantle over the edge. The only aid was a short rest before climbing the overhang - this could be trivially eliminated. The protection is (obviously) plentiful, but it's strength is unknown. Take plenty of slings. The top anchor can be made on the fence, or more securely, on various bolted down objects about 10m back. To reach the bottom of the climb, either climb over the fence around the liquified gas cylinders, and up the ladder, or, better, walk along the narrow ledge from the left, and through the air conditioning units. The roof itself is fun to explore. Getting down off the building is easy - don't bother abseiling of the edge (the nicest such abseil would probably be on the latticework on the side of the main lift shaft, but this is very visible!). There are two doors leading into the building, which are not locked from the outside. One is inside the room at roof level, and the other is at the far end of the building (look for a roller-door, and go under that), on the University Club balcony. FA July 14, 2001, Mr Pink, Mr Orange.
Who The Hell Are You?, grade 5 + a height-dependent move at the start (between 11 and 18, say :-) The climb starts just outside the lift shaft of the Electrical Engineering building, just next to the entrance to the Drum Lab. You have to scramble up onto the little roof, which is by far the hardest part of the climb. The leader needs a spot! You might find a nearby rubbish bin useful, or otherwise you can stand on the hood of the card access machine. The descent proved, ah, interesting. FA January 10, 2002, Mr Blue, Mr Black, Mr Orange, Mr Pink.
There is a daunting - nigh impossible - route up the wall of the Electrical Engineering building, opposite Mechanical Engineering. Consisting of a single, probably dynamic, move repeated about 20 times, it has not yet even seen an attempt!
Office Works, grade 16. Almost identical to Roller Door Delight, except we eliminated the rest this time! This climb ascends the lattice work above the main door to Mechanical Engineering, facing the Electrical Engineering building. To reach the start, go to the road that runs through the Mechanical Engineering Building, and step up onto the ledge. Unlike almost all other buildings, the roof door is locked from the outside, so you'll have make alternative arrangements to get down. FA January 1 2002, Mr Pink, Mr Orange, Mr Blue
One sick tree, grade 8M1. A climb on the third library lawn tree. Not too hard, but you have to aid into the first fork. Nice climbing, but a bit messy at the top. This route was climbed in order to set anchors for other activities. FA March 2001, Mr Pink.
The Grand Traverse of the Lawn has not yet been attempted - my suggestion is to start at the third tree, climb as high as possible, and rig a static line. Lower on this, and pendulum into the second tree. Once in the second tree, descend to the main fork and follow D backwards. Possibly more of an aiding adventure, but you never know.
Looking up the Second Pitch of the Bell Tower. |
Mr Pink on the summit I-beam, first ascent of the Bell Tower. |
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Foundation Day 2001 was shortly after the first ascent of the
Bell Tower. Obviously, the UNSW Buildering Team were responsible for
the... installation ... on top of the Bell Tower.
(An interesting followup to the Foundation Day stunt - some weeks later, Jo - that was her name - was seen sitting, still inflated, in a room on the ground floor of the Applied Science building, near the security office. Later again, certain operatives observed several men in the room with her, ahem, taking photos. Let's leave it at that, please.) |
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There are (at least) three ways to access the Quad building roof. From the 3rd floor of the Quad (in the Banking department?), in the south-western corner, there is a door marked something like `Lift Motor Access'. This is usually locked, but can be opened from the outside, ie, from the roof. The best method is through the Heffron building. Walk to the 6th floor (if the external doors are locked, go to the door nearest the bookshop, climb onto the awning, and through the 2nd story windows), out onto the balcony, and head east, stepping over the railing onto the Quad roof. Finally, it seems that there is a way up behind the Contact offices. Go half way up the Basser steps, and where there is the ramp leading into the Quad building, climb up through a series of overlapping roofs, onto the main roof. May require a rope. This roof itself is very exposed - be careful! It does have rings bolts however, presumably for the safety of workers on the roof. Some of them seem a bit dubious, however.
No climbs done as yet. Access to the roof is easy. To get into the building after hours, insert a stick (about a metre long) through the gap in the automatic doors, and wave it around in front of the sensors. Hey presto! Up to the 10th floor, into the fire stairs, right up to the door, and jimmy the much jimmied door onto the roof. A slightly flexible plastic card usually does the trick. The view is to kill for.
Super Hook 2002, grad 16M2. The first serious aid climb at the UNSW campus. Climb the pipes up the wall, starting from the corridor between Civil Engineering and the Scientia. The first ascent was by Mr Pink, and a friend, in January 2002, with the help of some custom built hardware - use your imagination! The brackets seem plenty strong enough, but who knows - I wouldn't try if I weren't me. A word of warning - the top two thirds of the climb are in full view of the entire lower campus, and generally well lit, so you may want to climb fast, be aware of escape options, etc. Also, the top edge of the roof is fairly sharp, so you may want to protect the rope (not, however, with the rubbery matts to be found lying around on the roof - they get goo on your rope!) Mr Orange took some great pictures on a digital camera, but never gave them to me :-(
Page maintained by Mr Pink, now safely out of the country, beyond the long arm of the UNSW security force. He's moved on to bigger and better things.