Bouldering without a car… is it possible?

A new guidebook for bouldering in Sydney has come out – first in 20 years – so naturally I bought one for Cédric for his birthday. (He’s going to need it as he’s rapidly ticking off everything over 27 in the Sydney Climbing guide!) It’s a lovely guidebook but once again I’m quietly disappointed, though not really surprised, that there is no mention of any way of getting to any boulder except by driving.

To be fair, bouldering, though it might seem like a pure, simple form of climbing, has rather bulky gear compared to roped climbing. And the current bouldering ethos requires deep floors of more and more pads, buckets of chalk, maybe a few portable fans, a stereo and a tarp to keep the whole thing dry…. ok ok, I’ll stop making fun of the boulderers. But seriously, if you’re willing to go bouldering in a ‘lightweight’ way, say one pad and a small bag per person, what are your options?

Some types of bouldering need less padding than others! The classic Earlwood Traverse. We do have one pad in the distance under the crux, which we were all doing with a high heel or toe so it’s a weird fall.

Pads are an unusual thing to see on public transport, and the idea is initially offputting. But they’re not larger than a bike, and bikes are allowed on Sydney trains. We didn’t have any problem taking pads to North Sydney on the train. Buses are going to be a little more awkward, but outside of peak hour going to the city, you should be able to sit holding your pads in the pram area. The buses we take to get to Shire crags are very lightly occupied, at least at the times we take them.

So far, we have less experience with cycling with them. Raphael simply wears his pad, as if walking, and has no problem with it for Redfern to Earlwood type rides. But Cédric hates wearing things and loves tinkering, so has come up with the pad-hauling system pictured below.

Note the crag pack on the front is just for demonstration of that part of the Frankenbike, he doesn’t actually go bouldering with such a large pack as well

Here are some closeups. The brackets were just bits he had lying around. The bungee strap is old inner tubes. The idea is to potentially carry 1 pad on each side, and the brackets sit low enough that the rack can still be used for panniers the rest of the time, as above. Very custom and home built, but the concept is there. Who knows, maybe some French bike builder will come out with a Fontainebleau Special Pad-Hauling bike next?

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I know this is all pretty niche right now. Very few of us are actually trying to get to crags and boulders without cars. But if anyone else is interested in trying, the current guidebooks aren’t going to give them any guidance as to which crags are more accessible, and that’s a shame. I’ll keep trying to fill the gap here, and I really welcome any contributions from others! Places, trips, methods… leave a comment if you have any ideas.