🇦🇺 Climbing Hotel California Multi Pitch, Blue Mountains, Australia

After so long, we finally did it! If you're looking for a great adventure, this is it! 10 long pitches, totalling 330m approximately. Make sure you go early. It's tricky to find the start of the climb. Bring some bolt plates (3 or 4 is enough), some anchors need at least one bolt plate. Make sure you know the exit, as you might have to find it when completely dark (happened to me when I first did BBB) Make sure you know how to use a prussik, important tool for the abseils, and in case you fall on pitch 6 (the traverse). For the first pitch, if you have 2 ropes, you can haul the bags up instead of climbing with them! There is a blue emergency bin on pitch 5 with some water, food and clothes. Make sure you replace anything you use! __________________________________________________ This multi pitch is so good, and since I did BBB (2020) for the first time, I always thought about climbing Hotel California. Many reasons held me up. First of all, I wasn't sure I would be strong enough to climb the first pitch. I read many comments saying it was harder than the grade (22), some people even saying it was closer to a 24 than 22. I knew I would be able to do all the moves, but I wanted to send it! Then, so many things happened between 2020 and 2022, bush fires, stay home, wet weather, bad timing finding a partner etc... Now the weather was perfect, I felt strong, and Bruno was also thinking about doing it, so we did it. We flipped a coin to see who would do the first pitch, and I got it. I started climbing very carefully, knowing it would be harder than a 22. Got to the first crux, had a good rest just before it, and did it no problem. I was thinking it wasn't the crux maybe... So I kept going, milking the rests, and getting ready for whatever was to come. After the slab section that you traverse left, I found another committing move, which I got it no problem... Again thinking maybe that was not the crux either... A few more rests (some no hands rests even), a couple of cool moves, and I started traversing right getting closer and closer to the anchors. I was very happy that I hadn't fallen yet, but still not sure if there would be one last hard move before the anchors.. The last move was indeed a bit tricky, but not too bad, and I was surprised to onsight it! The rest of the climb went smoothly. The only other pitch I thought it was a bit hard was the the first half of pitch 7, which I had to climb right after the pitch 6, which is huge and a bit pumpy. The day was great, apart from loosing my chalk bag from pitch 7 (while belaying), and Bruno loosing his right foot hiking shoe. 00:00 - 00:45 - Intro/Approach 00:45 - 01:46 - Abseil 01:46 - 03:17 - Rope retrieval 03:17 - 05:52 - Pitch 1 (22) 05:52 - 06:15 - Pitch 4 (10) 06:15 - 06:43 - Pitch 5 (17) 06:43 - 06:28 - Pitch 6 (19) 06:28 - 08:08 - Pitch 7 (20) 08:08 - 08:24 - Pitch 8 (18) 08:24 - 08:58 - Pitch 10 (16) 08:58 - 10:47 - Walk back/Outro