Cheesecake 35/9a FA - Tom O’Halloran

A new hard route in Nowra in the Cheese Cave. I bolted this in July 2020. I spent a few days trying to solve the puzzle but it was all too hard. Fast forward to May 2021 and I’m back on it. Day one went well, then I was able to do it on day two of the season. Interested to see where this one lands in terms of difficulty. It felt very hard until I did it. I guess that can be the way with climbing, especially first ascents. There are also a lot of hold and sequence options, though I could never quite work out how to make much of it work. Someone else may be able to decipher the puzzle :). All in all, it’s a great piece of climbing! For more Australian climbing stories, visit for podcast eps.