First climbed in 1972 by Charlie Porter and Gary Bocarde, the ‘Shield’ follows an impossible series of micro seams up an otherwise shear blank wall of golden granite. For the first ascensionists, this line was made possible through intricately piecing together 30+ RURP’s in any given pitch, seriously heady climbing as most of these pieces would likely of not held a fall… Since then, the route has changed substantially, and has become significantly more user friendly with many

It all started at the ‘Death Stairs’, a flight of 250 steps above Coogee beach, Sydney. The endorphins were obviously running rampant after those sweaty laps, because when I asked Michael Mate whether he wanted to join me for an ascent of the infamous big wall aid climb Ozymandias at Mt Buffalo, he said yes straight away. A wise decision on his part Time would tell. But I was stoked. Michael was an ideal partner for this climb – not only because he owned a crucial three sets