PLASTIC PARADISE: The Pitch Climbing Centre - Wetherill Park, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Where are you located, mate?
Unit 3/270 Victoria Street, Wetherill Park, Australia!

How long have you been around?
Established 1994 and fully renovated in 2007

Directions?
Take the Cumberland Highway south from the M4 freeway, drive 5km, and then turn right at McDonalds into Victoria Street…but, uh, you may need a little more info if you’re visiting from the States. You probably want to contact us.

Features?
Half the gym is dedicated to bouldering and training with a massive bouldering area. It contains 60+ professionally set and V-graded problems from V1 to V12+, a campus board, and a hangboard farm. The other half is dedicated to “experiencing” climbing with our 100 top rope and lead routes, and 12-meter long lead roof.

You holdin’ down comps?
Host to Sydney bouldering series
Host to Australian bouldering Nationals 2007
Host to NSW state bouldering titles
Home to The Pitch Climbing Team ”The Plastic Ninjas”

Do you use the Australian (Ewbank) grading system, which gets rid of letters and just uses the numbers 1-35?
Not really. We use numbers 1 to 10 for simplicity and V-grades for the boulder problems.

What the heck is a hangboard farm?
Our hangboard farm is a mushroom of various hangboards (for up to 3 finger mutants), and incorporates offset boards of various heights as well as foot rungs for a more balanced workout It’s also home to the “Hang Club,” the most viciously effective fingerboard session ever devised. First rule of Hang Club: Do not talk about Hang Club.

THE LOCAL
Name: Christina Bedard
Age: 32
What’s so good about the gym?
The vibe is awesome and the bouldering is the best in Oz.

When are the best sessions?
Whenever the full crew is present and everyone is guzzling Musashi e-shots!

Insider info we should know about?
Be warned! Training here is extremely addictive. If we’re not in the mood for vegemite, what kind of food can we rustle up around The Pitch after a sesh? Perhaps a chicken, mushroom and white wine risotto - or maybe some spiced rice, tandoori chicken with coriander, yogurt and papadums. The Pitch Kitchen is always open, who needs to eat out?