Come and hear a rundown of the CCA’s recent activities plus general climbing news and points of interest, followed by our guest speaker presentation.

CCA members and non-members are welcome.

Guest speaker: Brian Mattick

Australian Museum Balls Pyramid Expedition 2017

Located 22 kilometres south of Lord Howe Island, Balls Pyramid is a massive spire of volcano rock and – at 551m high – is thought to be the tallest sea stack in the world.  Being a World Heritage Site, climbing on Balls Pyramid had been banned since the mid-80s.  The summit is about 30 square metres and one of the most rarely visited places on earth. Find out how CCA member Brian Mattick, twice-climber of Balls Peak Keith Bell, and four other climbers, got to climb Balls Pyramid in March 2017 and capture one of the rarest insects in the world.

Lord Howe Island stick insect or tree lobster, Dryococelus australis

L-R: Zane Priebbenow, Vanessa Wills and Dave Grey on the Balls Pyramid summit (photo by Paul Priebbenow)

Keith Bell on Balls Pyramid summit block

More stories and photos of the expedition

AM Expedition: Lord Howe Island, 2017 by Madelaine Love, Australian Museum.

Landing on Balls Pyramid by Paul Flemons, Australian Museum.

Climbing Balls Pyramid by Keith Bell.

Riddle in the Pacific by Peter Munro, Wolter Peeters & others, The Sydney Morning Herald (includes some fabulous photos plus a great 3 min video!).

The Lord Howe Island stick insect that came back from the dead by Ann Jones, ABC News.