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BridgeClimb

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stomps
stomps
First Reviewer
3 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
3
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Bridge Climb

  • August 15, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by rkaleal from Lawrence, Kansas

You've seen the harbour bridge in pictures, you may have taken the train or driven across it, but now it is time to climb it!

Bridge Climb offers tourists a chance to climb over 1400 steps to the "summit" (as they call it) of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Operating daily from dawn until night, they have climbs occurring every 10 minutes. Prices start around AUD$150 for weekday climbs, AUD$180 for weekend climbs, and significantly more for the dawn and dusk climbs each day. Reservations for a climb are not required, but if you are trying to fit it in with other activities in Sydney, I would recommend making them.

The experience starts when you are breathalyzed to ensure you are not intoxicated! Then its off to get your bridge climbing suit and other equipment. After suiting up, you will go through a bit of practice on a scaffold in the Bridge Climb building before heading off to the real climb.

The climb itself is amazing - you see great vistas in all directions and have perfect views of the Opera House as well as the Western side of Sydney. The guides will give local information on the way up, and provide information about the construction of the bridge on the way down. When you reach the time, they will also take some photographs - luckily, each participant receives a free copy of the 5 x 7 group photo. Other photos will cost about AUD$14 each. Also know that you CANNOT bring your own camera on to the bridge - so either take excellent mental photographs or be prepared to dish out some cash at the end!

The experience lasts about 3.5 hours from start to finish. The time on the bridge is probably about 2.25 to 2.5 hours.
I don't think I would do bridge climb again because, especially at this price, it is a "one off" activity. I've done it, but I don't need to do it again. I would, however, recommend it for anyone who has the extra money while in Sydney. It was an experience I will never forget, and it provided views I will always remember.

From journal A Semester Down Under

Editor Pick

BridgeClimb Part 2

  • May 4, 2006
  • Rated 3 of 5 by stomps from Houston, Texas
BridgeClimb Part 2

This is a continuation of my BridgeClimb review.After we finally got off the fake bridge, we got our helmets and headsets, through which our tour guide would talk to us. This completed our fashionable gear and we were ready to go.The climb itself was interesting, but not particularly strenuous. All we really had to do was climb up and down a bunch of stairs, and be able to walk up a fair distance above the water without getting too afraid of heights. It wasn't quite as exciting as I had envisioned, although the view was indeed wonderful.The climb path went along the road until we reached the bridge, and then along the ground level of the bridge until we reached a set of ladders. These ladders took us up to the top of the arch closest to the Opera House, and from there we walked up stairs that became increasingly shallower as we got closer to the top. When we reached the highest point of the bridge, we stopped and had our pictures taken, and then crossed over to the other arch and began the climb down. Going down the ladders on that side of the bridge was especially exciting because at any point a train could fly by and scare you off them!My climb was at 4:45pm, which was one of the last climbs before the special "twilight" rates. While we didn't actually get to see any of the sunset, the city still looked amazing. Looking towards the west was a bit of a problem, however, since we just stared straight into the sun. It was nice to get the views of the Opera House, but looking back on it, I probably could have chosen a better time where I could see 360 degree views, rather than be blinded for 180 of those degrees.The tour guide was very good and had obviously been doing the climb for a very long time. He told us a lot of interesting tidbits about the bridge and its construction. Apparently the bridge is the largest and widest single-arch bridge in the world, but not the longest (losing out to America's Bayonne Bridge). The pylons at either end of the bridge actually have no value for holding up the bridge itself, and are really just there to make it more visually attractive. He also told us some pretty scary stories about how construction was carried out when the bridge was built in the 30s!This was a fun trip, but I didn't feel that it was worth the exorbitant price. The pictures were a ripoff as well at $30 for four, but you feel obligated to buy them because you've already spent so much on the climb itself, why not have some memories? Both the CentrePoint Tower and helicopter rides offer better views (because they include the Bridge as well), are cheaper, and allow you to take a camera along, so I would recommend these instead.

From journal Sydney: Worth All the Fuss

Editor Pick

BridgeClimb

  • May 4, 2006
  • Rated 3 of 5 by stomps from Houston, Texas
BridgeClimb

When I arrived in Sydney, I had only one pre-booked activity the Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb. I was very excited about doing this, and whenever anybody before my trip asked me what I was planning on doing, this was inevitably the first thing out of my mouth. It was definitely rather damaging to my pocketbook—$165 for a daylight climb on a weekday—and I went at the cheapest time possible! Rates can get up to a ridiculous $245 for a twilight climb on a weekend. At this price, I expected it to be nothing less than extraordinary.I arrived at the BridgeClimb center—located at 5 Cumberland Street in The Rocks—around 30 minutes before my scheduled climb. The absolute latest that climbers can arrive is 15 minutes before their scheduled climb time, so they can begin the pre-climb preparations. To wile away the time, I looked at the wall of photos of the many celebrities that had done the climb, from Pat Rafter to Matt Damon to the entire Australian rugby team.When they finally called our group, we went through a whirlwind of preparations. First, we had an alcohol breath test to make sure we were completely sober; any alcohol on our breath and we were gone. Then we had to fill out waivers and put on BridgeClimb gear (including the wonderful gray jumpsuit). Everything had to be attached to our body—glasses and hats both had straps that were attached to the keyring at the back of our suit. This was all to make sure that none of our gear fell onto traffic below and caused accidents, which was a reasonable concern. However, they used this as an excuse to tell us we were not allowed to take cameras at all, regardless of whether they had straps on them or not. I thought this was a little ridiculous—we're climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, of course we'd want to take pictures, and if the camera is securely attached to us, why not? Of course, the reason why not was because they took our pictures for us, and then sold them to us for up to $30 a pop at the end.Once we were all ready to go, we got to go on the "BridgeClimb simulation". This was pretty much five or six stairs, a long, narrow walkway, and then stairs back down. Our guide showed us here exactly how we were to go up and down the stairs and how we were to attach to the bridge. We did this by taking our belt and running it onto the wire running alongside the walkway. This part was pretty boring but necessary; however, we spent way too long here because we had to wait for all the previous groups to move on before we could. This wait time did help in letting us all get to know each other, since up on a fake bridge we couldn't do much else.This review is continued in BridgeClimb, pt 2.

From journal Sydney: Worth All the Fuss

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