First free solo Rock Climb ascent in Phuket -- watch it POV!

[Tapster]

@GFJ

Cool!

A Gri-Gri is the most important of those things, to save you seriously tired arms!

Re: protection for climbing wall....I've asked Steve, below. Anyway, the web has a lot of helpful info but it would be good to know what people in Phuket use.

Yes..beers and climbing wall discussions.

There are definitely more climbers out there in Phuket, so there could be some interest. There's lots to talk about. A climbing wall could be a labour of love or maybe could pay for itself. We'll have plenty of time to chat at leisure and see how we feel.

Re: bikes.......I bought one last time we were in Phuket, earlier this year. It's in storage and I can't wait to get back and ride it!

@SH

I'm loving your pool rock. Very stylish!

I think I might have seen it before on a real estate agent's photos when we were checking out properties last year. Have you bought your house recently? What a coincidence that would be!

Re: termites, do you have any advice on wood treatments. You can see my query in the post with the climbing wall photo. I'd be very grateful for any ideas you might have.

Cheers.

[Gforcejunkypkt]

i built this fake rock at the end of my pool as a climbing wall, easy, cheap and far nicer to climb on and more natural that those holds you typically get in a climbing gym.

my ideas would be to team up with a mui thai gym that had a bit of space in the back for a climbing wall. then it could share the office area and then hire a couple of climbing guides from Krabi

Wow that's brilliant Steve, looks nice next to the pool, good job! Also, great idea about maybe working with a MuayThai camp if one were interested in setting up a wall, as few of these like Tiger also offer more comprehensive training, conditioning and health/lifestyle services, so that could be a win-win situation. Wouldn't really need to go to Krabi for climbing guides, there are some good local guys here in Phuket whom I bet would like to help with something like that for fair renumeration, on a part-time or more basis as needed.

Le Meridien Patong has a pretty decent rock tower, though I think you have to be a guest staying there to utilize it, esp. during the high season. Quest Laguna Phuket had a nice 3-sided Tower but last I heard it was going to be taken down to use the prime land for another development, but not sure.

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Yesterday I made it over to the Big Buddha to check out Big Buddha Boulder, which is actually more aptly named Big Buddha Wall, because it's quite big -- here's a view looking down from just below the holy monument itself. The wall extends probably at least another 20-30 meters below the tree line as pictured, making the total height an estimated 60-70 meters I'd say (higher than Chalong Bay Cliffs), though I won't know until we do a closer recce (next time from the bottom; access to the top of the wall is through a kinda private monk's huts area, and protected by an ancient sect of ninja monkeys -- no kidding we saw at least 20 in the trees directly above the top of the wall area, and while not overly aggressive, they didn't seem super happy for us to be there, so we didn't extend our stay.

First impression from afar was that the wall itself is made of very good quality, reasonably grippy rock, but it's similar to other such outcroppings in the area -- slightly sloped, not 90 degrees, but on the whole quite featureless insofar as good climbing holds, so I'm sure it's harder to climb than it may look. We'll see what's up after a closer inspection, there might be a workable route or two (though one might have to be careful about getting beaned by a ninja monkey thrown coconut when topping out:)

Edited November 3, 2014 by Gforcejunkypkt

[Gforcejunkypkt]

My new Training Master...

(Actually she's lived at our house longer than we have, she has a youngster about half her size that stays in one little area while she goes wherever she wants).

Edited November 7, 2014 by Gforcejunkypkt

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Yet another possible site! I saw the tops of this while whizzing down the Bypass road, then just checked it out with Google Earth. Not sure of rock quality but it looks reasonably steep and about 25-30? m high. Will try to check it out this weekend if time and weather permitting if anyone wants to meet up PM me. Easiest access seems via roads behind Surakul Stadium in town, the wall is about 800-900 m from the stadium and just behind a some condos called Green Place.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Gforcejunkypkt

[Tapster]

Excellent work!

I've been in touch with two of the Krabi bolters and I'll be posting about this at greater length as soon as I get in front of my PC,...probably tomorrow.

[Tapster]

Greetings to all interested parties in the development of climbing in Phuket!

This is an update on the feasibility and costs of establishing bolted rock climbs in Phuket.

I need to start with a bit of history about the climbing in Southern Thailand.

I hope you're sitting comfortably!

There will be some metallurgy involved and some chemistry!!

Firstly, many thanks to Gforcejungypkt who started this thread, and more recently hansgruber and stevehaigh who have also spotted likely climbing spots.

It's now clear that Phuket has some climable rock and that the establishing of permanent bolted routes is easily possible.

This will provide a wonderful new resource for the island, for those who climb and those who would like to learn. No more will it be necessary to take a long boat ride to go climbing to areas where the climbing is excellent but often far too hard for a beginner.

Now, here's the metallurgy and chemistry..........the tropical and coastal conditions in this part of the world (in short, warm, wet and salty) present an almost unique challenge to safely protecting rock climbs.

The world-class climbing area in Krabi, centred around Tonsai Beach, near Ao Nang, is now almost entirely bolted (protected) using titanium hardware, rather than the stainless steel used in many other parts of the world.

Early in the history of climbing in Southern Thailand, stainless steel bolts and hardware were used. It was found that after a very short time in comparison to hardware in other parts of the world, the bolts corroded and in some well-documented cases, actually broke with just a climber’s body weight on them.

Clearly that was a potentially deadly failure in the metal and it was found that the tropical heat combined with the chemical composition of limestone and the salt from the nearby sea led to greatly accelerated corrosion and weakening of the bolts and the metal hardware in general, through the process of Stress Corrosion Cracking (please see explanatory link later in post).

Titanium was found to be the only material resistant to this mode of failure and nearly all the stainless steel bolts in Krabi have now been replaced with titanium.

Here are some pictures to go with my thousand words:

This is a diagram of a commonly-used steel expansion bolt, with a "hanger" into which one clips a carabiner with the rope in it, to protect the climber.

The expansion bolt is placed in a drilled 10 or 12mm hole and torqued to pull the wedge outwards and hold it in place.

In the unique corrosive conditions in Southern Thailand, we start to see this:

And after 3-4 years, even this. Would you want to clip into such a bolt?

So, along comes the titanium bolt. This is glued into a drilled hole, with epoxy resin. The lifespan of such a bolt is a minimum of twenty years and most will last much longer than that.

Seen next to the steel bolt which it replaces, it's easy to see which will last longer.

(The inset shows the appearance of the steel bolt after the nut and hanger were removed.)

I’ll leave you to read more on this if you would like to.

This is the website of the organization who is doing the “retro-bolting” in Krabi:

http://thaitaniumproject.com/

This article explains the process of stress corrosion cracking:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_corrosion_cracking

This is the website of the only company in the world (hard to believe, but true) that produces titanium bolts and safety hardware for climbing. They are based in Sheffield, England.

http://www.titanclimbing.com/

The bottom line is that the stainless steel bolts and hardware that I can provide will not be suitable for protecting rock climbs in Phuket.

Naturally, titanium is more expensive than stainless steel and I have done the maths.

Based on the costs of equipment from Titan Climbing, not including shipping from the UK and various ancillary pieces of equipment required, such as drill bits, the approximate cost of setting up a 30-metre high rock climb, with seven bolts and two bolted anchors at the top would be 100 GBP or $160.

To set up top-roping anchors at the top of a climb, so that people could climb, supported by a rope above them all the way, would be cheaper, at 30 GBP or $50.

So there we are, the harsh reality is that if this is to work out, we will need money from somewhere.

I am very keen to get this project off the ground.

I am in contact with Martin, the boss of Titan Climbing and am working on a price for the hardware necessary to establish ten fully bolted climbs. The cost of all this will be in the region of 1000 GBP or $1,600.

I know it sounds like a lot, but if this is done right once, it will last for years.

I am willing to commit 300GBP ($475) to this project.

Will anybody else join me in securing their place in establishing the first rock climbs in the history of Phuket?

Any ideas on promoting the Phuket Bolting Fund?

Edited November 8, 2014 by Tapster

[stevehaigh]

thanks for the info tapster

my preference would be set up some top ropes and climb a few routes before deciding to spend that kind of money

also, there will be the small detail of who owns the land in question and if you are even allowed to bolt it. at least with top rope setup, everything is removed when you leave for the day

[Old Croc]

Apparently this is being constructed at Saphan Hin, for the Sport Climbing event at the Asian Beach Games:

[stevehaigh]

Apparently this is being constructed at Saphan Hin, for the Sport Climbing event at the Asian Beach Games:

beach games sports climbing.jpg

interesting, i wonder if they will leave it there.must go take a look

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Apparently this is being constructed at Saphan Hin, for the Sport Climbing event at the Asian Beach Games:

beach games sports climbing.jpg

interesting, i wonder if they will leave it there.must go take a look

Yeah that's being put up by a BKK co. (I think Proclimber Thailand), but I'm unfortunately I'm sure they'll take it down afterwards

[Tapster]

Re: the competition wall at Saphan Hin.

It looks very small. Is that the actual one they're building?

Just for interest, and not saying 'mine's bigger than yours', but I've been to an international climbing competition and the sort of walls they'd build nowadays are in the pics below.

The idea is to make it so hard that ideally, only one person can get to the top and he/she is the winner. The one shown in OC's photo looks very easy, even if the holds were small and the moves very technical. There are no overhangs, for instance.

Anyway, how do you fancy trying one of these??

[Tapster]

Steve, you're right: top-roping first to find lines worthy of expensive bolting, and very much only with the permission and goodwill of the landowner, that goes without saying.

I didn't want to make my post even longer and we had covered getting permission earlier in the thread.

On this issue, it would be great if you long-term residents, with a greater understanding of the Thai way of doing things, would start to find out who owns what and to approach the landowners with a view to agreeing access.

I don't know how you'd want to approach this but, from our side you should know that there's no money to be made for either side in this project, certainly not to start with and probably never.

Any requirement on the part of the landowner to be paid for access to the land would almost certainly rule out the use of the crag for bolting development.

Anyway, I know I may be sounding a bit gung-ho about all this but I've done it before and if it's going to happen, negotiating access is key to the success of the project and everyone would benefit if one of you experienced guys would give a little time and expertise to talking to landowners, particularly of the Chalong cliff area that GFJ found and the area NE of Phuket Town that Hans told us about.

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers

[LivinginKata]

Off topic troll removed. This is a very good topic and nonsense posts will be removed without notice.

[Jerry Cornelius]

So, exempting the OP there's no, or very few traditional climbers in Phuket. He did a 'free climb'.

Climbing is something you do for yourself. You can follow others routes to test yourself and even have opportunities to regrade the overall route or sections of it whilst placing your own safety as you see fit. You can even red point your own route and have it recorded.

Bolts and top ropes can degrade an "S" route to a mere scramble.

Not meaning to take anything away from dedicated sports climbers. but I've seen little in this thread which indicates anything other than commercial interest. Surely there are more than 2 of us in Phuket that have climbed just for the sake of it.

Jerry

Edited November 9, 2014 by Jerry Cornelius

[Tapster]

Jerry

Let's go climbing together.

I have 35 years of trad climbing experience behind me and I respect all that you say, but you gotta read the posts:

There's no commercial interest here at all. There just isn't!

Posters have found possible climbing areas and we're discussing how we might work towards making these available to the largest number of people. I don't see how there's anything commercial in that.

Now, bolting does cost something but we're looking at self-financing so, again, no commerce.

Our ethics are pure, unless you're a luddite from darkest England where bolts are a work of the devil.

I'm coming to live in Phuket with my lovely wife and my trad gear will be with me by end Feb 2015.

Please find a challenging trad line by then and I'd love to climb it with you.

We can leave really good trad lines alone but there will be bolting because some lines have no natural pro, some people have to learn on all sorts of styles of climb, some people will never want to climb trad.

Let's get together. There's enough rock out there for all of us.

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Thanks to you both Tapster & Jerry for your contributions, and both of you make very good points. Coming from a background mostly of low/high bouldering plus free soloing small wall & urban stuff (more than half of which I shouldn't have been in hindsight:), and with little technical gear knowledge, I can identify with the plus sides of both trad & sport climbing. But maybe that debate is best left to another thread if anyone is interested to pursue it.

In regard to whether bolting would be required at Chalong Bay Cliffs, I really don't know and would need one of you more experienced technical climber's opinion on that after you actually see it up close yourself. However, I do suspect not too many owners (or perhaps those living nearby, like in the Green Place condos from last site pix I posted near Surakul Stadium, or the ninja monkeys above Big Buddha Wall referred to in another post) would take very kindly to our blasting, drilling or hammering away at these venues, so probably a gentler approach would be best advised if not necessary.

But like Tapster I'd like to second the notion at least among ourselves that have been so far participating on this thread there really is no commercial interest in developing any of these sites. While I'm elated to have personally re-discovered the true joy of climbing during/after my little solo climb, and hope to share that enjoyment with like-minded others in the future, the fact is during normal times (e.g. no martial law or major social disturbance), I'm simply too busy with work/company, raising a great daughter, couple of crazy dogs and riding bikes, to even think about developing any such places we 'discover' commercially.

I also personally don't think it would be commercially viable, given such issues as access (whether private or public property), insurance/liability, high equipment/gear costs etc. In regard to access, I will relate my recent experience being granted access (at least provisionally, like many things here) to climb at Chalong Bay Cliffs in a future post...

And yes, let's just get out and climb together -- while Phuket will never be Krabi in this regard, that's OK (and perhaps for the better, this island has quite enough development going on as it is!), we can still get out for some good exercise, fun and adventure within 20-40 min. of areas most of us probably live if we're resourceful and respectful as needed -- anyone who wants to climb just PM me and schedule permitting I'll be good to go!

Edited November 9, 2014 by Gforcejunkypkt

[stevehaigh]

i agree with the last post, i'm happy to spend a few baht for some equipment for personal use but not into trying to commercialize anything. just here to get some exercise and have a bit of fun.

[Old Croc]

Re: the competition wall at Saphan Hin.

It looks very small. Is that the actual one they're building?

Just for interest, and not saying 'mine's bigger than yours', but I've been to an international climbing competition and the sort of walls they'd build nowadays are in the pics below.

The idea is to make it so hard that ideally, only one person can get to the top and he/she is the winner. The one shown in OC's photo looks very easy, even if the holds were small and the moves very technical. There are no overhangs, for instance.

Anyway, how do you fancy trying one of these??

Comp Climbing walls (1).jpg

Comp Climbing walls (2).jpg

Comp Climbing walls (3).jpg

Comp Climbing walls (4).jpg

I got the picture from the official website, but it's possible they may have used a stock photo.

[Tapster]

Cool, OC!

If the photo was a stock one, and maybe it was with the seats in it 'n' all, maybe they'll be building something bigger.......and maybe we can get a go!!

..........or maybe you guys can get a go, because the Games are in November, and I won't be in Phuket.....sob!!

If you do get to climb on the competition wall, please take photos!!

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Re: the competition wall at Saphan Hin.

It looks very small. Is that the actual one they're building?

Just for interest, and not saying 'mine's bigger than yours', but I've been to an international climbing competition and the sort of walls they'd build nowadays are in the pics below.

The idea is to make it so hard that ideally, only one person can get to the top and he/she is the winner. The one shown in OC's photo looks very easy, even if the holds were small and the moves very technical. There are no overhangs, for instance.

Anyway, how do you fancy trying one of these??

Comp Climbing walls (1).jpg

Comp Climbing walls (2).jpg

Comp Climbing walls (3).jpg

Comp Climbing walls (4).jpg

I got the picture from the official website, but it's possible they may have used a stock photo.

Here's adesign picture from Proclimber Thailand's Facebook page, doesn't look like there'll be much in the way of overhangs or the like:

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Access to Chalong Bay Cliffs -- As alluded to in a previous post I just wanted to relate my experience getting access permission to CBC. The previous weekend after I checked out Big Buddha Wall I stopped off briefly at CBC just to get in a bit of bouldering before it got too dark. Afterwards on the way down the road leading to site, I stopped at the little Security shack and with the help of my daughter and her friend (whom I had brought to CBC for the first time) learned that the owner of the area was indeed as I suspected, the same owner of the little resort located near there by the main road.

So the girls and I went over to the resort and luckily one of the owners (the wife) was there and we had a little chat. Luckily too she spoke English quite well, so explained to her what I had been doing and asked her permission to keep climbing there. Like most any owner in that situation she was a bit surprised about the whole rock climbing thing, but to make a long story short she did give me permission to climb there in the future, though with the clear stipulation that it would not be for any business/commercial purposes.

I also suspect that she wouldn't really want a million people going up there, because twice she asked me in clarification if it would only be me (to which both times I replied usually, but sometimes I might bring a couple of friends, which she seemed ok with, again I think she just didn't want anything commercial going on and with lots of people going up there (her family also lives in a big beautiful house on the hillside that is almost right across from the path leading into the site).

So probably easiest if anyone wants to go over there to just give me a PM and we can meet up over there. However, this of course does not preclude anyone just going over to the site by yourself just like I did (several times and nobody hassled me), or stopping in to say hello to the owner lady (forgot her name) and getting permission for yourself; I'm not boss of the site! However if you do this maybe you can do like me and the girls, and have some lunch or dinner at their restaurant, which I'm sure they appreciate the business. (they also have a spa/massage place I might take advantage of after a hard climb sometime:).

With other sites I'm sure it will be on a case by case basis that we find out whether owners are OK or not for us to climb on their land.

Next I plan to more closely investigate the Bypass Road/Surakul Stadium site for climbability and access related info (anyone keen to meet up just PM me), will report afterwards.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Gforcejunkypkt

[Tapster]

@GFJ

I love your enthusiasm, man!

Clearly, a softly, softly approach is necessary, building trust and convincing the landowners that we don't want to make money out of them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this develops.

More power the the Junky!!!

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Hi to give you more of a feel of the rock at Chalong Bay Cliffs here's a video of a short (about 7.5m give or take a meter:) red-pointed climb I did there during my last (brief) visit. This route is located to the very left of the cliffs, starts with a little traverse then straight up and over a mini-overhanging 'roof'. On rope it wouldn't be anything too tough or scary but without one there were a couple of tricky sections that got the adrenaline pumpin' a plenty (and in fact came pretty darn close to popping off about 2/3 the way up). Good solid stuff there though, didn't have any rock break off. I'll post a pic of the route shortly.

Best viewed in HD 1080p with your speakers on...

Edited November 14, 2014 by Gforcejunkypkt

[Gforcejunkypkt]

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Hi there, been busy with work etc. but last Saturday was able to get out for recces (or attempts thereof) at 2 locations previously mentioned on the thread -- Rassada Cliffs (aka 'Hans Gruber Heights') and Green Place Cliffs (not so far from Surakul Stadium). Will post info about each shortly, for now though suffice it say that unfortunately neither of these is easily accessible

[Gforcejunkypkt]

Yet another possible site! I saw the tops of this while whizzing down the Bypass road, then just checked it out with Google Earth. Not sure of rock quality but it looks reasonably steep and about 25-30? m high. Will try to check it out this weekend if time and weather permitting if anyone wants to meet up PM me. Easiest access seems via roads behind Surakul Stadium in town, the wall is about 800-900 m from the stadium and just behind a some condos called Green Place.

The second and shorter recce I made on Saturday was at this location, as per above located directly behind the Green Place Condos -- in fact they're so directly behind condos that I'm sure they wouldn't allow anyone to climb there esp. on the left side, given the possibility of a broken chunk of rock careening down the embankment and into someone's balcony or sliding glass doors.

The right side is a bit farther back and has more base area, so I don't really think any danger of falling rock, but basically any place like this is going to be a secured environment and they won't be keen for strangers to be traipsing around there. I went in through an open construction entrance and while I later saw a security guard he didn't say anything to me (maybe thought I was inspecting to the new condos), I bet if had started trying to climb anything there someone would have said something.

It's too bad because there seems to be some decent rock and reasonably steep too.

So unless someone happens to be friends with the owner, or lives there and is friendly with security/mgr. I think we'll have to cross this one off the list

[Tapster]

Good work, GFJ!

Awkward access may not be all bad.

Looking forward to your next post when you have time.

Cheers!

[Tapster]

Sorry, our posts crossed over and mine now makes no sense!

Shame about Green Place but the awkward access to HGH may not be all bad.

☺

Edited November 24, 2014 by Tapster

[Gforcejunkypkt]

uploadfromtaptalk1412928274189.jpg

The satellite image is better. Can See the stone.

Thanks for sharing @hansgruber! Actually I know that formation and was going to mention about it but you beat me to it Like Chalong Bay Cliffs it's an abandoned development site that looks like someone was wanting to develop but gave up -- and that was many years ago! It's down Rassada Rd. not super far from Rajahabat University (but on the other side of Thepkassatri Rd.) About 13 years or so ago I lived down that road for about 6 months and could see the area, which one day I hiked back into (it's not super far). If memory serves me correctly I think yes, it is at least as high if not higher than the center section of Chalong Bay Cliffs; I also have the impression it was wider in scope as well but can't remember for sure.

However, I do also distinctly remember walking up to one of the walls and testing some rock, which broke away pretty easily, instant turn off to a mostly solo climber, and never went back. Part of the problem is that wall largely faces west, so gets more sun, wind and rain (and which is why the CBC site is largely good rock, because it faces south and receives less of these).

All of that said, it's quite possible that with the help of another person or two and some top ropes, that some of the better routes could be cleaned of weathered rock and made into good climbs -- certainly worth another look!

And also glad to hear that you like hiking and exploring -- as I'd bet you know there are actually a lot of "unvisited/unseen" (except maybe by rubber tree planters/harvesters perhaps) places in the hills and jungles of Phuket! So would be great to have an "on the ground" adventurer like yourself (or any others' contributions welcome too), keeping an eye open for interesting rock formations (even shorter boulders, esp. if they're good rock). And if you find a cool place that we are able to climb at, we'll be happy to name the site after you, maybe "Hans Gruber Heights" (or whatever takes your fancy).

Esp. if people are interested to contribute or even just check out the adventures of others, as mused above in a previous post, maybe we can start a new sub-forum, something like Phuket Adventures & Explorations (only outdoor stuff of course, no bars, shopping or restaurants), though not being very long here on TV I wouldn't know at this point how to do that or if even possible. Sorry for the long post!

How about Hans Gruber Fell?

hans fall.jpg

A fell (from Old Norse fell, fjall, "mountain"[1]) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain range or moor-covered hills - Wiki

Well for now Old Croc I might suggest Gforcejunky Fell as that's what happened during my attempted recce of this site, though fortunately not while actually on any vertical rock -- plz check out the video below when you have time. The only workable access to this cliff that I could find (short of jumping over housing/estate walls) requires several hundred meters of bushwacking through spider and snake infested jungle behind a possibly ghost infested Chinese cemetery. And even if you did cut a trail with a machete it would be taken back by the jungle within a couple of weeks or month. So as you can see in the video I basically gave up (for the time being) as a) I was alone and I knew I and probably others would rarely have such time for trekking into that site (esp. compared to the ease of getting to Chalong Bay Cliffs).

The very 'easiest' access would probably be from the top I think, but there's a housing development blocking access to that and the security guard was quite adamant that I wasn't getting inside (even when I lied and said I was looking for a house to rent; he said none available and shooed me away quite more sternly than your average Thai usually would).

So while I'm not saying this site is impossible to develop, it would take a lot more work -- not to mention risk of further pissing off any resident Chinese ghosts from the cemetery there...