On December 11, 2008, I climbed my favorite route in Yangshuo, The Witch Woman of the Rock, in this fairly young developed area called Brave New World. The Witch Woman of the Rock is a 5-pitch climb; in the guidebook it is described as “a good traditional line of continuous crack climbing, well protected throughout.” The crack was easily spotted from a distance and the line was beautiful. Little did we know we would soon experience the most amazing view ever since we arrived in Yangshuo. Different from many other climbing areas, instead of situating itself within many other limestone towers and formations, Brave New World keeps a distance from them. When we were on top of the second pitch, this panoramic view took our breath away. The view can probably be captured by a wide angle lens but the touching emotion was beyond words.

The Witch Woman of the Rock was the last multi-pitch climb of my China trip. Towards the end of my stay, I was browsing the guidebook to seek for something interesting and this route caught my eyes. A 5.10c trad route. I knew that I was not ready to lead a .10c pitch but I brought my trad rack all the way from the States; I wanted to put them to use. The 5.10c pitch is the last pitch, and we rappel the route to descend. We can always bail or French aid the route (aka pulling gear to propel upwards).

The first pitch was a 20-meter 5.9. I followed it. The last move was quite bold and one bolt was there just to protect the follower. The second pitch was 5.10b pitch; it is not the crux pitch but I was still nervous because it was my first 5.10b trad lead. I stalled at one spot for a while, and I climbed up and climbed back down three times. I was very glad that the small ledge was there for me to replenish my energy. Finally I did an awkward chimney move and after a few scary moves, I was able to regain good footing. The chimney move was awkward because the feature soon got interrupted by a roof. The other option is to climb outside the feature and deal with a bulgy feature on the left side and eventually land the right foot high on a feature sticking out from the right. I chose to use the chimney. Because of the roof I couldn’t fully extend my upper body and therefore I had to duck the whole way while slowly moving my feet up. Well somehow in a chimney, I had a sense of security. My partner chose the outside route apparently, but I was just proud that I led it.

The difficulty of the third pitch was somewhere between 5.9 and 5.10a. I had great fun following it while my leader might have thought otherwise because I could see marginal gear placement dictated by the rock quality and feature. He linked the fourth pitch, which was a mellow 5.6, and left me deal with the final 5.10c pitch.

The start of the last pitch was straight overhanging, and it also blocked the view of the rest of the climb. It looked pretty difficult already and we wished it would be the crux section. We were not sure whether the route went straight up because on the right, there was an inviting ramp for exiting. At any rate, I needed to get up higher to see the rest of the climb in order to figure out the path of the least resistance.

I put two pieces in, and managed to get higher. There were some good handholds, but they were quite polished and they were all open-hand handholds, not the best kind to grab. I hung on my left arm and placed my left foot in a hole, looking for next good gear placement. My right hand felt something and I screamed with excitement “I found a place to thread!” I was still hanging on my left arm, my left foot was still in this hole far to the left and my right foot was hanging in the air to maintain my balance. I pulled out a single length sling and started to thread the bar feature. The sling was soft and the space behind that little bar was tight, and I started to feel tired, I mumbled “come on, thread; come on…” Right before my left arm gave up on me, enough sling was pushed out behind the bar. I soon grabbed the bar with my right hand, finished the threading with my left hand, clipped a carabiner, clipped the rope and of course yelled “take!”

I felt so much more comfortable with that thread in place because I knew that it was a bomber protection piece, probably the best piece throughout the climb so far. Since there was still much difficult overhanging climbing straight ahead, I decided that it was time to get on the ramp and take a good look at the rest of the climb. Getting through the ramp wasn’t a piece of cake either, I pulled on two cams and finally was able to throw in some hand jamming to get on a ledge. I looked and pondered, the route mostly definitely went straight up. What was waiting for us if we could manage to overcome the first overhanging section was another long overhanging and flaring feature - a tiny crack inside a corner was all it could offer to accommodate gear. We didn’t have many small pieces but it was not relevant for us because it looked like what we could have was bad gear placement anyway.

“Let’s bail,” I said. We left a carabiner and a sling behind. I was very happy. We could have bailed right after we reached the top of the fourth pitch, but we didn’t. We gave it a try, we evaluated the situation and we made a conscious decision. Going to the top matters sometimes but the process of going to the top or not matters always. I was happy I bailed because I chose to. The rappelling to the base was cool. The full moon was up before the sunset, and this route made my trip.

Photo Credit: Josie McKee

The path leading to the base of Space Buttress was tricky to find; it is right next to a farmer’s house. Before reaching the base, you see a mini pigpen first, which makes you doubt yourself twice whether you are indeed trespassing other people’s property.

When we were climbing there, the owner of the house came to chat with us. He humbly stated out his concerns for climbers; it seems that many climbers had walked right in middle of his front yard when they missed the path a couple feet away. He said, “if it’s sunny, I don’t mind but when it’s rainy, people just leave mud everywhere and it takes forever for us to clean.” Although local farmers do not own the cliffs, they are in fact very generous allowing climbers to climb at very close proximity. I suggested him to make a sign and promised him that I would email the author of the guidebook to urge him to put something in the new edition to help maintain a friendly relationship between climbers and locals. Gladly, on the same day, I also bumped into a western route setter who told me that those actions were in fact under progress.

We climbed a few routes; I was very fond of this 25-meter route called Klingon. It has very technical and fun moves at the bottom, followed by powerful elements towards the top. My favorite route was Dark Star, a two-pitch route, 5.10a and 5.10b. The 5.10b pitch is long - 25 meters. The 5.10a pitch is shorter but it is at least 15 meters long. I decided to link the two pitches together, and carried 26 draws on my harness which almost gave me this delusion that I was trad climbing.

The first two/three moves of the 5.10a pitch were easy and then I arrived at this scary spot - the next bolt was kind of far, it was exposed, and the fall didn’t look pretty. I had to step out left and use either lie-backing (which required me to lean all the way to the left) or try to throw some jams in that wide crack in a corner to the right without many good footholds. Anybody who has climbed with me before would know that I almost always choose jamming over lie-backing especially when I am on lead; no exception here. Jamming gives me a sense of security even though sometimes lie-backing is a more efficient choice (later, my two friends both lie-backed the part).

The 5.10b was long and super fun. It started with many exposed but good and interesting stemming moves. None of the moves throughout the climb were difficult but the difficulty of the climb was very consistent. In my opinion, it was the 25 meters worth of consistency that won the route a 5.10b grade. I could do all the moves but I had to “take” towards the end when I had only three more bolts to clip. I wish I could have rested more at the ledge where the first pitch ended. I remembered that I read this line in one book, “when you lead, you rest wherever you can even when you think you don’t need it.” Until now, many of my climbing occasions have reminded me of this line, and I still haven’t taken full advantage of all the resting opportunities. Furthermore, I can always try to improve my endurance, and this route is perfect for that reason: this .10b pitch is so fun and consistent that I am more than happy to do laps on it.

Photo Credit: Ian Farquhar

Treasure Cave takes climbers some hiking to get into, but it was worth our effort. It is located at the upper part of a limestone formation, and it is more than spacious enough to accommodate several 100-foot routes. Needless to say, as a cave, it provided us an excellent escape from the still blazing sun of early December. The inner-cave scenery was really something - an outline of the cave combined with a mixed view of fields, farm animals, and neighboring karst towers. It was a pity that we got a couple wet routes resulting from the leaking ceiling. Oh, aren’t we just greedy?

We did five routes. A 5.9, called Adventure Race Groupies, sped up our blood flow. It was followed by another wet and therefore somehow scary 5.9 called Where’s My Tyrolean. We set up a top rope using the shared anchor for a powerful unnamed 5.10+ climb, which I couldn’t do as one pass. The fourth climb we led was a 2-star 5.10b called Losing Face. This route is a 5.9 in general with a tricky 5.10b move which potentially would make people lose face. I finally moved through the crux by applying the following sequence: I moved my left foot as high as possible, and used a crappy left crimper with a tiny right side pull to bump myself up to very good hand holds. I was very proud that I figured out the sequence, but what made me even more proud was the lead of the last climb of the day - a 25-meter 5.10a called Sai Yan which was also marked as a 2-star route in the guidebook.

Sai Yan is a weird looking route. It starts with a wide crack and two bolts are located after a ledge. Before the route reaches another ledge, a giant protruding block joins from the left and becomes part of the climb. There are two bolts on this block as well. To clip these four bolts was not too much of a problem for me, although I did complain that the route was so exposed and I had to do super wide stemming to get this far.

The next bolt shows up right before a roof. I saw a crack to the left of my projected upward path, and the bolt was right next to the top of the crack. I thought there must have been some jugs hidden in the crack but my hope was unfulfilled. The crack only offered a long sequence of repetitive side pulling which translated to unsecured hand movement in my mind. I looked down; the consequence of falling was high; god damn the protruding block because it would be my landing grave if I would have fallen. I clipped the fifth bolt and I sighed.

I rested myself marginally at an awkward stance, and I tried to straighten my arms to conserve my ever-losing energy. I moved up and what welcomed me was an awkward looking humongous horn-shaped formation sticking out from the left. I couldn’t see a thing, including the sixth bolt which I knew was somewhere to my right. I tried to move out to the right a little bit more, and I still couldn’t see the bolt, neither did I feel secured, and the consequence of falling remained high. I backed off to my original spot, where I could hold on to something to keep myself in place. I yelled down “Where is the bolt?” Corey yelled back “it was right there” and started to give me more detailed references. I reached out my fingers and I felt the bolt. I clipped the bolt with my fingertip memory. I couldn’t fall and I didn’t fall.

After the success of the blind clipping, I regained the courage to boldly move way out to the right and retrieve the location of good handholds. The upper portion of the climb gradually became mellower but I failed to on-sight it because I was beaten up by the exposure, physically demanding overhanging feature, and the fear of the serious consequence of falling. My two friends didn’t lead it because they “didn’t want to kill themselves” especially after watching me leading it.

I jumped on it because the route has two stars and it’s long (I personally prefer long routes). And of course I thought I could do it. I was scared at some point because I didn’t like the price of falling. But that sense of fear was quite different than some random fear which often occurs to me at some climb especially when I try to move through a crux but the fall is in fact very safe. At the occasion of climbing Sai Yan, I thought “I must not fall,” but on other occasions I think “I do not want to fall.” If I back off when I must not fall, I will not feel bad; If I back off when I do not want to fall, I will feel I did not exert myself fully and therefore feel sorry.

When I chose to proceed with the climb, Sai Yan, at places I felt that I must not fall, once I got into action, I was very focussed on each of my moves and therefore my brain had no more space for fear. Interestingly, many times when I chose to proceed when I felt that I did not want to fall, my moves were still sloppy because the fear was still there. My expectation is that I will always make the right choice either to proceed or bail when I must not fall; and I will learn a way to accommodate my fear when the fall is safe because the experience of being crystal clear on a climbing sequence is priceless.

Photo Credit: Ian Farquhar

With the joining of Brigitte and Corey, we set off for Low Mountain for a multi-pitch route, L’Echo des Montagnes. Just like many other multi-pitch routes in Yangshuo, this route was dirty and jungly for the most part. Moreover, this route didn’t provide any challenge either – the hardest pitch was a 5.8 but all of us thought it was overrated. Throughout the whole climb, there was only one semi-spooky traverse move. However, this route did provide an unbeatable reward – a 50-meter free hanging rappel. Because the destination of this rappel is a huge cave, this rappel is also a great photo opportunity.

I was the first one who rappelled. Once I reached the cave, I couldn’t help but explore around. It turned out that the cave was also a tunnel; it brought us to another face of Low Mountain. I saw a group of young people barbecuing and top-roping down below. Right next to where I was standing, there was a rappel anchor. That means if not because our stuff was still at the base of L’Echo des Montagnes, we could have rappelled down here and started cragging right away.

We had to do another 25-meter rappel to get back to the ground and walked around to start our cragging for the day. The rappel is not worth mentioning because all you got was passing through branches and weeds. Cragging was very fun, fortunately. We together did four or five routes and I especially liked the one called Flake Out, rated 5.10c.

Before I tried Flake Out, I stared at it for a long time. The book says, “A bit physical but with a good rest in the middle.” Based on my observations gathered from the base, it looked like the lower part was the most difficult. I figured if I had enough power to clip three bolts, I would be fine. In fact, the upper part was way more technical than the lower part. It required many tricky moves, and had some mandatory hand jamming and off-width work. At the off-width section, only the right foot could be put in the crack and the left foot had to smear the wall. This route was very sustained and powerful but extremely interesting and therefore very enjoyable. I didn’t lead it clean, but later top-roped it clean. I wish I could have red-pointed it but I was too exhausted and too scared to give it another try.

The approach to Twin Gate Mountain was flat and pleasant – occasional breezes took heat away while we greeted the locals. At the crag, there was a big cave equipped with a stone table and benches. When we arrived there, routes were occupied by a guided group. Therefore we decided to head to the West Tower first and do the three-pitch route, Penthouse Platforms (5.10a, 5.8, 5.8).

The guidebook said, “This route has a great top-out with fantastic views.” I couldn’t agree with this statement more. On top of the route, I felt serenity. The houses, fields, towers, and the river were in order, presenting peacefulness. Many bamboo rafts were drifting down with tourists. It was very fun watching the boat owners control their rafts passing through river drops. River water covered the raft and soon sifted through the bamboos poles and returned to the river. It would be great, we wondered, if we could hire a raft to take us all the way back to Yangshuo after our climb.

Penthouse Platforms didn’t seem to get much traffic. The path leading to the base was covered by weeds. The first pitch was the cleanest part of climb, and Ian led it. What was left for me to lead was all sharp and dirty, not to mention fighting with jungles.

Since the second pitch was short, I decided to link it with the third pitch. I soon realized it wasn’t a good idea because the third pitch was longer than I expected and I didn’t have enough draws. Even though I saved one or two draws from the second pitch, in order to finish the climb, I still had to skip at least three or four more bolts. I remember vividly that at one point I had already skipped two bolts in a row and got to this ledge with one draw on my harness. I looked up and I could see the next bolt. I had to climb out toward left from the ledge I was resting on. I was confident that I would not fall but I was still getting nervous, “what if… this is a long runout… damn it!” Anyway, I managed to clip the bolt just fine and got to the final anchor with a perfect belay stance. Ian and I climbed to the top and enjoyed the view until it was too chilly to stay.

We went back to Twin Gate Mountain after Penthouse Platforms. The guided group was packing up. Ian and I sat on the stone bench inside the cave, munching on snacks and watching them leave. The two guides raised two hundred-yuan bills to check whether they are counterfeit with the help of the sunlight and left as well. We then led one route and top-roped another.

I led the route called Da Pi Gu (it means Big Booty). It was rated 5.9, but somehow it was difficult for me. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I was tired or it was because the footholds before the second bolt were pretty polished and therefore I was scared. I top-roped it again after Ian led it. Surprisingly, even though I had knew all the moves already, the climb didn’t get easier. Moves were powerful and I didn’t understand how I managed to lead it!

We used Da Pi Gu to set up the top rope for the first pitch of Kin Jiang Black, which was a fairly technical 5.10b climb. I figured out every move and was able to finish it; nevertheless the climb was very exhausting. The most difficult move was the start; one had to reach really high to get to a jug. Interestingly, at the base of the climb somebody had put a cheater block to stand on. However, the cheater block wasn’t big enough for me; therefore I had to borrow Ian’s knee. Aside from the first move, one move I loved the most was a balancing move. One has to maintain his balance to stand up straight and use his left hand to do a gaston-style of side pull to pass the section. Both Ian and I top-roped it twice before we called it a day.

Happy New Year was Ian and I’s first multi-pitch route in Yangshuo, which we did on our second climbing day. According to the guidebook, it’s a 5-pitch sport route and the summit can be reached with some trad gear. We topped off without using any cams but a few slings. The view from the top was impressive; I especially enjoyed seeing the river winding through villages, fields, limestone towers etc, which is hard to find elsewhere.

The climbing experience was also fairly interesting. Thumb Peak is right next to a major road. With all the traffic and excessive honking, Ian and I could not hear each other throughout the whole climb. Often times, local people on motorbikes or tourists on bikes would stop to watch us. They shouted at us sometimes to cheer us up and sometimes to remind us to be careful. At first I felt quite embarrassed, but soon I started to embrace the publicity and wave back.

It was quite clear that morning, just like almost every other morning afterwards throughout our stay in Yangshuo. We grabbed a few cams and some extra slings for the summit preparation. On our way to the bus ride, we filled our stomachs up with steamed buns and soy milk; visited our favorite bakery for snack food. Ian studied the topo and I knew there was one 5.10 pitch later in the climb.

The approach was fairly straight-forward. Ian set off and soon finished the first pitch. It looked like a good 5.9. It was. I liked it but I also felt that I was just about to break into limestone climbing mode. I took my time to move up. At the crux move, which was to move out a roof and back, Ian kept me too tight. I yelled to ask for some slack but my voice dissolved in the overpowering noise from the road. After some negotiation with the ever-worsen rope tension, I popped up and reached the first anchor.

I led the second pitch, a fairly straight-forward 5.8. I could hear people whistling at me. Their words broke up in the wind and they kept trying until I showed some reaction. The second pitch was so short that I couldn’t quite remember how and what it was.

Ian took over the lead. I kept feeding out the rope wondering when he was going to stop. It seemed like forever to me. I stared at the crowd, waved at them, until they all disappeared. The road was still busy; truck and bus drivers never got tired of honking, but I was getting tired of waiting. I realized Ian linked the third and fourth pitches after I passed the third anchor. The third pitch was fun, nothing particularly difficult, easier than the first pitch. The fourth pitch required some interesting stemming moves. I expressed my enjoyment of the fourth pitch to Ian when I saw him. In the meantime, I kept wondering what was left for me, it seemed that he almost finished the route. “Well, whatever is left for me. I am not gonna turn it down. So far I have only led a short, easy pitch.”

It turned out what was waiting for me was the highlight of the route. It was a perfect crack climbing chance for me with portions of off-width – I used hand jams, knee bars, arm bars etc. The start was way cool; it was a corner and I applied some chimney moves I learned from Eric Odenthal in Splitter Camp and got through that part effortlessly. After that, I encountered this wide crack which required mandatory jamming. At its lower section, I could put in a hand jam. Before I committed the hand jam, I saw bloodstains on the rock; I hesitated but I had no choice. The crack continued to widen up, wider than my fist jam; therefore I had to throw in an arm bar to bring my body higher in order to put my knee in the slot to secure myself.

I was very excited about how I performed on this fifth pitch. The climb was technical and I was surprised that I wasn’t afraid and felt quite secured almost the whole time. I guess the feeling of jamming relaxed me; besides, the bolts were pretty close. I also learned that this pitch is rated 5.10b after the fact. Then that was an memorable moment – my first onsight 5.10b sport lead.

I reached the anchor; I looked up. All the cams were still on Ian’s harness. All I had were two or three slings. I looked up again; it looked pretty doable. I decided to go for it. I went through some jungle, slung two trees and got to the top. There was an anchor on the top as well. Rocks on the top were pretty sharp. I brought Ian up. We both appreciated the view for a while before we rapped down, putting an end for a perfect day of climbing.

Photo credit: Ian Farquhar

Limestone towers, one after another, is Yangshuo’s signature. According to the guidebook published in October 2008, there are close to four hundred routes. However, upon the date I left, which was mid-December 2008, the total route number had exceeded five hundred. Local developers are still actively putting up new lines.

Yangshuo is basically a sport climbing area. Most of the routes are single-pitch routes. There are a handful of multi-pitch routes with the potential of getting up to the summit of a limestone tower. One of my climbing partners, Ian Farquhar, has documented the beta for the climbed multi-pitch routes in Yangshuo in his blog.

The living expenses in Yangshuo are very low according to US standards, and therefore most climbers find no need to dirt-bag. They usually rent a hotel room or an apartment and take local buses or bike to the climbing areas. This time, except for some random items and souvenirs, I spent about 10 USD every day in Yangshuo for lodging, food, and bus tickets. It doesn’t mean staying in downtown Yangshuo is the only option. Some people stay in hotels/apartments near some crags, so they can walk to the crag and at the same time experience rural agricultural atmosphere. Camping is not unheard of either.

As for day-to-day meals, it is much easier and cost-efficient to dine out than to cook unless you plan to stay in Yangshuo for more than six months or unless you cannot stand Chinese food (which is impossible for me to imagine). The feature items in Yangshuo include Guilin rice noodles, beer fish, 3-in-1 multi-nut paste, 8-in-1 lotus seed thicken soup, etc, and you can always find familiar Chinese food items such as fried rice, fried noodles, pot stickers, wontons etc almost everywhere. For breakfast, options include plain & flavored steamed buns, congee, tea-flavored hard boiled eggs etc. For lunch, I usually snack on bakery and crackers. For dinner, pick-your-own stir-fry is a common choice, hand-pulled noodles, and hand-shaved noodles are my favorite; hot pots and clay pot items are also popular. I also found some restaurants in town which feature cuisine of other Chinese regions for a change of taste.

Among the nearly one-month stay in Yangshuo, I visited almost all the climbing areas listed in the guidebooks. I didn’t visit Moon Hill and Leipi Shan though, because the routes over there are beyond my current ability. Moon Hill is also a famous tourist spot and I saw it in the distance when I took a cross-country bike tour and it reminded me the Arch in the States. The formation is absolutely gorgeous – white and light grey arched limestone covered by much green vegetation, standing out from the background of numerous towers. Josie Mckee, another of my climbing partners, urged me to visit Leipi Shan. As the name suggested – Leipi Shan means thunder-striking mountain – the formation is very intimidating, and 5.11 is the warm-up grade there. I decided to leave it alone and made it a reason for me to come back to Yangshuo.

In the following text, I am writing down my impression of the climbing areas I visited except for the ones described in forthcoming individual trip reports.

Egg 雞蛋山

The bus to Egg is not as frequent as one might want but that is the only drawback about this place. It takes a short walk to get to the crag; compared to many other popular crags, the approach is “long” and therefore it attracts less crowd. You can climb different faces of Egg, which gives you the flexibility to choose from climbing in the shade or sun depending on current temperature. There are many interesting routes to choose, and their grade ranges from 5.8-5.12.

I spent three days at this place. My friends enjoyed much a route called Straw Noise Sheep Ernie (5.10b). I didn’t like it much though perhaps because that was where I took my first leader’s fall in Yangshuo. The route is quite technical with the crux section better passed by applying a side-pull. Side-pulling is one of my weaknesses, and therefore I threw in some hand jams as an alternative strategy. The one I enjoyed most was a 5.10a route called Rooster Booster, and there are two reasons for that: 1. it is long (31 meters) which gave me a sense of climbing a pitch of a multi-pitch route; 2. it required me to think and I love solving a puzzle. This route is sustained and quite exposed at the upper half; I remembered being scared from the last bolt to the anchor which was the most exposed section. I hung on the rope to figure out a move. I tried several options which did not work out and finally I committed to a sequence and just went for it. I grabbed a good handhold with a little hopping and higher right foot initial positioning, but the key to success in retrospect was really the commitment.

Thank to my stronger climbing partners, the last day at Egg I got to top-rope two 11’s – pitch one of Eggstatic (5.11a) and Duck (5.11b). I don’t remember much detail about the routes themselves but I remember I climbed the two routes with two distinct mind sets. I climbed Eggstatic which the attitude of “whatever, I don’t know whether I can climb this crap; do I really want to do this?” and I almost was not able to finish it even though I was told “you should lead this” before taking off. After reflecting on my frustration toward Eggstatic, I climbed Duck with the attitude of “I want to send this” and even though I fell on it, I managed to climb the route as smoothly as I could and I was very satisfied with my performance.

Babyfrog Buttress 蝌蚪山

Babyfrog is the first climbing area I visited and it is most convenient to be accessed by bikes. This area is considered to be one of the easier crags and is a common place for school programs. There are about a dozen routes in this area, and among the eight routes I climbed I would highly recommend Frogs Traverse – a very stimulating 5.10c route (the actual climb might be a bit easy for the grade). As the name suggests, one has to make small horizontal moves in addition to purchasing vertical gain, and sometimes the answer to “which direction to go?” doesn’t always come intuitively.

Butterfly 蝴蝶泉

Butterfly is more of a sightseeing spot than a climbing area. However, ever since I saw the gigantic representative manmade structure for this touring spot, which is a 15 or 20 meter tall cement butterfly, climbing a route there to touch a wing of the butterfly became a not extinguishable desire. I eventually climbed a 5.9 route over there in front of the staring eyes of a security guard. I was hoping to use the 5.9 route as a warm-up to touch the left wing and then proceed to a 5.10b for the right wing. However, the 5.9 was really polished and the falling consequence was to fall on a stone (or cement) bench, so I was too nervous to remember to touch the butterfly. The butterfly does not intend to be blasphemed.

Wine Bottle 酒瓶山

Wine Bottle is probably the most popular climbing area around here. Frequent buses drop you right in front of the trailhead, minutes to the crag, just far enough from the busy road so one can really focus on climbing, and most importantly there are many interesting routes with different grades and length to choose from. I had climbed about a dozen routes here and I enjoyed each of them. However when I recalled the climbing days I spent at Wine Bottle the first image showing up was a hot air balloon taking off from the meadow. I witnessed the balloon gradually floated into the sky and over the mountains; it was quite a poetic flow and then I was standing next to the first anchor of a two-pitch climb. Many times I am impressed by how different the view becomes when I change my position in terms of elevation; I believe that fantastic views are one of the lures dragging me out to climb. Another vivid memory was hearing cows wandering in and out the small bushes in the background when I was seeking some shade for a spot to belay or for a quick nap to wait for the midday sun to pass. I enjoyed the feelings that humans and animals share space peacefully especially in a lazy afternoon. Oh, it seems that here in Yangshuo every livestock is raised free range.

White Mountain 白山

White Mountain is beautiful. It’s a wide and tall south facing wall, and it can get really hot even in winter time. There are at least 3 dozen routes here and only a handful of 10’s. Climbers who come here to climb use the 10’s as warm-up climbs, which make the 10’s here very polished and sandbagging. I only top-roped three routes here (two 10c’s and one 11a) and I want to train so that I can come back here to really enjoy this place. Local developers are developing this area into both a tourist and climbing spot – when I was there, I could see that more trees were recently planted and restrooms were under construction. Next time when I get back there, things are going to be very different.

Screaming Mountain Turtle

Screaming Mountain Turtle is a five-pitch route (5.8; four 5.9’s). It is basically a sport route but occasionally you might want to put in some gear because some of the bolts are kind of runout. When we climbed the route, we used .5, #1, and #2 Blackdiamond Camalots. Apparently this route had not been climbed much because it was dirty and had many loose rocks here and there when we climbed it. Some portion of the climb required serious bushwhacking and it was exposed to the sun and got really hot at times. The worst part was the rappel anchors; I remembered that at one spot, I stared at the anchor for centuries before I decided to clip in. We beefed up a few rappel anchors, otherwise rappelling would have become the most scary part of the climb. This route has its potential to be an enjoyable one but before necessary work is done I would recommend many other multi-pitch routes.

Photo credit: Ian Farquhar

Dear all,

I am back home in Taipei now and that means that my Yangshuo climbing trip is officially finished. This trip is my first climbing trip focusing on sport climbing; I have to say I’ve learned a great deal from my climbing partners and from simply doing it. I am never an objective judge when it comes to my climbing progress but with no doubt this trip is very productive and I I got a bit stronger.

I updated my Climblog to include this trip. Among all the climbs I’ve done, my favorites are The Witch Woman of the Rock and Dark Star. The most memorable route is still The Witch Woman of the Rock and then Sai Yan. I have good reasons and I’ll tell you why in later blog articles. Before that, if you want to get a bit taste of my trip, visit Ian’s blog - Ian has already published a few articles, and one of them includes a good photo of me!

I expect to publish an article or two before my next big trip - Aconcagua, and after that I need to find a job to support more climbing trips…

-Little Po

Crack climbing was first introduced to me in the summer of 2007 by three NOLS instructors, who are also enthusiastic crack climbers; I was highly intrigued. My first encounter of a 5.7 crack felt like a 5.9. Then when I tried a real 5.9 crack with an off-width start it was a mission impossible. Not trusting any of my jams and unable to have an ease of mind, I strangled all my body parts and had to quit before reaching the top anchor. The experience sounds like a total disaster, right? Yes, but once I felt a perfect jam, I forgot the rough path leading to it. Just like when reaching a summit, I no longer mind the heavy pack on my back.

Experienced climbers told me “crack climbing is all about techniques”; instructional books said that learning how to climb cracks is like learning to ride a bicycle, once you get it, you have it. I love technique-oriented climbing, because I am never the one able to “power through” a climb. Besides, I know how to ride a bike; there is no reason I can’t crack climb. Therefore I was at Indian Creek, the ultimate destination for crack climbing, undergoing an intense 3-day crack climbing training – the Splitter Camp.

I can’t remember how many climbs I did, I just know it was many. My body was a bit sore after the first day; normal. The last climb of the second day, which was a 5.11+, thin hands plus a lie-backing overhang declared the death of my arms. To get my money’s worth, I kept climbing on the third day with no reserve. I didn’t feel my arms during any of the climbs and at the end my legs were pumped. Wow, the experience was new and magical – I learned that I can climb more than I thought, if my mind really wants to.

So, what did I learn from the camp? The most valuable take-home lesson for me is that I have to be creative, and the sky is the limit for my imagination. Crack climbing is about securing our body parts in a natural feature (i.e. cracks) and then applying weight or tension to the lock-offs in order to generate an upward force.

There are many ways to jam our body parts in a crack, starting from finger locks to a whole body jam. It’s like putting protection gear in a crack, instead of using a real pro such as a cam or a nut, you use your body parts depending on the size of the crack. And just like having two types of protection gear: active and passive, the body parts can be applied passively and actively. For example, you can jam your thigh by inserting your knee straight into a crack, which you mostly utilize the normal size of your thigh. However, by rotating the outside lower leg (or the outside foot), you can change the size of your thigh to optimize the jam.

The contraction of muscles changes the size of a jam. A change of orientation can also make the size differ. For example, when a hand crack narrows down, it might be the time to start using a thumb-down hand jam. Also by putting the thumb in different locations, say between different fingers, you change the size of a hand jam. There are numerous examples like these. The wilder your imagination goes, the larger the rack your body offers.

I hope that soon I will crack climb better than I bike, but during the 3 days I did learn that after a few laps a 5.9 crack can feel like a 5.7 face climb. Too bad that I haven’t gotten enough “friends” to plan a personal trip back to Indian Creek but the day will come sooner than expected.

Photo credit: Mark Rupert

“How to find climbing partners?” I’ve never considered myself a shy person, but this question used to trouble me. Back in summer 2005, I signed up to a beginner’s rock climbing course at a local gym for me and my husband Jeremy, with the intention to turn him into my belay slave. It didn’t work out. He is not a climber. Since I hate to see when a male climber attempts to turn his girlfriend into a climber without her consent, I had to let my default belay slave go. As a result, assuming that nobody wanted to climb with a pure beginner, I didn’t start climbing more regularly in the gym until Dec 2005.

I had a few gym climbing partners then and things seemed to work out fine until I followed my first traditional route outside. That experience struck me; I immediately knew that it was the type of climbing I was looking for even though at that time I had no clue that this type of climbing is called traditional climbing. Again assuming that nobody wanted to climb with somebody who could only follow easy routes, I decided to take a formal course from NOLS in summer 2007.

During the course, I repeatedly asked each instructor how they found their climbing partners. I needed to know the right answer because the answer would dictate how much time I could spend climbing outdoors. They offered me some pointers: finding partners at the gym, at the crags, on the Internet…well it was not something I did not know. And I realized perhaps I didn’t ask the right question. It should be “who will climb with me?” and this seemed to be a bigger question. Among all the advice, I remembered one vividly “…it will only get easier.”

I had always had faith in that piece of advice, it will only get easier, but not until Spring 2008, did I verify that belief. Well, here is the story. Heather, my long time partner, and I spent two weeks climbing in Red Rocks in winter 2007-8. I met a climber called JP at a crag and found out that we both had April free; therefore we decided to meet at Joshua Tree. After I came back home, JP and I exchanged some emails but we never had an affirmative plan. I felt somewhat insecure however I still flew to Las Vegas for the Red Rock Rendezvous and planned to stay in the area for a few weeks. My thought was that there would be many people participating in the event, and chances were good that I could find a partner, and if nothing worked out I could always hunt JP down since in additional to his email address, I obtained his cell phone number as well.

After all, JP and I never got to climb together. He had too much fun in Joshua Tree and so did I in Red Rocks. I did not climb each single day when I was in Red Rocks, but I learned a precious experience from my accident and I climbed with many new friends whom I still climb with now. These newly-made friends also referred me to their climbing friends when I traveled to other climbing areas. Learning from the experience, I have also realized that people will climb with me and keep climbing with me even though I haven’t become the strong climber whom I still want to be. I became more comfortable finding partners to climb with on the Internet and so far most of my experiences have been very positive.

I believe that, to many people, “how to find climbing partners” is still a question not an action. I would like to share some ideas I have acquired over time on this topic to save some of your idle time. Finding climbing partners might be a tough task at first but it will only get easier.

1. Prepare yourself

Tons of people climb, and you will find your partners. You don’t have to be a 5.12 climber to find climbing partners, but there are a few things you need to prepare yourself with:

a. Be positive and pleasant

Climbing is fun, making new friends is fun, and the combination of the two is greater than the sum. Take it easy.

b. Be useful

There are a million ways to be a useful partner, and being able to lead harder routes is only one of them. Even if you don’t know how to lead, many people will still climb with you as long as you are a good follower, and they might thank you for giving them all the thrill to be tied to the sharp end.

Three basics to be a good follower:

1.Be a bomber belayer. Take pride in your belaying because the climber’s life is in your hand. The concept of belaying is very simple but, surprisingly, good belayers are not everywhere. If you are a safe belayer, you are a gem.

2.Know how to clean pros efficiently. Understand the basics of how active and passive pros work, reverse the path the pros are put in, be gentle and don’t drop anything.

3.Know how to manage ropes. Knowing how to flake and coil a rope is the minimum. When the leader is rigging her rack, you can start flaking the rope. At the end of the day, when the leader is sorting out her gear, it’s time for you to coil the rope neatly.

c. Be honest

Give yourself a honest assessment about what you can climb and what you cannot climb. It’s common for people to ask prospective climbing partners about their climbing ability. You should ask this question too. Being honest helps us to find a better match and keeps us safe. However, sometimes it’s hard to assess our climbing ability, and ratings are not usually consistent throughout the country. I found it useful to keep a climbing log which marks the info of the routes I have climbed. (For a sample climbing log, check my climblog). Not only does a climbing log keep you on top of your progress, but it gives others a better idea than “I can lead 5.8’s and follow 5.10’s.”

2. Intersect with prospective climbing partners

Once you are ready, the second step is to create opportunities to meet people. Here are some approaches I have done:

a. Release the message

Release the message that you are looking for a climbing partner. Plant the seed when you see fit. So let me tell you this: I am constantly looking for climbing partners. To know what I can climb, please refer to my climbing log.

b. Meet people at climbing areas

Post signs at the bulletin boards at camping area. For example, in Yosemite, there is Camp 4; in Red Rocks, there is the campground right outside of the 13-mile scenic loop. Post signs at local climbing gear shops, outfitters, and climbing gyms. Hang out at the area climbers usually go to. For example, when I was in Red Rocks, I met a few climbers at a nearby coffee shop by putting a guidebook on the table while I was surfing the Internet.

c. Meet people on the Internet

rockclimbing.com and mountainproject.com are two good places. Locally, there are cascadeclimbers.com, gunks.com etc.

3. Interact with climbing partners

You don’t work on a red-point project with a climbing partner you just picked up. Here is some advice.

a. Start out conservatively

Start out with something easier than your limit or something you have climbed before to test the water. You might have taken my advice to give your partner an honest assessment about yourself, but it doesn’t mean that he is also a loyal reader of littlepo.com. It’s your life and well-being we are talking about. Since the risk is hard to calculate with a new partner, reduce the consequences.

b. Pick up clues

Use the guidelines in “Prepare yourself” to assess whether this partner has prepared himself/herself. Is the rope neatly coiled when it is pulled out from his backpack? Does he check whether he has double backed, locked the biner etc before he tells you “you are on belay”? Does he pay attention to you when he belays you?

c. Communicate assertively

You and your partner are tied to the ends of the same rope, isn’t it worth the time to understand each other a little better? Communicate with your partner to get comfortable with each other’s climbing style and climbing ability. Double check with each other regarding climbing commands, dos and don’ts etc. Update your partner with your current physical and mental condition. If anything raises your concern, speak up. For example, he wants to climb or pushes you to climb things outside of your ability. You think the weather is coming in and bailing is a better option than pushing on.

Climbing is a serious activity; it is dangerous and you can get severely injured or die. Take good care of yourself and take good care of your new friend. Good communication can help you accomplish that. It’s admirable to step out of your comfort zone, but it’s foolish to attempt things beyond your limit.

I hope that these suggestions will help you to find your next climbing partner faster and more smoothly. I am always looking for people to climb with. I am most interested in moderate multi-pitch trad routes and backcountry alpine routes but I am also happy to climb anything, such as crag climbing or sport climbing. If you are interested in adding me to your partner pool, leave a comment or shoot me an email.