Rock Climbing 101

I actually didn't really envision myself doing any climbing when I went switched to the east coast of Thailand. Even though Krabi (Tan Sai Beach in particular) is famous for it's picturesque limestone cliffs with routes for climbers of all abilities, I'd been rapidly burning through cash and needed to slow it down a bit. Krabi isn't the place to do it. For one thing, on the beaches where everybody stays there is a scarcity of accomadation owing to tsunami when all the buildings were damaged if not completely destroyed so rooms were pricey, at least by Thailand standards. And for another thing there is nothing else to do there really.* It does look like this though so you can see the appeal generally:

So, with some time to kill and since I was there, finances be damned!...I took a three day climbing course.

The course focused on basic safety techniques and how to spot someone else when they are climbing, what knots to tie etc.,

with minimal concern for how high you actually went, and since most of the beginner to intermediate walls have adequate hand and foot holds you could get way up there.

The course then went on to teach lead climbing, (taking the rope up and setting it up in the anchor) and then multi-pitch climbing and abseiling down.

It was a real thrill though to climb up and meet my instructor at the 'top' only to continue on and lead the rope up the next 'pitch' to another anchor and then abseil down. It was really cool and you can see how climbers get addicted to it.

It was amazing. My muscles weren't ready for three straight days of that though and I could barely make it through the third day.

I took a well deserved rest day. With the beach and sun, Tan Sai is really a good place to chill out. It is the type of place where the worst thing that happens is the sort of thing that was posted on the message board:

Then, on my 2nd rest day I was out taking some photos when I bumped into a guy I'd met a few days earlier named Mike. He really wanted to go deep water solo climbing. It's climbing over deep water with no rope so if you fall you land in water.

The idea is not to fall but to climb as high as you can or as high as you feel comfortable, then jump into the water. In fact Mike wanted to go so badly that when the place said we needed three more people or else the outing would be cancelled he ran up and down the beach recruiting people and as luck would have it, it was an easy sell.

Some of the guys were absolutely outstanding climbers, and could comfortably climb up the wall until they got so high they were scared to jump (around 23m). I got the one guy jumping from around 23m on video and it is truly impressive. I, however, am still a novice. Though growing in confidence, most of the techniques I mastered in the course related to knots and use of clips and ropes and whatnot so that was of very little help over open water.

Still, I managed to get up to about 12 metres or so but then got a bit stuck. The trick was to swing one leg over to the stalagtite and then transfer the rest of your body weight over. It's easier said than done for a short guy like me and I was not at all confident I had the leg span to make it. So rather than risk it I decided to just get myself in the absolute best position before trying.

It's a difficult thing climbing. There really is no one best position. Sure some are better than others but you have to keep going. If you're stuck, you're stuck. Just admit it and enjoy your jump into the water. But if you've read my Aconcagua blog you'll know that I don't concede defeat easily whether it is to a world class mountain or just some rock face in the middle of the ocean. So I powered on trying to slowly move into the best position. The chalk had worn off my hands and so had the reserve chalk that i chalked up on my arms (climbers like chalk) so my grip was starting to fade. But if I can make this one last.....ooops...... SPLASH


OW!

I landed on my left side. I gave the boat the 'i'm ok' line but I wasn't really. I was quite sore . Still, we moved to a slightly less challenging wall and I successfully did that 2 times so it's all good. My ribs still hurt 2 1/2 weeks later but i'm sure by the time I get back to London I'll be tip top.

Photos: 1) Learning to climb. 2) View of Tan Sai and East Rai Lei beaches. Hidden from view west Rai Lei beach. 3) Self photo having reached the top of one of my first lead climbs. 4) My excellent doubled up figure 8 knot. It better be excellent. My life depends on it. Needless to say I spent a lot of time practicing. 5) View from about 20 or 22 metres depending who you believe. 6-7) Showing off some mad skills. 8) Abseiling down all by my self. 9) Monkey theft advertisment. 10-11) Deep water soloing. Starting out well. 12-13) Making the move across towards the stalagtite. 14)Note the splash in the last one -sideways for some reason but don't have time to fix it for now.


*Why did I go then? I guess subconciously I wanted to learn to climb. I met people who were serious climbers who loved it there but I just thought it was also just a cool place to hang out. It is but really only if you are a climber.