HEALTH WARNING!
only read beyond this point if you are a climber or are seriously (and I mean so seriously) bored with your day. You have been warned.
http://www.railay.com/railay/climbing/climbing_intro.shtml
(this site says it al really- I won't make a hash of trying and failing to repeat it)
If you are a climber you have to get your ass here. It is a crime against your soul and climbing in general if you do not.
In the words of the lonely planet guide :
Krabi’s fairytale limestone crags come to a dramatic climax at Railay (also spelled Rai Leh), the ultimate jungle gym for rock-climbing fanatics. This quiet slice of paradise fills in the sandy gaps between each craggy flourish, and although it’s just around the bend from chaotic tourist hustle in Ao Nang, the atmosphere here is nothing short of laid-back, Rasta-Thai heaven
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand/andaman-coast/railay#ixzz37kCby61B
It takes 2 to climb
If you are coming here in the low season/rainy season (like now i.e. July) make sure you have someone to climb with or bring a buddy. Goodness knows I tried persuading mine to join me but for some reason they muttered about having to work for a living (what sort of excuse is that!). That's unless you are Di, whereupon your response is "I just got back from 2 months climbing in Norway so guess I need to do some contracting to earn a bit so I can go climbing again". Now there's a girl who knows her priorities.
Grading systems and walls to start on
They use the French grading system here. So I have been trying to do the (Aus) conversion in my head. Getting there. There are dozens of walls with hundreds of climbs. Some walls have a majority of a few good lower grades (16-19 equivalents) for warming up/getting into it (if you are an old bugger like me).. These can be found on Railay East at 1-2-3 wall and up the hill at Diamond Cave wall. The downside to these locations is that they are usually used/capitalised on by the climbing courses so you need to get there <9 or during lunch time. Take lots of water, you dehydrate very quickly when you are baking against the rock face.
Walls to progress to
TonSai is climbing for grown-ups. Well, it's actually the opposite. It's climbing for the testosterone filled youth who still have nuclear reactors in their core and can prance up rock like the monkeys found hereabouts. The old diesels like me tend to be better served in Railay East and West (and there are plenty of climbs here). That said, there are still some great 18-21 equivalent grades to be had in TonSai in addition to the vertical and overhanging 24+ grades (next year!).
Climbing Guide Books
There's only one to buy (the King Climbers guide book for 800 baht) for two reasons:
1./ King is one of the founders of climbing on Railay (together with Tex). His stuff is well written and well researched. King's English is great (I met his Australian wife back here in 1997 and King is now living in Australia seeing his boy through the education system over there).
2./ All proceeds from his guide book goes to the re-bolting project (see below).
Question - when is a bolt not a bolt?
Answer: when its corroded and is likely to fail on you as you take a winger.
Don't worry about steel bolts - they disappeared to rust years ago
Worry about Stainless bolts and hangars. That's right, folks, the bolts we happily swing off back home and regard as bomb proof (depending on how well they've been set!) fail within 4 years here.
There's a mammoth project underway to re-bolt every route using titanium. Not a small undertaking,
These are usually easy to spot the titanium bolts (they are dark grey rings set into the stone with ?? coloured expansion glue.
If its stainless and uses orange or blue glue - usually OK, or Titanium the best. If not, prayer might be a useful backup to clipping into anything else.
I've noticed that many belay stations (where there is rock on the beach) usually have an anchor for the belayer. Can't help but think this is for the local Thai guides who are teaching and belaying Farang (foreigners) twice their weight.
Don't be surprised if you see cord or rope threaded around fissures in the rock instead of bolts on some climbs. There are a lot of these and all look pretty safe (well, certainly safer than anything that's not Ti)
Multi-pitching galore here...and views to die for (perhaps not the best turn of phrase give the topic but oh well, you get what I mean).
Deep water solo
(i.e. Free climbing and dropping into the water off the climb)
is the latest craze here And ,no, "free" climbing (for those of you who are not climbers and have hazarded their way into this post) is not free of charge - it's free of rope i.e. if/when you fall off, there's nothing to prevent your fall. Its a case of what you fall into and, in this case, it's 28 degree water. Just make sure you hire some of their climbing shoes to do it in!
Interestingly the guys who introduced the craze (and are based in TonSai are not doing it for another month as they say the weather is too unpredictable and the sea too rough...whereas the other guys in Railay offering it now! (mmmm...when was the last time you took a bungy jump that didn't have the name "AJ Hackett" emblazoned on it? - analogous to quality and safety. Call me old (fashioned) [the bracketed optional] but I might just give it a miss this trip. Pity, it sounds like a blast.
More to follow...
I've booked a multi pitch course tomorrow so hope to get some decent shots.
I'll write some more about the climbing soon.
Meanwhiile (Phil, Fran, Di, Marty)...in the immortal words of that Aussie ad a few years ago "Where the bloody hell are ya?"
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