2009年4月29日星期三

Hangzhou Climbing


The May 1st holiday weekend is upon us which means it is almost time to head back down south for the best of spring climbing in Yangshuo. I usually wait till after the busy weekend before I head down. I'm looking for cheap tickets for after the 11th and hope to stay till the end of the month.

In the meantime, I've been going over to Hangzhou, the Ling Shan crag, with Marcos from the Shanghai gym. There are only a handful of, 7 or 8, climbs bolted at the moment and I find all of them pretty stiff for the grades. Maybe I'm not comfortable with the limestone there yet. The only 'warm-up' is a short but stiff 5.10b. Gets you on your arms from the get go and doesn't let up till you dyno for the very top, usually with a painful flash-pump. Next comes a scary 5.11a, a multi-pitch climb that is probably a bit harder than that, then a 5.12d before the harder 5.13 climbs! Not really my kind of place at this time, but I do enjoy working some of the difficult lines on top-rope.

I've worked a 12d on TR the past two sessions and managed to link the first 6 draws. The crux section comes next and I'll begin working the entire thing on lead. This is like almost 2 number grades beyond what I usually struggle up but it has been good for me. I'm breaking through some barriers as well as getting stronger. Raw finger tips, sore arms and frozen shoulders the next morning is the price I'm still willing to pay.

The crag stays wet for a few days after it rains and we plan on bolting some new lines once the rains stop. There is not much there at the moment, but it still beats climbing indoors any day! There are lots of other crags that have yet to be touched, and we saw one huge cave that looks intriguing. We are at the crag in just over 2 hours from the Shanghai station and usually back home after 10pm. Marcos has Thursdays off so this could turn into a regular thing whenever I'm not in Yangshuo or on a climbing trip.

1 条评论:

唐莱安 说...

couldnt find your contact info so i hope you or someone sees this. Im in a minnesota climber inningbo for a few weeks and would like to do some climbing in Hangzhou. Have any new routes been bolted and do you have a google earth placemark for this location?

Thanks
rCtLmIcMcBarthy@gmail.com
(remove CLIMB to email me)