Access Update

Before leaving Yangshuo on Dec. 24th, climbing was been open at all crags in Yangshuo and we enjoyed fine, cool climbing weather as is usual for this time of year. There are still unresolved access issues at both the Wine Bottle and White Mountain crags and these will require more time to settle. Overall, the access situation is quite good and relationships with villagers at most crags is improving. We encourage you to talk to villagers near the crags and to eat your meals and buy lunch and drinks there whenever possible. Relationships between independent climbers and villagers is one of the most important factor in continued unrestricted access to our crags.

Various rockclimbing /guiding companies have also approached villagers with an offer to rent the land in exchange for exclusive rights to climbing there. Some villagers still believe there is money to be made from the crags and climbers must compete with commercial operators and developers to protect access to climbing. We must also compete with some guiding companies who seem to have given up on making money from guiding and instead see that there is money to be made charging climbers and other guiding companies for access to the crag while offering little or nothing in return.

In addition to avoiding the hassle of administering a fee system, the villagers should realize that climbers are unlikely to pay to climb at White Mountain. On the other hand, climbers must spend money for food, accommodation and transportation while in Yangshuo and the YAI is working with villagers to enable climbers to spend more of their money for necessities directly in the villages. If possible, we want to avoid setting a precedent by directly purchasing access rights but at this time it is unclear what is the best long-term solution.

The situation at White Mountain has not changed over the past months. I will recap the main points here. Two villages dispute the claim to land-use-right ownership to the area at the base of the crag. A development company in Guilin has approached the Yanse Village and offered to develop the area into a tourist destination with the main focus on a large cave behind the village. Recent conversations with village leaders lead us to believe that climbers will have unrestricted access once the bigger ownership issues have been resolved. The YAI has worked with villages including the one that disputes Yanse Village’s claim to land-use-rights at White Mountain. Early January has been given as the time when official legal proceedings will begin that should eventually lead to the resolution of the ownership issues. Climbers, including Jonathan Siegrist and Ah Bon, climbed at White mountain for 3 days in mid-December but no climbers have returned since due mainly to the cold weather.

The situation at Wine Bottle is still unsettled. There are signs at the base of the crag saying the area is closed to climbing, but climbers have used the crag regularly without any interference.

A group of villagers have acquired the rights to the land in front of the crag and they have sent two younger members to negotiate a rental arrangement with the Yangshuo Climbing Association (an organization that only exists on paper). Since ChinaClimb has opened its own guiding crag near Fuli, and other guiding companies have said they will not longer take clients to Wine Bottle, the economic value of the crag has fallen precipitously. They village interlopers were surprised that guiding companies could just walk away from the crag. There are still a few commercial guiding operators who take large groups climbing and refuse to put in the time to open their own crags. They bulk at paying the villagers a fair price for using the crag to make money and have even negotiated behind the scenes for exclusive access to the crag intending on charging other guiding companies to take clients there.

The solution is not so difficult if you realize that if guiding companies would agree to pay the villagers as little as RMB10 for each client they take there, this income would more than meet the villagers’ demands. The villagers have little recourse other than closing the crag to climbing till the companies pay up. The guiding companies who are making the most money using this crag are holding out, maybe even hoping they can get access on better terms or hoping that independent climbers will step in and solve the problem for them. The YAI has worked with both villagers and the commercial operators and, for the most part, cooperation and understanding has been very good. We have personally taken villagers climbing and shown them which routes guiding companies are using to make money. Once both sides fully understand each other and the money involved, it should be easier to reach an acceptable solution.

YAI and the Guiding Companies

I have been working on Yangshuo Access Initiative, YAI, documents for the past few days and have English and Chinese drafts ready to discuss next week in Yangshuo. I’ve put together what I believe to be a viable approach to economic development together with the expansion of climbing in Yangshuo and I hope most of the important players will support us and get on-board. I’ve talked on the phone with many climbers from all over China and there is much interest and support. I still have to build a website and am open to assistance if any web designers have some free time. I’ve got artwork and a basic structure, just need to realize it.

There has been some movement in the position of the local climbing association with regard to the question of open access. Most guiding companies now agree it’s best to save their money and let the YAI buy land leases for the crags. Guiding companies still need to develop new guiding and training crags they can manage themselves but these discussions have been going on for many years and we hope to see breakthroughs soon!

Only a small portion of Yangshuo climbers ever use guiding companies and the companies cater mainly to beginners and travelers without partners. Very few experienced climbers ever use them. More directly, it needs to be asked, what have climbing companies done for you and me? Why should we be concerned that they stay around, other than that they are our friends and we sometimes tie in together? I’ve probably bolted more routes than all of the guiding companies put together, except for ChinaClimb who are no longer in the day guiding business, and Spiderman Paul. I’ve help to develop entirely new crags and put early routes on a number of important crags such as Space Buttress, Chicken Cave, the Egg and the Great Wall. I’ve contributed hardware and time, I’ve translated the guidebook, I write this blog and generally do what I can for the community. The guiding companies are free to utilize all of this. So, why should I support them to make money from my work?

Guiding companies need to stop their bellyaching and put together a basket of services, both to their customers and to the community at large, that we can all use and appreciate! Even if it just means putting up new lines for us to get excited about. Furthermore, only when companies concentrate on improving their skill level and their services will they be able to survive economically from climbing - something that is hard to do anywhere in the world.

Crags like White Mountain and Wine Bottle were developed by independent climbers to share with other climbers: they have a 'public park’ status and have been in the public domain for a long time. If guiding companies had their own crags they could set up regular training programs to systematically train new climbers and to help experienced climbers get to the next level. I’d pay if I thought I could learn something useful from a qualified trainer but, presently, I don’t think the guiding companies have this ability or the place to teach.

Yangshuo needs strong, well qualified guides and the guiding companies need to become serious teachers if they are to expand their customer base beyond beginners. Yangshuo is a sport climbing area and it would make sense to teach the technical and strength training side of the sport. It also makes sense to start training a climbing team that could attend national contests because this would be a big draw for Chinese climbers. Perhaps the new bouldering facility will make this easier. Trainers need to focus on developing their students. Their effectiveness will be seen in their student's success and make marketing easier. This might be a possible road to financial success for at least a few of them.