On our next Thailand trip, we chose to explore the southern tip of the Phrang Nga peninsula, near the city of Krabi. This area has over 800 climbing routes and is the world-class climbing area that attracts hundreds of climbers every year from all over the world. The climbing is generally quite steep. Most routes are single pitch, but there are many multi-pitch routes as well (usually around 4 or 5 pitches long). We discovered that once above the first pitch, the crowds would disappear and we would have the climbing to ourselves. Most of the climbs are near the beach (Ton Sai and Railey beaches) and a few of them are directly out of the water, making it an excellent place to climb via sailboat/ dinghy.
Our first multi-pitch in this area was to climb "Orange Chandeliers" on Ao Nang Tower.
Ao Nang Tower
We raised the dinghy to keep it from banging on the rocks while we climbed.
Sue at the belay at the start of the climb.
Graham on "Orange Chandeliers"
We also climbed three different multi-pitch routes on Cat Wall named "Heart of Darkness", "Mussong" and "The Ninth Life."
The view from Cat Wall of Railey Beach and the Southern tip of the Phrang Nga Peninsula
Graham leads through a STEEP overhang on "The Ninth Life".
Graham trying to fit his oversized body through the tunnel on "Mussong"
with about 250 feet of air below.
We also visited a nearby island and enjoyed some fabulous single pitch routes in a beautifully serene setting.
Graham finds a rest on the overhanging "Hang Whitey".
Leaving the cave
Sue on "Roy Raeng"
During this time period, we have made a few improvements. While we have been happily content to row for the last 3+ years, the combination of climbing and rowing was exhausting. We have purchased a used 3.5hp Nissan outboard engine. We now also have internet aboard Chandrika while in Thai waters as long as we are within range of cell phone towers. On our climbing rest days we also putter about the boat and work on boat projects. We have recently painted our boom and our aluminum hatches.
Cooking Thai food in the galley aboard Chandrika
photo by James Pullum
Carrying the dinghy up above the high tide line.
Photo by James Pullum
While at Ton Sai and Railey beaches, we had the good fortune of meeting Sam Lightner and Liz Wattenberg from Moab, Utah and James Pullum and Laurel Graefe from Atlanta, Georgia. We spent two weeks climbing with them and spending every evening sitting on Railey beach watching the sunset. We will always cherish the memories of “sunset” on the beach.
Eating lunch at the base of Thaiwand Wall,
where we met Sam and Liz.
photo by James Pullum
Sue belays Laurel on pitch 2 of "Circus Oz" on Thaiwand Wall.
photo by James Pullum
Sue on "Organ Grinder" on the Thaiwand Wall.photo by Laurel Graefe
Drinking coconuts on Railey Beach before sunset
From left to right: Sam, Liz, James, Laurel and Graham
Sunset
It is general practice all over the world to place fixed stainless steel bolts on climbs that can not be protected with natural, removable protection. However, in the 90s it was discovered that the stainless steel bolts that were being used in Thailand were corroding very quickly (sometimes becoming unsafe within 6 months of being placed). These bolts would occasionally rip out of the rock, when a climber would fall on them, sometimes leading in serious injury to the climber. The problem is the corrosive marine environment in conjuction with the high magnesium content of the karst limestone rock. After a bit of experimentation, it was discovered that Titanuim glue-in bolts were far superior in terms of longevity than stainless steel ones.
View from Thaiwand Wall
In the foreground is a stainless steel expansion bolt,
which has been replaced by Sam with a titanium bolt glued-in with a two-part epoxy.
photo by Liz Wattenberg
Our friend, Sam Lightner, has been climbing in Thailand for over 20 years and has established many of the rock climbs in the area. While we were in Railey, he was rebolting a number of routes with Titanium bolts to make them safer for climbers. Sam and a number of other climbers have spearheaded a rebolting project, called the Thaitanium Project, with the goal of rebolting the climbing routes on the Phrang Nga peninsula with Titanium bolts. The problem is that the Titanium bolts cost significantly more than regular stainless steel bolts. To learn more about this problem or if you would like to contribute to making climbing in Thailand safer (and thus making us safer by extension), you can make a donation to the Thaitanium Project by visiting
http://thaitaniumproject.com/
January – February 2011
