I'm planning to go climbing in northern Thailand around March-April of next year. Was wondering if anyone's climbed there before. Any specific areas that are good to hit up? Places to stay/camp? Should I bring my own equipment, or can I rent equipment? Any other advice?

Thanks!

I've only climbed in Krabi but the rental equipment, primarily ropes, seemed rather sketchy. Almost everything was cast-offs from visiting climbers who were OK with donating.

Chiang Mai might be a bit different given the lack of salty sea air that seems to do so much damage to climbing gear.

I had a bit of contact with Josh at Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures <info@thailandclimbing.com> and he was very helpful. I'd suggest contacting them. Website is same as email suffix.

Thanks, markus. I've actually looked into that company before and thinking of doing the multi-pitch course through them. I'm really leaning toward leaving the majority of my equipment at home, since I don't want to lug it around for too long...sketchy ropes though don't sound good!

An ACMG certified guide friend of mine used a rental rope in Thailand. He said that in retrospect, using the rental rope was probably not the best idea and that he'd plan to bring a rope and leave it there next time, but the rope he used didn't seem that bad.

It depends on your personal attitude towards safety and gear conditions. Most of the ropes are actually just fine, but if you are the type of person that stops using your rope when you get some fuzzies on the sheath then the condition of some of the ropes may scare you a bit.

Again, I cannot vouch for Chiang Mai standards, but the beach climbing lessons were very... um.. interesting to watch. You may even be better off asking other visiting climbers if they mind your climbing with them and getting them to show you a bit of multi-pitch trickery. Multi-pitch sport climbing is pretty easy though and if you're a smart person (which you seem to be) then I doubt you'll have trouble learning either way.

What really worries me is the combination of people who don't know when to question bad information and stoned teachers who assume that their clients will figure it out once they get up there.

Hopefully I'm not scaring you off anything, but I don't know what your expectations are when it comes to local climbing outfits and their competency. This is going to sound bad, but I wouldn't trust any of the thai instructors (that I met at least) to give decent instruction. A foreigner who has moved to the area for climbing will probably have a much more standard approach to safety and thorough instruction.


In other words: be careful, but don't worry about it too much.

Sorry for the lack of solid advice

markus, this is definitely helpful. At least I already know *how* to climb. Maybe I'll leave the multi-pitch course for another day (hmmm..El Potrero Chico???) I just wanted to get some climbing in while I'm down there. I will have to think about the gear part...

How was the bolting and anchor situation in Krabi? Well placed bolts, well maintained, or not so much? Just curious, as I'd venture to guess it may be similar in other parts of Thailand as well.

I did some climbing in Argentina (brought all of our gear down), and found a few very sketchy bolts and anchors (one anchor, crooked anchors that lead to your rope rubbing on rock, etc)...

Thanks for the input!

The funny thing about climbing in Krabi is that it's one of the few places in the world where if you have a bolt next to a sling... you clip the sling. The majority of the donated ropes get chopped up to re-sling tufas and other features to provide reasonably bomber clip points. On any well travelled route you'll find the bolts that are there are well maintained and replaced when they start to look sketchy. But with the rapid corrosion that happens that close to the sea a bolt can sometimes look fine but not sustain more than body weight. This is mostly an issue on less popular routes. I felt pretty secure on everything I did and I clipped my fair share of bolts.

If memory serves correctly, then most of the anchors were glue-ins with chain. Standard sport anchor setup.

If you haven't already, then ask for feedback from rockclimbing.com users to see what their opinions of the rental ropes and instruction are. You should definitely be able to get some first-hand accounts.

I just began looking at rockclimbing dot com and plan on further exploring the site. But i wanted to revive this thread in hopes of some booty knowledge, I just trust you guys and gals more. I have been bitten by the rock climbing bug, the traveling bug is already deeply infested within me. Now I want to combine the two. I plan on leaving the states this fall and heading over to S.E. Asia to begin a year or two of traveling but i want to bring my climbing gear and spend the first 3 or 4 or 5 months climbing. I was planning on going straight to Railay and staying for a few months because I spent some time there years ago and climbed a little and loved it! But it seems like it's gotten way more touristed and the costs have risen dramatically. So even though I'll still go there I'm now interested in finding out about some other spots to hit up and then climb up. And like I said this trip will be at least a year maybe even 2 or 3. I travel slow. I want to see lots and I want to see lots in depth. I want to climb. Any ideas on areas and cost, as it'll be long trip cheaper is better, any thoughts, information or encouragement is appreciated.

Cheers~T