KRABI - Climbing

I'm in Krabi doing some rock climbing. This was one of the main reasons I left NZ early, to climb. I miss it so much. Krabi is the name of a town that is a jump off point for many of the islands on the west coast of Thailand. I was actually climbing at two beaches: Railay Beach and Tonsai Beach. Krabi, however, is where I stayed for a few days and it is a really cool town. They have a great night market where you can get cheap beer and wonderful food. Basically it is just a huge slab of concrete where a bunch of food stalls set up for the night. Think the NC State fair without the rides and rednecks, and much better food. Oh yea, and beer! I had a small group of friends that I met in Krabi, some I travelled other places with and some I will meet again in other countries.

Chris: an English rock star type guy who has enough athletic ability to be a good climber. Picture a shaggy haired British guy walking down the street, backpack on, cigarette in mouth, and playing the guitar all at the same time.

Haley: cool, hilarious guy from Colorado that I climbed with one day...would have loved to chill with him more but he took off.

Trevor and his g/f from Canada eh. I climbed with Trevor a few times, really chill guy who I also hung out with a lot after climbing.

The hurricane: don't remember their names but there were these two girls, well one was too old to be called a girl. The younger one from Slovenia and the elder one from Northern Cal. Really loud and crazy, but good for a laugh now and then.

Lots of other random aquaintences but I can't list them all.

Climbing started with some easy stuff but got challenging pretty quickly. I was climbing with a Thai guy named Yon who was really pushing me, and on the first day down there I did one of the toughest climbs I've ever done, and it was my first day climbing in a LONG TIME! It was about 85 feet high, and it was right on an awesome beach so when I got to the top the view was amazing. We were at a really popular place to climb, and I was doing the tallest climb on that particular crag and there were a lot of people around. The "crux" of a climb is the hardest part of that particular route, and usually involves 3 or 4 quick moves that take lots of speed and power because the holds are so small, hard to hold onto, and so far apart. I fell a few times at the crux, and didn't realize how many people were watching me from below until I finally got past it, and heard everyone yell and cheer. It was really cool and I had about 50 feet of climbing left to do at this point, and I was really tired, so it was nice to get some support from the ground. Later I asked Chris and Haley and they said that they were the only ones cheering, but it sounded loud from the top!

A WEEK LATER

Wow...climbing! I think I said that Diving was the highlight of my time away and I could say that about many things but the climbing here is amazing. I climbed in total about 6 days and it was great...I have decided to plan the rest of my trip with not only diving, but climbing in mind. I spent the second half of the week leading tough climbs, which I have never done before. You probably don't know what that means so go on google and type in "top rope climbing" and then "lead climbing." Basically, lead climbing is more challenging because if you fall, you fall a long ways...possibly ALL the way. However, I have been climbing with a great Thai guy named Yon that knows the area really well, and has taken me to PERFECT routes for my skill level. He has really been pushing me, but within reason. Also, we have been to some local secrets. We climbed through a cave to get to an amazing crag with the best views and epic climbs.

I also did my first "multi-pitch climb," witch involves leading a climb until you get close to the end of the rope, building an anchor on the rock, and going up some more from that anchor. A "pitch" is a rope leangth, hence the name multi-pitch.

This translates into finishing the climb in a little cave about a hundred feet above the ground. I was expecting to go higher, but for my first time it was cool and I will definitely do a bigger one soon.