Climbing blog

Climbing in Ecuador: A Journey through South America

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Ecuador is one of the smaller countries in South America, however it massively punches above its weight when it comes to quality climbing and stunning environments. Ecuador is often dubbed the country of four worlds due to its diversity, which is very impressive. Climbing wise Ecuador has loads to go at and the standard is very high. Ecuadorians are very friendly and local climbers will go out of their way to help you, surprisingly there are very few foreign rock climbers visiting Ecuador – we only met one in a month! We started our journey in Ecuador by crossing the border with Colombia at Rumichaca and snaked our way down the Andes crossing from one side to the other as we went, eventually crossing into Peru at Macara.

Climber chalking up on a steep section of volcanic rock wall.
Chalking up before the awesome crux section of ‘La Bella’, 7a
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Climbing in Colombia: A Journey through South America

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Colombia is a big country with a vast amount of variety, with everything from mountains over 5,000 meters to Amazon jungle and Caribbean coast. The climbing opportunities are just as varied and there are many excellent crags throughout Colombia to tempt you, with beautiful sandstone, amazing limestone tufas and high quality granite all in abundance. With that in mind, Colombia seemed like the perfect place to start our journey through South America, which after arriving in Bogotá, would mean travelling entirely overland, primarily by bus. Needless to say, Colombia delivered exactly what we had hoped for and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, both for the country and the climbing.

Climber on delicate hand move on steep grey granite wall above the forest.
Superb granite climbing at La Peña Abejorral
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Climbing in Zimbabwe: An Uncelebrated Land of Rock

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Zimbabwe is not as well known to climbers as other African countries, so it may come as a surprise to some that Zimbabwe has loads of excellent climbing. The amount of rock in Zimbabwe is really impressive, the potential for first ascents is huge and in some areas of the country there are beautiful large granite domes & kopjes extending as far as the eye can see. In general, the rock quality was very high and there are some superb walls to enjoy. Aside from climbing, we thought Zimbabwe was a wonderful country, the people are incredibly friendly and welcoming. We spent three and a half weeks in Zimbabwe, but we could easily have spent much longer, there is so much to do we would love to return one day and experience more of what the country has to offer.

Climber on a smooth blaze orange boulder, pulling on small granite crimps.
Excellent rock in the East Matopos
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Climbing in Angola: A True African Gem

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Angola is somewhere we had wanted to visit for a few years, ever since we first saw pictures of Pedras Negras and all the other amazing landscapes in the country. When the time came for a trip to Sub-Saharan Africa, it was right at the top of the list as somewhere that had awesome climbing, amazing variety, lots of culture and the chance to have an authentic adventure. Angola delivered all of what we had hoped for and more. The climbing was world class, the people were wonderful and you can have a genuine travel experience, without a tourist in sight. We spent four weeks in Angola and as well as being a highlight of our time in Africa, it is right up there as one of our favourite countries we’ve ever visited.

Tall rock monoliths rising from the bush savanna.
A tiny section of the vast and otherworldly landscape of Pedras Negras
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Climbing in Romania: Europe’s Best Kept Secret?

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Romania is a country we have wanted to visit for a long time and we knew there were a lot of amazing places to visit. We waited for the right time and it was definitely worth it, we had 6 weeks of fantastic climbing and almost perfect weather, it was everything we had hoped for and more. Romania is home to a vast swathe of the Carpathian Mountains and seems to have an almost limitless supply of rock. There are crags, canyons and mountains at almost every turn as well as some of the largest old growth forests in Europe. Climbing aside, we found Romanian people to be very friendly and kind, it was a real pleasure to be able to spend time there.

Climber chalking up on a tall vertical cliff on the left hand side of a narrow canyon. Between the two walls the view looks over a forested valley and another rocky limestone massif
Great climbing in an amazing position on ‘Pleasure Dome’, 6c+, Cheile Mănăstirii
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Climbing in The Polish Jura

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Poland is not a place that most people think of when planning a climbing trip in Europe, and those that do are probably headed to the Tatra mountains for long multipitch routes. It isn’t well known that Poland has a fantastic sport climbing area of its own, the Jura. The climbing is great, with thousands of routes across the grades and many beautiful & unique crags. The area sees a lot of activity from Polish climbers, who are known for being very strong, but sadly gets very little attention from international climbers. We have spent 2 weeks climbing in the Jura and throughly enjoyed it, the quality is very high and we never felt like we would run out of cool crags to visit.

Overhanging limestone pinnacle with black marking on. In the background there is a larger crag with a castle fortress built into it with a large drawbridge across.
The stunning Kaczor sector at Góra Zamkowa
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Climbing in The Philippines: A Journey through South East Asia

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The Philippines was the dark horse of our time in South East Asia, many climbers we spoke to before we went had no idea there was any climbing there at all! In fact, we would often be asked if we were going there just for sight seeing. What makes this so surprising is that the climbing in The Philippines is excellent and there is loads of it, all over the country! Aside from climbing, we really loved The Philippines as a country, it is a truly beautiful place and the people are genuinely some of the friendliest we have ever met. During the 3½ weeks we spent in The Philippines, we barely scratched the surface of what’s on offer and we were sad to leave, we could easily have spent over double that amount of time and still not had long enough.

Climber trying hard on a thin section of vertical white limestone. In the background are mountains and jungle.
Absorbing moves on ‘Firefly’, 6c+
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Climbing in Vietnam: A Journey through South East Asia

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Vietnam was a major stop on our trip in South East Asia and somewhere we had looked forward to visiting for a long time. It certainly didn’t disappoint, we loved the country and Hữu Lũng is a very strong contender for our favourite climbing area of the entire trip. We began our time in Vietnam by crossing the border from Cambodia at Mộc Bài and made the long and interesting journey all the way up to the north with the excellent train line, enjoying a few stops along the way. Whilst we didn’t climb in the south, we really enjoyed experiencing the different culture and landscape on our way north, Vietnam is a country of great contrast. During our month in Vietnam we had a genuinely great time, not only was the climbing superb, the places, people and history were equally good and it was a definite highlight in every sense.

Large limestone mogotes, covered in white limestone cliffs and green vegetation rising up steeply from the flat flooded rice fields. There are many of them rising up in the distance. They are also in the reflection of the rectangular flooded rice fields.
Surreal beauty in Hữu Lũng
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Climbing in Thailand: A Journey through South East Asia

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Thailand has been well known to climbers for many years thanks to its stunning rock and tropical paradise locations. There are lots of wonderful climbing areas spread throughout the country, and there is definitely a lot more to Thai climbing than Tonsai and Railay alone. Climbing aside, Thailand is very popular with travellers and holidaymakers, being the most visited country in South East Asia. While some places can get overcrowded, what shines through is the warmth and kindness of the Thai people, who remain incredibly welcoming. We made our way into Thailand overland from Malaysia, and traveled up through the country before crossing the border into Laos. The climbing areas below will be discussed in the order we visited them, of course there are many other areas in Thailand we didn’t visit. We chose the areas we did based on the quality, quantity and location of the routes and we thought all of the areas we visited were really good.

Masses of limestone cliffs erupting out of the sea
Stunning rock and location near Koh Ya Wa Sam
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Climbing in Malaysia: A Journey through South East Asia

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Malaysia sits in a beautiful part of the world, with the country split between two areas, one on the Malay peninsula and the other on the island of Borneo. Malaysia is well known for its delicious cuisine and being one of the most culturally diverse countries in South East Asia. Rock climbing in Malaysia has been established for some time, with historical routes going back several decades. We chose Malaysia as the starting point for our trip to South East Asia, the country has a lot going for it and the climbing is high quality. As the next leg of our journey would take us northwards to Thailand, we spent all of our time in Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysian Borneo is famous for its mountains and is home to Mount Kinabalu, the countries highest mountain at 4,095 meters. However, the peninsular contains the greatest density of sport routes as well as many mountains of its own, with several over 2,000 meters.

Looking out of limestone cliff with tufas dripping from the steep roof. Looking out over the rice paddies with some jungle covered mountains in the background.
Amazing rock at Bukit Keteri
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