Climbing blog

Climbing in South Korea: Between Mountains and Sea

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South Korea is somewhere that had been on our radar for a while, we knew there was great rock there and had it earmarked for when the right time came around. When we finally arrived and started climbing we were very impressed as the quality of the crags and the scale of them was even better than we had imagined. South Korea is over 70% mountainous, there are hills, crags and forest almost everywhere, if you aren’t in a city or on a beach you’ll probably be on a mountain! We spent five weeks in the country and climbed loads, the time absolutely flew by and it would have been no problem to spend twice as long. If you enjoy both trad and sport climbing then the selection is excellent and you will be spoiled for choice. Aside from climbing, we found Korean people to be exceptionally friendly and helpful and we were shown a great deal of hospitality during our trip. The country also has a wealth of great cultural and historical sites, so it really felt like there was everything we could have asked for. South Korea also has world class public transport and you can reach the overwhelming majority of crags by bus or train, which is both convenient and very reasonably priced. South Korea is a superb place to be a climber and it is hard to find anything not to like.

A climber in blue and orange spanned out between poor holds on a gently overhanging granite cliff which is protruding out of the forest.
Stiff pulls and excellent rock on ‘Pumping Special’, 6c+, Guemjeong-san
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Climbing in Greece: A Mediterranean Road Trip

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Greece is an exceptional country in many ways; its history, people, coast and of course the climbing, all play a part. While everyone knows how beautiful the beaches of Greece are, some might be surprised to know that it is an incredibly mountainous country, there are a huge amount of peaks throughout Greece, many of which are over 2,000 meters. The dramatic landscape created by the contrast of a long impressive coastline and lots of big mountains makes Greece a stunningly beautiful place. Greek people are also incredibly friendly, we have travelled extensively in Europe for many years, and to say Greeks are some of the friendliest we’ve met on the continent would not be an exaggeration. We had been long overdue a trip to Greece, which for one reason or another didn’t work out until now, when we were lucky enough to spend over 11 weeks in Greece on a stunning road trip, taking in many of the country’s best crags and most beautiful locations.

Climber battling a steep, orange limestone wall covered in big tufas and stalactites.
Cool pockets and tufas on ‘Chuck Notis’, 7a+, Mars
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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.

A climber on a steep granite cliff above the misty jungle below.
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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