rock climbing

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 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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Unique Rock and Stunning Scenery: Climbing in Slovakia

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Although Slovakia borders some frequently visited countries like Austria, relatively few people visit for tourism. Anybody that does visit Slovakia will be pleasantly surprised as the country has lots of beautiful nature, impressive medieval castles and many interesting places to visit. For climbing, Slovakia has several well established and good quality venues and surely much more areas that haven’t been developed yet.

Outlook over the limestone outcrops and crags with dense forest and grass fields in-between.
The view from the Súlovsky Hrad Castle
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Sunny Sport Climbing in Slovenia

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Slovenia is a relatively small country, but it packs in an incredible amount of beautiful natural spaces for its size. A climber will have a choice of long mountain routes, abundant sport climbs and bouldering. Slovenian climbers are known for being very good and have made an incredible mark on the competition scene. The routes are of a similarly high standard and there aren’t any soft grades here. The country has lots of outdoor activities other than climbing and Slovenian people have a great love of the outdoors.

The stunning Soča river
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Sport Climbing in North Macedonia

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After our bouldering trip to Prilep, we decided to spend the rest of our time in North Macedonia sampling the sport climbing. We bought a small information booklet about the sport climbing along with our bouldering guidebook from Hristo, in Prilep. This guide had the same information as this website. We found that it was easy enough to match the list of route names and grades, from the website, to the ones written under the routes.

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Climbing and Culture in Turkey: Part 2

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If you haven’t read part one yet, which is all about the fantastic climbing on offer in Turkey, you can read it here.

This article is going to be about the culture, activities and traditions you can enjoy whilst you’re taking a rest from climbing. Much like the climbing on our trip, this will focus mainly on the Antalya area. However, there are places we visited further a field, all of which are worth the journey.

Woman sat in the grand amphitheatre with rock views surrounding.
The stunning amphitheatre at Termessos ancient city
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Climbing and Culture in Turkey: Part 1

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Climbing in Turkey revolves around Antalya. When climbers think of Antalya, one name springs to mind: Geyikbayiri. To most climbers this is what puts Turkey on the climbing map. This is the hub of climbing in the country, with the highest concentration of routes and easy access. However, not exploring Turkey’s other offerings would be a mistake. Çitdibi and Olympos are both fantastic places to climb, easily done in a day trip from Geyikbayiri. There are also other areas spread throughout the country, such as Datça, Izmir and Bafa Gölü. We spent three months climbing, mostly based in Geyikbayiri and this will be the main focus of this article. Part 1 will concentrate purely on the climbing and crags, while part 2 will focus on culture, history and rest day activities.

Orange limestone wall of Sarkit sector dripping with tufas. Climber is half way up JaJa City.
Climbing the Awesome JaJa City, 7a+, sector Sarkit.
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Climbing in Cataluyna

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The limestone Mecca. Even when passing through Cataluyna it is hard to ignore the bands of rock that surround you. A climber’s heaven where you are surrounded by a lifetime’s worth of quality single and multi-pitch sport climbing.

Views of Alt Urgell pre-pyreen mountains with bands of limestone in the background and lush green forests.
Climbing in Alt Urgell.

As well as excellent rock climbing and scenery Cataluyna is home to a rich, deep culture and history which you can feel if you spend any amount of time in the region.

The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations for places to climb that may not be on peoples radar when planning a trip to Catalunya. In total we have spent four months climbing here and had a fantastic time. We hope our experiences will be useful to people planning trips for the future.

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