Story and photos by Tim Banfield

Finding Crowd-Free Rock in a Climbing Hot Spot

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Long and cold winters in Canada make the opportunities for rock climbing few and far between. The last several years, my girlfriend and I have jumped in our camper and driven to the American desert. This year we decided on a different experience and headed to Southern Thailand.

The more you research climbing in Thailand, the more it sounds like paradise. From beautiful beaches and warm tempera-tures to short approaches and an abundance of limestone cliffs. As a climber, what more could you want? It’s for these reasons climbers travel to areas like Ton Sai in Southwest Thailand. For some, it is a yearly pilgrimage and for others it is a month-long stop on their Southeast Asia climbing tour. As we found out, it is a harder to experience paradise when everyone else is crowding in with the same hopes and expectations.

Maybe being a weekday climber in the Canadian Rockies is the reason I have had so many days over the past several years without running into another person, let alone another climbing party, but that certainly was not the case in Ton Sai. The area has a reputation for being one of the best climbing locations in the world and rightfully so, but it makes it one of the busiest climbing destinations you’ll ever visit. After a little research, we found a few amazing places to climb away from the crowds. If you’re travelling to Thailand this winter, and I think that everyone should visit once, here are some lesser-known crags that are close to Ton Sai we explored and that others might prefer, too.

The Keep is one of the farthest crags from the groups climbing on the beach in Ton Sai. This may be one of the rea-sons it is also one of the quieter crags. Located approximately 45 minutes to an hour walk from Ton Sai, The Keep is home to some of the best 5.11 climbs in the area. Approaching The Keep is slightly adventurous, at least compared to walking across the beach. There is a slot that you have to shimmy across and down-climb before reaching the base of the routes and the approach times can vary depending on if you are approaching in f lip f lops or approach shoes. Situated high above the water with views across East Railey, The Keep is not a beginner’s crag, but certainly not too difficult compared to some of the other walls in the area. We climbed on a variety of steep-to-overhanging climbs on high-quality rock, mostly in the 5.11 range. Another great thing about The Keep, besides no lineups, is that the routes do not feel polished like many of the other climbs. If you are not climbing multi-pitch routes

We climbed on a variety of steep-to-overhanging climbs on high-quality rock, mostly in the 5.11 range.

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while visiting Ton Sai, then The Keep is one of the best bets for views and possibly a breeze, too

We found an even quieter area called Koh Lao Liang, which is another desti-nation I recommend checking out. It is exactly what I wanted Thailand to be, basically my own private island in the Andaman Sea with a pristine beach and one-minute approach times. Located in the Phetra National Marine Park, Koh Lao Liang is a set of two islands about an hour from the mainland. The smaller of the two islands is where the climbing has been developed and is an all-inclusive resort that is slightly more expensive than some accommodations in Thailand, but the experience of visiting Lao Liang is worth it. There are 30 tents on the island that sleep two, along with staff for the resort. Every morning, I would wake up for sunrise and was usually the only person on the beach.

The climbing on the island was some of the best that we explored in Thailand. There is something for everyone up to hard 5.12. The climbs were only a few

The Crags of ThailandTon Sai: Located in Thailand’s southwest-ern province of Krabi, this is the original Thai rock climbing must-visit zone offering routes of world-class quality for both begin-ners and experienced climbers.

Ao Nang: Located in the Chong Pli district, the area has a wide range of routes from 5.8 to 5.13. It is considered Thailand’s new-est and most exciting crag.

Koh Lao Liang: Lao Liang Islands are rarely visited twin islands made of lime-stone that rise 80 metres out the Andaman Sea. It’s a great place to get away from the crowds and has fun deep-water soloing.

Koh Yao Noi: A pair of large islands in the middle of Phang Nga Bay few people visit. There is plenty of potential for new routes.

Koh Phi Phi: The birthplace of rock climb-ing in Thailand where there are over 100 popular classics.

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featuresteps from our tent on the beach. The Bay was the closest wall to our tent and was less than a one-minute approach. With so many climbs to play on, we found the best routes were between 5.10c to 5.12c. Farther down the beach at Ocean Wall are more great routes. We climbed, shirts off, on steep 3d tufa roofs on grades from 5.10 to 5.12c. There are several multi-pitch climbs on the island, but many of them require a 70-metre rope for descent. The main attraction of Lao Liang was Red Wall with its fun and pumpy climbing. One of our favourite routes was The Golden Triangle 5.11c, which can only be climbed with a low tide, as we found the hard way.

The two-pitch House of the Rising Sun is not to be missed. The exciting 5.10d ends below the top, but we took some advice and continued up and exited through a hole in the wall to the jungle top out. One of the coolest finishes I’ve ever done. If you plan to visit, then research bird’s nest soup collectors and learn a little about this

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lucrative activity, which is located on the opposite side of the island. I was glad we checked it out.

Another great place we visited was Chong Phli. There are lots of routes, usu-ally few climbers and the access is easy. Development here has only been going on for a few years and the modern routes are better equipped than other Thailand climbs. The bolts on hundreds of the sea-side routes in Thailand suffer from cor-rosion and the answer has been titanium bolts, which were installed from the start at Chong Phli. Some climbers commute from Ton Sai on a longtail boat and then rent scooters for the day. We stayed at Ao Nang, which is near the climbing and offers comfortable bungalows. The crag goes into the sun somewhere between 12:30 and 2:30 in the afternoon. We climbed Buzzsaw 5.10d and Seesaw 5.11a, which had a dif-ferent style of climbing on less incut holds that were not as positive as others in the area. On our rest days, we explored the local area. We visited Krabi and the giant staircase known as Tiger Temple.

Thailand lived up to its reputation as being a busy place full of climbers. With a little extra effort, we managed to escape the crowded climbs and find quiet crags. If you’re like me and are used to climbing in peace, then don’t stay away from Thailand because of its crowded walls, visit for its secluded and remote climbs that will leave you wanting more.

Tim Banfield is a climber and photographer based in Calgary.

One of our favourite routes was The Golden Triangle 5.11c, which can only be climbed with a low tide, as we found the hard way.

The Thaitanium Bolting ProjectThe Thaitanium Project is a non-profit effort dedicated to providing and installing tita-nium climbing bolts throughout Thailand. Due to a rare convergence of environmen-tal conditions and minerals contained within the rock itself, Thailand’s existing bolts have experienced accelerated metal fatigue and corrosion, leading to unsafe climbing conditions and a substantial increase in the risk associated with climbing many of the popular routes. Visit thaitaniumproject.com to donate.

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