I have come to the end of a productive trip
to Yangshuo. I didn’t manage to send the entire line of my mega project up the
guts of Lei Pi Shan but I had an amazing time finding, equipping and trying it.
It was the route I spent longest on this year and although I could do it in two
overlapping sections I didn’t have what it took to link it all. I climbed clean
to the half way anchors grading that hard 29 (8a/+) but I would always fall entering the final V8/9 (?) boulder problem at almost 40m! I named the route ‘Storm
Born’ keeping in theme with the crag. The entire line will be 32/33 and an
absolute classic! Cheers to Derek for the photos.
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| The first crux and easiest of Storm Born is the crux of the route Papercut (7c+) which i put up in 2006. Photo Derek Cheng. |
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| The second crux of Storm Born almost half way up the Lei Pi Shan cliff. Photo Derek Cheng. |
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Compressing on bad holds about to snatch a slopey jug in the final boulder
before a sustained 5m end sequence to the chains. Photo Derek Cheng. |
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Staring up at Lei Pi Shan, my favourite crag in Yangshuo. Photo JJ Obrien.
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A back injury in the last two weeks and a
year of climbing catching up with my body meant I had to take a step back and
so I climbed some classics I hadn’t done as well as a couple of easier first
ascents. The new crag called Dragon City, which will be in the next guidebook,
had a lot of potential and I found a nice thin vertical face on which I equipped
and freed ‘City of Dreams’ at 27/8 (7c/+) on my second last day. Thanks to JJ for taking some cool shots! Check out his stylish climbing blog at jjobrienclimbing.blogspot.com.au
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| Thin face in the crux of City of Dreams 27/8? Photo JJ Obrien |
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| Not a lot of holds on this wall! Photo JJ Obrien. |
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| The initial slab of 'City of Dreams'. Photo JJ Obrien. |
I am now back in Perth and have had almost
a week off. Its Christmas time catching up with the family and my body is
slowly healing. Climbing plans are already forming for next year. Plans I need
to work a job around!
