Sam's Climbing Blog: The China Story: Great climbing flavoured with epics and a lot of spices

I'm back in the country and finally able to write about my adventures in the Middle Kingdom. China is a communist state and is so paranoia they shut down my blog about climbing, lest it would start nationwide uprisings against the regime, demanding to drill more crags across the country. Yes, some foreign intervention would be appropriate to help the locals developing new areas and set up routes between thousands of tufa's and stalactites in mighty arches, or opening pure white vertical walls perfect for technical face climbing. This is exactly what the Petzl crew did. In Getu Valley, Guizhou province, a team of pro drillers established a whole new climbing area from scratch. In the end some 250 routes were drilled, offering quasi all styles of climbing, going from climbing on big sloper holes in the big arch, to technical crimpy face climbing at Fish crag, or some endurance stuff at Banyang cave. Besides that, multipitch adepts of every grade were not forgotten and could litterally climb a muerte. As I always wanted to go and climb in China, the Petzl Roc Trip offered me the ideal opportunity to go. This is what happened.

Official opening ceremony with minority performances

I arrived in China dead. Not too hard to transform yourself into a lower lifeform that zombies are. Just take a few flights, and upon arrival decide to go on with a few bus trips. You're already dead, so anything you would do that invokes death, has not the slightest effect. Dead is dead, isn't it? This is my recipe, but don't forget it has to last for at least 36 hours, otherwise it's just like a tasteless bouillon. Dezombify in a mid-class hotel, where you still can spot the occasional cockroach in the bathroom, and enjoy for hours the drunk screaming of a Chinese guy, who is about to beat somebody up, while your having a gastronomical dinner of spicy instant noodles. Continue next day for 45 minutes and you have unlocked the key to arrive in valhalla.

First a good meal

and then a good night's rest

At the bus station in Ziyun I hooked up with some guys from Australia and GB. I was explaining the ticket lady where I wanted to go, when all of a sudden a not chinese looking girl showed up and asked me something. I was so focussed on getting my ticket, I didn't realize she was talking english, so I just answered in Chinese, lol. A whole mini-van with climbers confirmed I was not the only one with the idea to go Getu before the start of the rock trip.

Some guesthouses at entrance of Getu

So we arrived at the end of this road in Getu, meaning holy or sacred place in the local Miao dialect. After some running back and forth between guesthouses, we did found one with free rooms. So far so good, but no for long. Regardless of my tiredness, I decided to go and climb with some guys that afternoon at a nearby crag next to the road. As expected no big performance, but who cares, I met a whole bunch of new people. When we got back at 7pm, we heard the news we were kicked out of our place. Apparently everything was booked by chinese for the petzl trip, which was in 5 days or so. So the rooms were free, but we couldn't sleep there because some guys would arrive in a week. Same story in other guesthouses, so everybody rushed to get a place on the floor in one or another room where climbers where already settled. In the end this was really fortunate for me. First night I went to the basement where an Israelian guy was already sleeping and slept in the free room next to his', without telling the owner. Next day I asked if I could stay there, on the ground though, and yes I could sleep there for free, and probably I was the only guy during the trip who could. All considered the whole situation was fucked up, people paying the price for a bed while sleeping on the floor, or being kicked out in the evening while all these rooms were available. These chinese people really didn't care, a real "je m'en fous"-attitude I would call it. Bon, the reason it was free for me I think was I had no bed, but a filthy floor, no sink or mirror, only a dirty toilet with a not decent working shower next to it, meaning you were like standing in urine sometimes. (I'm not sure, but there was dirt and mud and it smelled as the pest, so). Ok, no big deal, but I have a problem with Petzl, who lied when saying there was no possibility to book in advance. Every damned place was booked by Chinese. So their 'first come, first served'-policy proved the be shit talk. It just wasn't fair for anybody. Bon don't need to pay for a shower or tv, just go and sneak in another guesthouse to check out the shower there, only to find out it is as fucked up as the other one. I was used to this after the America trip.

CMDI wall and Pusa Yan (bodhisattva wall) -
Easy and scary (chossy rock) runout (sometimes 10m between bolts) multipitches

Men at work

Ginormous hugantic cave - Santa Linya tripled

Next day we wanted to check out the Great Arch, and big it was. Huge, enormous, gigantic, no word can describe this natural fenomenon. We were astonished by the natural powers that created this thing, or maybe it was created by some aliens, the arch really had the appearence of a gateway to another dimension. We took the bamboo raft across the river and hiked up the 1377 steps. Soon our excitement turned into some disappointment. Regardless the scale and quantity of the rock, the quality just proved to be shitty. You're cimbing in a cave, so the rock isn't exposed to the elements and it stays humid to different degrees all the time. So the rock wasn't wet, but there was a dusty and slippery layer on top of the rock, that without doubt turned into a patinoire in really wet conditions. Add some piles of bat shit, and climbing on frictionless slopery routes becomes a nightmare, especially when bolts are a bit spaced. Ok, not everything was as bad as I write it down here, but it was just not what I expected and other people shared the same opinion. Maybe petzl invested too much time in this cave, time that could be invested in developing other crags. Like they had to brush the pro routes, like the 8b's, c's and 9a's, otherwise they were inclimbable. Wasteless time.

Liana taking a no hands no foot rest on something between a stalagmite and stalagtite

Bijschrift toevoegen

Me and Liana, a girl from Australia, decided to do a multipitch just outside the cave. This 4 pitches long route proved to have more quality. The rock was much cleaner and no sign of slopers. Instead 180m of fun climbing on tufa's and stalactites appeared while advancing. But the climb would not be complete if we came down without a little (i.e. big to normal standards) epic. After pulling out a rotten flake in the last 7b pitch, we prepared for rapping down. Liana went first and had to backclip some draws in order to reach the anchor. She soon discovered the rope was too short, like 2m. What she did was not too kosjer, but the only option. She clipped herself to the wall with an extended draw, pulled herself of the rope, downclimbed to the anchor and clipped with another draw. I rapped down while cleaning the draws, meaning I made a swing everytime, due to the overhanging character of the wall. Problem was somebody has to hold the end of the rope or you end up in midair. So Liana, in full body stretch and in midair herself I think, could barely hold the rope while I was coming down. And I knew if she would let go the rope, I was fucked. Coming down on a tight rope is not easy and goes slow, but no option to give extra slack, unless you have the powers to command your body to grow a few extra centimeters of arm. I made it to the anchor, but it was scary,nd the next ones too. The last pitch was even worse. It was getting dark and couldn't see if the rope touched the ground (we couldn't see the black mark in the middle of the rope, it was too dark already). Moreover it ended up in a tree. So we rapped down to this tree, pulled the rope out of it, clipped ourselves both in one bolt, pulled the rope through this bolt, and reached the ground safely. But this was not the end. We were stuck at the river. Last boat was at 6 or 6.30pm. It was past 8. Luckily Liana could call some guys at the guesthouse, who would come to rescue us. Meanwhile some chinese guys, who came fishing at the other side, totally ignored us when I called for help. The guys showed up and Jo, because she was the lightest, took a bamboo raft we discovered earlier to come and save us. She had to go back and forth 3 times. First Liana and her bag, then me and finally my bag and rope. We just were sinking while crossing the river and it was pretty wide. Nice epic to start a trip and much lol afterwards at the guesthouse, where everybody was talking about it.

Jean-Paul enjoying the local beer at the cooking place of our guesthouse

On the way to Banyang

My hro of the day

Part of Banyang cave, here the part with the 8th degree routes

Two days later I met another Belgian guy, Jean-Paul Finnè from Louvain-la-Neuve. As a former top climber in his young days, he did the 3rd ascent of Just Do It 8c+ in Smith Rocks and another one in Siurana, and put up some routes in the US. He would be my climbing partner for the next weeks to come. He had the same idea about the big arch: impressive, but low quality. So we went or the Banyang with long resistance routes, or to my favorite, Fish crag, offering excellent 5 star technical climbing. After America my power and endurance was low, so I focused on onsighting lower grades like 7a's, b' and c's, trying to climb as much as possible instead of concentrating on hard things. A good strategy actually, because I got stronger and stronger. During my stay at Getu I onsighted multiple 7b (+)'s and a 7c and almost an 8a, there was only one superhard move on microscopical crimpers, climbed one 7c+, 2 8a's and my first 8b. This was a really cool send and totally my style of climbing, meaning Frietzak in Klimax on little holds and very slightly overhung. A really sequential route with one harder crux I couldn't pull when doing the moves before. Next day I took my first rest day, after 9 days of climbing in a row, but still felt old and weak. But people who know me, know this means sending time. I got pumped in the 6b warm ups and without any expectation or pressure wanted to rehearse the moves of the 8b. And I started and climbed easily to the big jug before the crux. It was a total surprise for me when I pulled the crux as easy as that, like what's the big deal all about. I got into the zone, you know, when everything goes perfect and smooth and you know you will send it if you keep concentrated. This is what I like so much about climbing and why it is my passion. There is only you and the rock, nothing else matters, nothing else is important in that moment of time. A battle between you and the rock, and in this flow time comes to a halt. A little stress built up after the crux, like yes now its almost in the bag, but not yet. I could contain the pressure enough and after the last tricky move I clipped the anchors without almost no pump. Cool, pumping in 6b and 10min later sending 8b with draws on the harness. Maybe it was not a real 8b, only 8a+, but I don't care, it was one of the nicest routes I ever climbed and was superhappy afterwards. Some other guys who were watching me were really impressed by my pretty 'dry' sent. A real boost for me, to know I'm not so a bad climber. Jean-Paul too did some nice ascents. He didn't climb for ten years and only started climbing again for half a year, while actually injured at his ankle and shoulder. His goal was to climb 7b again. In the end he did 8a. Bien joué!!

Poetry at Fish crag

Fish crag is the small wall in the middle

What else can I say about the stay in Getu. Well I had diarrhea for more then a week, spicy diarrea moreover, cuz' to every dish green or red bell peppers are added. Simply put, you can't avoid it and so your ass burns when you are shitting, done. I took some Immodium (didn't think about it earlier) and got constipated for a few days. I also pulled out a massive hold at the overhang in Banyang. While toproping the 7b+, I was grandpa again and hung with full body weight at this solid looking jug, that suddenly broke off and exploded when hitting the ground. It was as big as my upper body, so when it goes down it goes down. Happy I was toproping the shit and even more happy nobody got hurt. I felt really stupid. That day it was like a group of meteors passed the earth. One after another rock came down, while it was supercrowded. I don't like crowds, but a day of climbing in companionship of Chris Sharma, Daila Ojeda, Dave Graham, Emily Harrington, Steve McClure, Sasha Di Giulian and other strong climbers is just exceptional. And when Dave is having a joint and starts to philosophize about little dots on the rock, explaining, while heavily gestulating, it was created by aliens, you just discover this are totally normal people. Chris was also quite surprised ( in a good sense) when he recognized JP but JP didn't recognize Sharma and asked for his name, and Chris answered: "Hi, I'm Chris". Later JP, who doesn't read any climbing magazines or watch climbing movies, because he feels a bad climber afterwards, discovered it was Sharma. Sharma and also Dave remembered JP from 16 years ago in the US when sending Just Do It and other stuff. And for the whole crowd showed their respect for JP, to whom they really looked up at that time. I didn't hear JP complaining about it. Who would?

A flood hit the valley in 2010, this was the waterline at that time

Chinese style Belgian fries

The guesthouse lady (the 2nd one) preparing dinner for us, with the necessary amount spices ofcourse

On the last day we went to Fish crag again where Sasha and Melissa Le Névé were climbing for a photoshoot by Sam Bié, famous photographer for Grimper. The cool thing was, he took some pictures of me after Sasha was finished and I was climbing the 8a. I got really motivated to climb hard and joked this could maybe mean the start of a pro career. He could nly take 3 pictures, I was already at the end of the route, but it was so cool to see afterwards. I never had any nice picture of me sportclimbing. I hope he will find time to send them to me, I really do hope it. Not climbing related was my stay at the hotel. In the end I was kicked out of the guesthouse, no more place. Meanwhile I met some guys from Israel and a girl from Canada, who actually didn't went back for the past 3 years. The guys were volunteering during the trip and all the volunteers could stay in the hotel for free, with free breakfest, lunch and dinner included. I moved in, and when another guy in their room left the day afterwards, I took his bed. Even better were the extra food coupons the guys could fix due to a little misunderstanding. A real dirtbagger life style, not paying for anything, and with a shower at the end of a hard day of work. Life should always be like this. There was a hard to describe vibe between the 3 of us, and I really enjoyed these days in companionship of Elise and Lior, who wants to come to Europe one day. Besides some technical and organizational problems, like a chaotical food war, fucked up sound video shows, silly chinese (i.e. childish) presentators during the evenings, and the housing of all the participants (all the children of Getu had to stay home for a week, because the school was closed as to house the participants), this roc trip was really worth attending. Patagonia is the destination for next year, I'm looking forward to it.