After thoughts on climbing in Krabi...

All in all it was a pretty good trip to Tonsai. On top of finishing Greed, i went around climbing and repeating loads of easier stuff from 7a - 8a+. Most of the climbs in krabi were polished beyond belief but i was glad that there were a few crags notably Cat Wall that are still ok for now.

Repeating many of the routes on tonsai roof and falling off the new Tidal Wave on my first go was another memorable experience!!! Its hard for its grade now, requiring quite a bit of body tension after the huge jug located right in the middle of the route broke off. Tantrum 8a+, which was my first climb in the 8th grade also felt harder and requires a completely different sequence at the slopey shelf as Yi Chuan had broken off a crucial jug the year before. Thankfully i didn't fall off this climb =D

I also had the good fortune of meeting up with Bjorn and his wife on this trip who generously offered me the chance to snag the FA on his new line to the right of gaengsompla. Athough there are still some loose rock, this should clear up as more people get onto it. This awesome line goes at 7b+ and is more technical than it looks due to the severe overhanging nature of the line akin to tidal wave. Here's a pic of Bjorn working hard(bolting!!!) and his wife on the line (Speak No Evil, 7b+) a couple of days later...

Plus i was obliged to take some photos of Kenneth since he belayed me a couple of days ago for 2 hours under the scorching afternoon sun on Greed as Q wanted some good photos of me climbing. You can find his works here http://www.jamesqmartin.com/. Will post up pictures as soon as he sends them to me. Meanwhile here are some shots of Kenneth on Gaengsompla, 7c+. In addition, he send Phaet Mak 7c+ in a few goes. Big Ups to him !

Now that Greed is in the bag, many people have asked me if i would still be coming back to Krabi to climb. The answer is a big YES! There are still so many routes left undone plus Ao Nang is starting to see new development and has the potential for many beautiful lines. Plus its way cheaper to stay and travel around Krabi and Ao Nang than at Tonsai/Rai Lay.

Anyway here's a couple of climbs which i really wanna do

Definitely Makes You Whinge, 7C (rebolted end 2008)

This beautiful line is located between the 2 climbers on the wall. And yes, the photo was taken donkey years ago with Han Ping on Strider 7a+ with Assad belaying.

Sissyfuss 8b/+

This superb line by TJ features excellant rock with minimal hand and footholds. Anyone attempting it will required EVERY single part of his body to work his butt into the crux and out of it. I had a go on it and will be back for this 5 star route!!!

GREED 8c/+

It's been a long time coming but finally on the 7th of Jan 2010, i send my first 8c/+ in Thailand. Here's a little history of the route itself - Greed was the hardest route in Thailand for 5 years until 2002 when another 8c was bolted to the right of it(Hot Spring). However due to the numerous broken holds on the route itself, it was rendered impossible until someone told me the bolter glued the holds back towards the end of 2008.

I first tried the bottom moves on Greed back in 2004 after sending Jai Dum 3 days after the terrible tsunami and was immediately hooked onto the bouldery moves at the lower section. There were numerous pockets, a couple of monos (for rest points !!!) right up to the 6th quickdraw. The upper half of the route gets even better and consist of sustained climbing all the way to the anchors, with tufas lining up the last 4 metres. Returning in 2006 with much better fitness having worked my ass off on campus rungs and finger boards, i spent the 1st 4 days of the trip just putting up all the quickdraws onto the route, highlighting the fact that i'm still a long way to go. (i did not suss out all the holds on the entire route in 2004). During the 2 1/2 weeks, i did not climb higher than the 4th quickdraw, constantly falling off a dyno move to a slopey handhold.

It was a completely different story this time round. After putting up the draws and cleaning the holds on my first day, i gave it a go and surprised myself by climbing past my previous high point easily. Although i was really happy, i was still unsure if the route would go as that was only 1/3 of the entire climb. The subsequent 2 weeks were spent trying to climb the rest of the route as efficiently as possible, tweaking my sequence especially towards the top. In the process i managed to reach my next high point, which was a metre away from the last quickdraw. The last 10 days were a series of heartbreaks after heartbreaks as i kept falling way low right after the 6th quickdraw, off this reachy move from a pocket to a slopey sidepull which is the only decent rest in the middle of the route. I fell there more than 10 times and was resigned to going home without sending it even though i was literally running laps on the upper half.

I gave it another redpoint burn the day before leaving for home and fell at the same spot yet again. Thankfully a friend who had tried the route and seen a video on it suggested there and then to try a different way of holding the pocket. Even though i felt drained, i gave it a 2nd go and fought all the way to the anchors, almost falling off the LAST move, just as the sun was setting. (Thanks to Gaz for the beta and Som for belaying !!!)

Ironically before this trip, i did not train much but was consistantly bouldering and climbing hard indoors. I guessed this helped tremendously plus the fact that i had spent 3 months climbing in europe did wonders to my mental state, having fallen off the last hard move (stupid dyno) on Bah Bah Black Sheep 8c/+ at Ceuse, France countless times and not sending it before going home. I'll go back for that climb someday for sure...

Anyway here's a video of my climb. This isn't my redpoint attempt but one of the best i've got and has been painstakingly stitched together by Kelly Woo. Many thanks !!!

Greed 8c from Jay Koh on Vimeo.