Tonsai Thailand Photos

Here are some photos of the month I spent in Tonsai bay Thailand. This is the second time I have been here the first time 4 years ago because of that I was not as excited on photos. I leave for china tomorrow really excited for a new country, cooler weather and hopefully less westerners.

Flowers at my bungalow


Tonsai Bay at night

Gord Pocket Pulling on a 7b

Left to right Tonsai roof, Dums Kitchen, Tiger Wall

Lan on a 6a+

Vietnam Photos

Gord on Goliath 7C+ FA, Gord and I's new line we put up in Vietnam

Floating Fish Village in Ha Long Bay Vietnam

Deep Water soloing in Ha long Bay

Sunday market in Hanoi

Old woman and her goods

Me working on Goliath 7C+, Gord and I's new line we put up in Vietnam

One month in Cat Ba Vietnam

The days and weeks have flown by in the past month. I arrived in Vietnam 3 weeks ago and have spent my time on the island of Cat Ba, most famously known for its close proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage sight of Ha long Bay. I journeyed here for the deep water soloing. Unfortunately the weather is to cold, which came as quit the surprise for I have been nothing but hot in my other travels to southern Asia. I blame this on my lack of research and over zealous optimism. But flexibility is the name of the game, so after one day of DWS I decided that the conditions were much more suited to sport climbing. What I have found on Cat Ba during its low tourist seasons is a cheap, quite and pleasant climbing scene with enough routes to keep me occupied for the month. My mornings are filled with thick Vietnamese coffee, pho (noddle soup) and banana pancakes, followed by a brisk scooter ride with my Canadian partner in crime Gord, to the local crag named Lien Minh. This crag is nestled on the outskirts of a quiet village in the thick of the jungle.

Vietnam's bloody history is eerily evident as we negotiate though the field bordering the cliffs, which are riddled with bomb craters, courtesy of the American government. Cat Ba was an important strategic military location in the war as it served as the first defense against air attacks on the military outpost in Hai Phong. Even though the war is still present in the minds of the older generation, I have not received any hostility due to my nationality.

Gord and I are the only long timers on the island besides the employees of slo pony the one and only guided climbing organization, which means we usually only share the areas with a few people. As of now there are not to many routes but the potential for more is huge. Access is a sensitive issue with the communist government, but with some luck hopefully that will change and route development will become easier. Fortunately Gord and I managed to bolt and clean a new climb which hopefully I will get pictures of. Well that is all for now I will be leaving in a few days for the warm weather in southern Thailand.
Conrad
-side note: Unfortunately along with censoring facebook the Vietnam government feels like me posting pictures is a threat to national security, so i will have to post them in Thailand.

Dirty South Climbing Trip

Well it is that time again. I am off tomorrow for Asia first stop Vietnam. Also on the list is Thailand in Feb, china in march and part of April and than job permitting Australia for the rest of April. I finished up a good fire season in November, check out www.sawtoothhotshots.org for some pictures of the season, than went for a road trip to the south east. i pick up my buddy ben in New Orleans and went to horse pens 40 in Alabama for a few days and than on to the red river gorge in Kentucky. After ben left I spent another 2 weeks climbing in Little rock city tenn, horse pens 40 and rocktown in Georgia had a fun but cold trip so needless to say I am excited to go climb limestone in the tropics!!! Here are a few pictures.

The the F*%& is a piggly wiggly

Fred On Comet Dyno Rocktown

Mortal Combat HP40

Jamey on Cyclops Little rock city

Ben on Millipede HP40

HP40 Sickness

Font. to Ceuse and back

Here are a few pictures from the last half of my trip. After spending 3 weeks in font. I found a ride down to Ceuse. Considering the weather was becoming a bit to hot to climb in font I decided it was time to move on. Unfortunately the climbing gods did not agree. About 2 hours from ceuse the car I was riding in, nicknamed Tulip, decided it had had enough and died. Anne, the unfortunate owner of tulip, and I took it to a garage. The mechanic, not knowing any English, give Tulip the death X with his arms conveying to us that tulip was no more. So two days and two cars, after leaving font, later we arrived in ceuse. We arrive to perfect weather which complemented the perfect rock. After one day of climbing in ceuse I can easily say that it is the best sport climbing I have every done. We were graced with 2 climbing days and than it started to rain... and snow. The forecast was not promising calling for over a week of heavy rain. Font on the other hand was cool and sunny so we drove back to font. This must have been what the climbing gods wanted because the first climbing day back I managed to climb Hale-Bopp a really cool V10 dyno I had been working on for a few days. Well this is going to be the last blog post for a while, I start up work in a few days and will be stuck climbing in Deirkes Twin falls for most of the summer. There are plans in the works for a China trip next year and also possibly a Pakistan trip as well, so there will be much more pictures and stories to come.
Conrad

Sending Hale-Bopp V10 Photo-Raul

Otso, Nic and the Fortress of Solitude

Anne on a highball V6

Sending Rainbow Rocket V9/11 Photo- Otso

Rainbow Rocket Photo-Otso

Ceuse, enough said.

Fontainebleau

I have been in France for a little over two weeks and thought it was time to post some pictures. It has been a Hampi, India reunion for me. I was greated at the Fontainebleau train station by Otso and Oyvind two climbers I met in India. Two other Hampi friends, Paula and Jacob, joined us for about a week. Right now I am hanging out and climbing with Otso who leaves in a few days. The climbing has been good, a bit rainy last week, but the rock dries fast. The climbing in Font is hard. Ever hold is open handed and friction dependent. It is intense on the back, core and shoulders, but really fun. Well dont have the motivation to write anymore so hopefully the pictures will tell the story for me this time.
Conrad

Train station

Otso on Beatlejuice V7

Unknown classic total font style


Stephan on a V6 ish arete


Expresso in the morning


Otso on Diversion V7/8


Oyvind On Excalibur V7

Hampi Videos

Two videos my buddy Ben Cummings made of a bunch of classic climbs in Hampi.

Part 1



Part 2