Why would anyone leave 阳朔?

As I walked through the immigration checkpoint of 白云机场 (White Cloud Airport) in 广州 (Guang Zhou), I looked down on the stamp on my passport that said “departure”, and realized that I was finally heading home. China has been a home away from home for the past 6 weeks, but now I am more than [...]

Making the last days count

The climbing these past few days has been a bust, due to a combination of bad weather and unavailable vehicles. I’ve spent a lot of time resting in my room, watching movies, surfing the Internet, and making up the sleep debt that I’m still working on from college – this one will probably take me [...]

攀岩，吃饭，泡妞 – Climbing, Eating, and Chasing Girls

Three days on, one day off. Climbing this much might be a little excessive, judging by the fact that the temperature has never peaked below 94 degrees once this entire week. I’m normally opposed to climbing shirtless (mostly because I have nothing to show off), but it’s a necessity out here. If I didn’t climb [...]

阳朔攀岩 – Yang Shuo Climbing

Just because you’re climbing in a world-class destination doesn’t make you a world-class climber. I’m getting my ass handed to me in 阳朔 (Yang Shuo), and I’m loving every minute of it. Steep, featured limestone at a 15-30 degree overhang is not a good place to warm up when I haven’t climbed since the 16th [...]

Travel to 阳朔

I’ve left 西安. And thus, I’ve also left the many friends that I made in the past month, friends that I now regard as family. I never thought it would be possible to become so close in just 30 days, but the welcoming spirit and earnest attempts to get to know someone better can do [...]

华山 – Mount Hua, Part 2

In certain areas, the staircases are actually quite dangerous. Only wide enough for single file hiking, iron chains stood as railings for the steepest sections. Some of the steps were only 6 inches wide, promising a quick fall to the bottom if someone up above slipped. The steepest sections felt more like climbing a ladder, [...]

华山 – Mount Hua, Part 1

华山 (Mount Hua) stands as one of the Five Sacred Taoist Mountains. With five main peaks rising over 3000 feet above the plains of inland China, the granite monolith stands as a striking symbol of the beauty that this country’s natural landscapes has to offer. As a peak of Taoist significance, temples stood at the [...]

西安火石攀岩 – I found a climbing gym

I found a gym. The only gym in the city of Xi’an, in fact. In a city of 8 million people, there is exactly one climbing gym: 火石攀岩体育馆, the Firestone Rock Climbing Gym. Located on the 6th floor of a shopping mall, this 25 foot wall is where the dedicated climbing crew of Xi’an trains [...]

Spring Break = Climbing!?

Smith Rocks State Park is a wonderful, beautiful, amazing, astounding, awe-inspiring, brilliant, excellent, enjoyable, incredible, outstanding, stupendous, tremendous place to climb rocks. Having been restricted to indoor climbing for the past 6 months, it was prime time to get outside and cut my teeth on the mudpile-that-is-somehow-climbable that exists in the dearth of landscape that [...]

SENT

What grade do I climb at now? 5.12a went down after 5 tries over three days, for a total of about 6 falls. Does this mean I should start trying harder and harder things? I greatly credit my friends for picking new projects for me, pushing me to ignore my limits, and making me constantly [...]