Guide Book to deep water soloing THAILAND

Exploring Thailand's Hidden Gems.

By Matt Maddaloni

Railay and Tonsai beach in southern Thailand is well known around the world to be a climbers paradise. Empty beaches, cheap living and towering limestone cliffs have attracted climbers for years. Unfortunately things have changed, construction of shops and clubs as far as the beaches stretch and long line ups on almost every crag. The ambiance of the lapping surf and empty beaches has all but disappeared. Annie Roy and myself came here to search out the quieter places that lay hidden out past the thundering engines of the long tail boats on the many overhanging stone islands in the distance. A simple adventure of locating an unclimbed tower and finding a natural trad line to the summit while having no one around was all we wanted. What we were introduced to in the end changed the way I saw climbing forever.

When we arrived on January 4th we immediately located a nice bungalow to call home for the next month at dream valley resort on Tonsai beach. A week and a half of sport climbing on some of the best overhanging pocketed limestone in the world got us strong and we began looking for our unclimbed tower. I had visited Thailand a year before after an expedition to Pakistan’s Himalayan mountains and consequently had all my trad gear tagging along. Jim Martinello and myself had climbed a new 4 pitch route on the island of Phi Phi Lay. 5.11a and overhanging, the route sucked up our cams easily into the many pockets of the otherwise blank face. Once we reached a hanging garden of solid stalactites we could sling horns and threads with ease. On the rappel we were a hundred feet out from the base of the wall and had our boat man swing his long tail under us in the swells of the green ocean so we could land and pull our ropes. It was this experience that motivated me to drag the cams back to paradise.

In the far distance from Tonsai beach we could see Chicken Island with an obvious stark tower on it’s horizon, the most impressive tower in the area. After finding out from locals that it had not seen an ascent we chartered a boat out to an uninhabited beach near the tower, where we spent a very romantic four days.

The first day was used snorkeling around the island and checking out the chicken close up by boat before we were dropped off. That night Annie and I chopped out bamboo poles with a machete I bought in town to create a structure to hang our mosquito net around. Just as the sun set two long tail fishing boats drifted into our little bay to make dinner. The glow from under their tarp on board could just be seen from shore and it was so quiet we could hear their idle chatter and a stove simmering away.

On day two we headed for the tower in hopes of hacking out a path through the dense jungle. The coastline was extremely rough and we soloed sections of vertical rock to bypass big boulders. Several times we had to dip into the threatening jungle, thrashing up and down slopes strangled by vines and picking our way around red ant colonies that thrived in the tangled darkness. Covered in ant bites we had reached the base of the tower by mid afternoon. We could see that to keep from getting stuck in vertical jungles we would have to add two 60 meter pitches of vertical rock to reach the tower proper. We scurried back to camp satisfied with tomorrow’s objective.

Easily reaching the tower the next morning I fired off the first 5.10 pitch without much difficulty. Unfortunately the rock did not have much in the way of protection. Each pitch had maybe three pieces of gear that would hold a fall and good belays dictated where we climbed. Half way through the second pitch a tropical storm blew horizontal rain while I clung to a horrible pitch of vertical grass and loose blocks. Continuously I lobed off boulders into the ocean over Annie's head that was tucked under a grassy knoll. The storm subsided and we quickly gained ground on the tower proper. An overhanging crystalline flake brought me to a ledge right under the roof or “beak” of the chicken. The last pitch turned out to be the best, a technical crux on an exposed arête to an unclimbed summit. From the pointy top the ocean spread out 360 degrees and you could see many more vertical walls of rock on all the surrounding islands.

Upon returning to Tonsai a few days later we met Tim Emmet and Mike Weeks from the UK. These boys pretty much invented "deep water soloing" or DWS, a style of climbing that will soon take off like sport climbing and bouldering did. If you check out ClimbXMedia.com you will find a video clip of Klem Loskot and Tim putting up routes as hard as 5.13b with cruxes as high as 60 feet above the ocean. It's a style that upholds the highest ethics, no ropes or gear. It's impossible to hang dog, rap bolt, chip, glue or anything else less than the purest of style. Climbing that's ground up with any mistake resulting in plummeting into the ocean for a soft landing and starting again from scratch.

They came here to Thailand to put up routes on the severely steep limestone towered islands. Quickly won over by their enthusiasm Annie and I joined their parade. We rented long tail boats once again and 12 of us cruised out to find more adventures. Imagine putting up sport routes but without a rope. When we saw something we liked the boatman would bring us in close so we could latch a hold while he pushed off with a bamboo pole to get clear. With rock shoes and a chalk bag we would traverse or climb as high as 50 feet before either getting tired and fall off or reach a natural ending like a ledge and jump.

We managed to put up 10 lines in four outings. One route, "Sunset Wall at 5.12c," took me three tries before I was able to reach the finish ledge 40 feet above the ocean. "A good bit of bush at 5.12a," has multiple two finger pockets with a crux move that throws to a sloper at 30 feet up. At one point we swung around a point looking for more lines when I spotted a gold overhanging arête to a lone ledge 45 feet off the water. I had just finished dynoing to a large pocket half way up and was moving into the thin crux when our second boat load of friends came around the point. I began to second guess my position because of the severity of the moves and the distance of the water far below. Tim and the gang began to yell, “Have at it! Have it! Have it!” They were so full on in their British manner of encouragement that I was filled with unending determination and powered from each gaston and crimper until I reached the lone ledge. The moment quickly passing I was left with the realization of where I was. Barley standing on that ledge with absolutely only one way out. Jump!? Having already survived a bigger jump on another route earlier that day I put the fear out of my mind and trusted instinct. Arms flailing I soared through the air and just before I hit the water I straightened my body, tucked in my chin and slipped beneath the waves. I named the route, “Ignite the flame, 5.11+.”

This summer the British lads will be holding a first ever deep water soloing competition back home. Tim hopes to create a guide book for DWS climbing including the few areas of the world that share the sport. Once I reached shore and saw the line ups, chalk caked holds and tangled ropes I immediately realized the beauty of what we discovered out here in climbing paradise.