Size of Foreign Climbing Community in Seoul

[Tom Church]

I've been hiking and mountain biking in Korea for nearly 10 years. I have found and become an active member of a group of foreign bikers but I've never really hooked up with climbers. Hence, my climbing has been limited to scrambling up ridgelines while hiking.

It's been 20 years since I did any real rock climbing and I would like to get back into it. Is there a regular group of mixed nationals who climb together regularly? Is this a good forum for making that connection?

Tom

[Maddox]

Hey Tom,
I know absolutely nothing about the climbing community here in Seoul...I just arrived here 2 weeks ago. I'm a fairly experienced climber and brought some of the basics with me...and I'm definitely interested in getting on some rock. So be in touch and let know what you've found out...if anything.
brmaddox@lycos.com

[Tom Church]

I'll be in touch. I will get Paul Choi of OD Camp to help sort out some climbing if nothing else is set up through this site. I've been talking to him for a while about getting me set up to be a little safer on my more adventurous hikes/climbs.

Cheer,

Tom

[curious_j]

It is active. There are quite a number of active members. Almost every time I go to the Eungbong bouldering wall, I find foreigners on the main wall. You'll be climbing with friends in no time. -Jeff

[Eric]

Welcome to the site, Tom!

Is this a good forum for making that connection?
Yes, this is the right forum. And if you are looking to make specific climbing plans post in the Upcoming Trips (http://www.koreaontherocks.com/topiclist.php?cat_id=1) forum.

Most people plan climbing trips about 1-3 weeks before the trip. Also, if you have a weekend that you want to climb and want to see if others are interested, just post in the upcoming trips and you should get a few bites.

Lastly, fall (in my opinion) is the absolute best time for climbing in Korea. the weather is perfect, cool and dry and climbing is fantastic. Expect a lot more trips to pop up in september and october. July and August are sometimes too hot or too rainy or both.

Hope this helps
Eric

[Moose]

Hey, i would love to try to plan a weekend of climbing sometime soon. i planned on climbing over the last two weeks but things got crazy on me and i was almost deported for overstaying my welcome. its all worked out now and i'm ready to plan for a weekend of verticalness. stay in touch.
~josh

[grande]

Hey on the mountains in Seoul which one has the most amount of boulders. I found a number of them behind the international zen buddhist center in Seoul and I plan to go back but I was wondering if there is a specific place to find a good boulder field.

[curious_j]

The best I've found is at Insubong. I want to get pictures and put them online, but I haven't had the chance yet. In another one of these threads I gave all the beta I had on bouldering in the Seoul area--search for that for a little more info.

There's an interesting boulder on the left side of the trail heading up to Insubong/Baekundae. Then at the camping area there are 3 or 4 boulders. Head right toward the base of Insubong and you'll find a V11 that Chris Sharma flashed last Spring when he was here for the Anasazi bouldering festival. If you find more, post.

Have fun. I hurt my neck playing basketball, so I'm out for a while.