climbhigher14k
05-15-2007, 06:56 PM
My climbing experiences in Korea have varied greatly, all the way from excellent to downright maddening. Some days have been peaceful and calm, while others have been hectic, nerve-racking, and dangerous. One might say that this could describe climbing anywhere, and in one sense this is true. Some routes are laid back, and easy, like a long well bolted 5.9, while others are hard and desperate, like a run out 5.11. While these types of routes exist in Korea, the real variable is the people.
Some climbers in Korea, regardless of their climbing ability, are the well-bolted 5.9 type. They are friendly, kind, quiet, and humble. They treat you as equals, even if they climb hard 5.13's. The other type of Korean climber is the run out 5.11 type. Most likely, they can only climb 5.9 (well, 5.10 if you count clawing ungracefully and hanging on every bolt), but are loud, dangerous and rude. They probably also do a lot of staring, which makes one feel like a zoo animal. In addition, they will stay up all night drinking soju ten feet from your tent, and then will get louder when you get up at three in the morning and ask them to be a little quieter.
About a month and a half ago, I had a maddening experience. People were being obnoxious and dangerous. My wife was working on a route called Elida, at Ganhyun. We were the first to the crag and I had set up a top rope for Jess. There are two other routes to the right of Elida, and while Jess was working the crux of the route, another set of climbers started up the far right route. This was no problem, as the routes did not share any holds and there was no possibility of either climber hitting the other in a fall. Then, a run-out 5.11 Korean showed up. He and his belayer both were loaded with useless gear, including huge hexes (Ganhyun is a sport climbing area). He jumped on the route between Jess and the other climber, which happens to share holds with Jess' route. He climbed up to the point where Jess was, about 20 feet above an uneven landing, with no protection clipped, and just waited. Had Jess fallen, she would have swung out and hit him, knocking him off the cliff and onto the rocky, ankle-devouring ground. I tried to tell his belayer that he was being very dangerous, but he seemed not to understand.
Eventually, the guy decided he was tired of waiting and climbed past Jess. He continued climbing but managed to hang on almost every bolt. The kicker was that he even pulled on Jess' rope to propel himself upward!!! At this point I was furious, and, after letting Jess down, I ran to the car to get my Korean/English phrasebook. I came back and told the guy, in Korean, that he was being dangerous. He just laughed and a bystander asked me if I was a climber (even though I had a harness and draws on). I was pissed, but I went over to work on my then- project, near the "cave" at Ganhyun. Everyone was EXTREMELY cold to me, and after one attempt, Jess and I left, swearing NEVER to go to Ganhyun on a Saturday EVER again.
I share that rant to show one side of Korean climbing, especially at Ganhyun, which is near Seoul. Since then, I have had at least two GREAT experiences there.
About two or three weeks after that experience, Jess and I were rained out of our usual Friday afternoon climbing. We really wanted to climb, so on Saturday we got up early and made it to Ganhyun, praying that no-one would be there. To our horror, many people arrived at the crag just after we did. We prepared for the worst, but then something great happened. Everyone was extremely nice to us! They were supportive when I worked on my project, and even bought us ice cream! The treated us as equals, and some of them climbed VERY hard. We stayed almost all day, and left with big smiles and new friends.
Today, I had another amazing experience at Ganhyun. Jess and I work in the public school system, so we had the day off for Teacher's Day. We drove out to climb, expecting to have the place to ourselves. Again, to our chagrin, two large groups of Koreans arrived, one just after we did, and another about an hour later.
I was hoping to send my project and was afraid that I would be gawked at and rushed, but to my surprise, I had a great day. The first group was very kind to us, but more or less left us alone, as we were working on different routes. I sent my project on the first try, and was basically euphoric! While Jess was working on her route, the second group of Koreans arrived, and I recognized a couple of them. One of them was Lee Sun Ho, a very nice man, and strong climber I met at Soksal Bawi during the spring meet and greet. I talked with him a lot, and he invited me to work on a hard route with him and his friends. We had a great day, and I really enjoyed conversing with him and climbing with his group. Jess and I both climbed well, made new friends, whom I hope to climb with in the future, and even received an invitation to go trad climbing!
For every bad climbing day in Korea, there is an equally good one. When I have a bad experience, I sometimes find myself blaming it on Korea or Koreans, but there are obnoxious people everywhere. Thankfully, there are also great people everywhere as well. I guess I just need to give everyone and everywhere a chance!
Thanks to everyone who has been great to meet and know, both Korean and Foreigner!
Some climbers in Korea, regardless of their climbing ability, are the well-bolted 5.9 type. They are friendly, kind, quiet, and humble. They treat you as equals, even if they climb hard 5.13's. The other type of Korean climber is the run out 5.11 type. Most likely, they can only climb 5.9 (well, 5.10 if you count clawing ungracefully and hanging on every bolt), but are loud, dangerous and rude. They probably also do a lot of staring, which makes one feel like a zoo animal. In addition, they will stay up all night drinking soju ten feet from your tent, and then will get louder when you get up at three in the morning and ask them to be a little quieter.
About a month and a half ago, I had a maddening experience. People were being obnoxious and dangerous. My wife was working on a route called Elida, at Ganhyun. We were the first to the crag and I had set up a top rope for Jess. There are two other routes to the right of Elida, and while Jess was working the crux of the route, another set of climbers started up the far right route. This was no problem, as the routes did not share any holds and there was no possibility of either climber hitting the other in a fall. Then, a run-out 5.11 Korean showed up. He and his belayer both were loaded with useless gear, including huge hexes (Ganhyun is a sport climbing area). He jumped on the route between Jess and the other climber, which happens to share holds with Jess' route. He climbed up to the point where Jess was, about 20 feet above an uneven landing, with no protection clipped, and just waited. Had Jess fallen, she would have swung out and hit him, knocking him off the cliff and onto the rocky, ankle-devouring ground. I tried to tell his belayer that he was being very dangerous, but he seemed not to understand.
Eventually, the guy decided he was tired of waiting and climbed past Jess. He continued climbing but managed to hang on almost every bolt. The kicker was that he even pulled on Jess' rope to propel himself upward!!! At this point I was furious, and, after letting Jess down, I ran to the car to get my Korean/English phrasebook. I came back and told the guy, in Korean, that he was being dangerous. He just laughed and a bystander asked me if I was a climber (even though I had a harness and draws on). I was pissed, but I went over to work on my then- project, near the "cave" at Ganhyun. Everyone was EXTREMELY cold to me, and after one attempt, Jess and I left, swearing NEVER to go to Ganhyun on a Saturday EVER again.
I share that rant to show one side of Korean climbing, especially at Ganhyun, which is near Seoul. Since then, I have had at least two GREAT experiences there.
About two or three weeks after that experience, Jess and I were rained out of our usual Friday afternoon climbing. We really wanted to climb, so on Saturday we got up early and made it to Ganhyun, praying that no-one would be there. To our horror, many people arrived at the crag just after we did. We prepared for the worst, but then something great happened. Everyone was extremely nice to us! They were supportive when I worked on my project, and even bought us ice cream! The treated us as equals, and some of them climbed VERY hard. We stayed almost all day, and left with big smiles and new friends.
Today, I had another amazing experience at Ganhyun. Jess and I work in the public school system, so we had the day off for Teacher's Day. We drove out to climb, expecting to have the place to ourselves. Again, to our chagrin, two large groups of Koreans arrived, one just after we did, and another about an hour later.
I was hoping to send my project and was afraid that I would be gawked at and rushed, but to my surprise, I had a great day. The first group was very kind to us, but more or less left us alone, as we were working on different routes. I sent my project on the first try, and was basically euphoric! While Jess was working on her route, the second group of Koreans arrived, and I recognized a couple of them. One of them was Lee Sun Ho, a very nice man, and strong climber I met at Soksal Bawi during the spring meet and greet. I talked with him a lot, and he invited me to work on a hard route with him and his friends. We had a great day, and I really enjoyed conversing with him and climbing with his group. Jess and I both climbed well, made new friends, whom I hope to climb with in the future, and even received an invitation to go trad climbing!
For every bad climbing day in Korea, there is an equally good one. When I have a bad experience, I sometimes find myself blaming it on Korea or Koreans, but there are obnoxious people everywhere. Thankfully, there are also great people everywhere as well. I guess I just need to give everyone and everywhere a chance!
Thanks to everyone who has been great to meet and know, both Korean and Foreigner!