UKC

For anyone wanting to climbing near Chiang Mai city there is a crag called Crazy Horse with 120 routes. There is a plan this year to add another 50 routes. The routes at the moment are from the French grade 5 to 8a+. It's really nice limestone not too sharpe and yet not polished like some of the routes in Krabi.
There is a very good guide book for the area which you can buy in Chiang Mai at www.thailandclimbing.com Josh the owner and writer of the guide is a very helpful guy. He also has a bouldering wall at the back of his shop.
On rest days Chiang Mai has plenty of none climbing stuff to do.

In reply to rickeden:

yea, but is it overgraded like krabi?

In reply to rickeden:

Yes, it's a nice place. For lower grade climbs (I climb up to 5+ in Portland)I feel it's better than Krabi.

Regarding grading: IMO: 5+ in Portland = 6a in Krabi = 6a+ in Chiang Mai.

In reply to fang:

CM sounds cool...i didn't find Krabi over-graded....the odd soft one but usually on the money.....some just tend to be very cruxy ie one hard move with lots of easy stuff in between.

In reply to michel4388:

Nah, I don't think that's true. I've also climbing in all these locations, as well as other sport locations in the UK - e.g. Peak, Malham, South Wales.

The grades all seemed fairly "within the range". I.e. reasonably accurate. It's the style of climbing which changes.

In reply to michel4388:

strange. i know it's all subjective anyway, but... i've found that the grades were generally easier in krabi.


found that 5+ in portland and horseshoe = 6a in krabi
and 6b in the uk/spain = 6b+/c in krabi.

having said that, the grading does vary a lot in krabi, even between routes at the same crag but they tend to be on the easy side.

the reason i am asking is because i'm planning a trip there around end april/may. trying to decide between krabi and chiang mai.

In reply to fang:
The rock is different between Chiang Mai and Krabi even though its limestone. I think the quality of routes in Chiang Mai is really good, but there is more choose in Krabi.

In reply to rickeden:

now the thing is, i'm living in and climbing in malaysia now and a lot of the climbing we get here is inland "jungle" limestone. what i'm worried about is that it's going to be too similar to the stuff we get here.

chiang mai -> "jungle" + steep bolted limestone
malaysia -> "jungle" + steep bolted limestone
krabi -> beach + steep bolted limestone

i've been out voted by my mates and they all want to go to chiang mai.

so... is there anything you could tell me that'll get me excited about chiang mai? how's the climbing community there?

cheers.

In reply to fang: dunno about the climbing but I found the food to be some of the best of anywhere we went in Thailand - and that's saying something. The treks in to the hill tribe areas were worth doing

HTH Paul

In reply to fang: Chang Mai is a great place to stay.
One thing you should do is check out the artists in the covered markets. What these people can do with a pencil is amazing you would swear they were photo's.
If you want one done bring a photo and leave it with them. Good pictures start at around $20
Check out going to a cookery course whilst thee you will not regret it.

Kev

In reply to fang:

and i believe it's sang kran (scuse the spelling) - thai new year - coming up soon (Front end of april if i remember right. Absolutely fantastic time! City wide party day and night for a whole week, worth being there for that let alone the climbing

In reply to Kev on the road:

Just don't pay for a picture on your last night and expect the b*ggers to send it home to you! I did, and they didn't.
Funny, he never spoke much english when I called him about it. Great xmas present ruined.

I'm sure they're not all like that though.

I loved Chiang Mai, but didn't have a chance to climb there. Our best meal was the cheapest - £8 for 3 2 course meals including drinks behind the night market.

Hope to get back at end of the year as part of longer term travelling. (9 weeks til I finish work, nothing planned, nothing booked, flat to tidy - eeek!)

dcraig not logged in

In reply to fang: Chiang Mai is a great town. Friendly people, ultra cheap food, night market that is worth several visits, outdoor climbing wall near the night market, great bar area (about 10) round the back of Eagle 2, hill tribe visits, cheap Chang, ooo - everything! I'm thinking about going back there on my next visit to make a change from Krabi!

Have fun, send everyone here a postcard...

Graham

In reply to rickeden:

cheers guys. the water festival is on the 13th of april this year if i'm not mistaken, so i'll be missing it by a couple of weeks.

must say i'm quite looking forward to it now.

What luck I was about to start a thread.

1) How long could one stay entertained in Chang Mai? If climbing 5 days/week, would I be bored after one weeks? two weeks? two months?

2) How easy is it to find a partner, if arriving with a full sport climbing kit and level of around 6c/7a?

3) Do people generally stay in town or at the crags? Is there a particularly good bar or meeting place to find other climbers? Is there any kind of "climbing scene" anywhere?

Thanks much.

Whoops one more: What's the weather like in mid-May? Too rainly already?

In reply to John Blab:

search the forum archives for loads of info but ..

1) just climbing id say 1..2 weeks, but thers loads to do, go treking, cooking course, visit places etc etc

2) usually easy via the climbing shop

3)stay in town. see previous posting re palce to stay and hang out with climbers, sort of via Joshs place

In reply to John Blab:
I'd say with rest days you could spend a couple of weeks in there. The wet season isn't a problem as sometimes it only rains for a few hours and then the crag drys out quickly.
If it does rain all day you could hang out at Josh's watching climbing movies or do some bouldering.
There are also a couple of bouldering areas near the city. Ask Josh for details.
For a climbing partner go to Josh's forum and put a thread there.