– Words by Maciek Klimowicz –
Why would you climb a rock wall in Vietnam? “Because it’s there” the famed English mountaineer George Mallory would have said. But if climbing is not only about scaling a wall, but also about being the first one to do it (and Mallory – had he survived his ascent of Everest – would have surely confirmed!), then Vietnam has a lot to offer.
There are a number of things Vietnam is famous and infamous for – the cuisine, the war, the coffee, the traffic… This list goes on and is by no means complete. Especially that in this dynamically developing place, new things keep popping up and making it to the “top ten best things about Vietnam” all the time. In the previous issue of NAA, we told you the story of Marou – artisan makes of inherently Vietnamese chocolate, who are making waves in the sweet universe of desserts. This time however, let’s talk about something much harder (rock hard in fact) than silky smooth chocolate. It’s time to climb rocks.
Now, don’t beat yourself up if you’ve never heard about rock climbing in Vietnam. Up until recently few have, and neither have we. That is until we met Jean Verly of VietClimb, one of the companies behind the current growth spurt of Vietnamese climbing culture. Verly is a Frenchman, he comes from Paris, but having spent the last 10 years in Vietnam, he had a chance to observe (and add to) the current explosion of rock climbing popularity in the country.
“We can divide the recent history of rock climbing in Vietnam into two distinctive stages,” he tells NAA when asked for a bit of a background story – a story, that apparently doesn’t reach very far back. “The first stage took place between 1996 to 2005 and is centred around some short-term expeditions by foreign climbers, who were supported by specialized media to explore and bolt new routes and document their journeys,” Verly tells us.
It’s at that time that Vietnam has been placed on the climbing map of the world by some true climbing legends. Among them were Todd Skinner – a famed American free climber – and Lynn Hill – one of the best female climbers in the world – both of whom visited the picturesque Halong Bay. 1996 saw the legendary Canadian rock climber Scott Milton establishing the first sport routes in the country, together with another legend, Paul Piana – an event that didn’t escape media attention, and got covered by the National Geographic Magazine and brought further exposure to Vietnam climbing. “About the same time, Greg Child (Australia) and Andy Parkin (UK) did a climbing movie for the BBC in the same area. In 2003, Arnaud Petit (France) and his team bolted three new routes in Halong Bay and wrote an article for ‘Grimper’ and ‘Vertical’,” says Verly. Add to this the 2005, Tim Emmett and Klem Loskot’s Deep Water Soloing expedition, which was included in Josh Lowell’s famous climbing movie production “Dosage 3” and it’s no wonder anymore, that it’s at that time, that rock climbing took roots in Vietnam.
But while those first seeds may have been planted by short-term guests, the sport is now more and more a domain of people who call Vietnam their home. Verly explains: “From 2005 until now, the sport has been developed by long-term residents as the first operators such as VietClimb in Hanoi, Asia Outdoors in Cat Ba and Vertical Academy in Saigon opened.”
And while, as Verly tells us, rock climbing is not yet as popular among Vietnamese as football or jogging, there are definitively more people aware of it. “Until a few years back, there wasn’t even a proper word for rock climbing in Vietnamese,” he adds.
But now the country is waking up to a new era, where leo núi thể thao – rock climbing and leo núi trong nhà – indoor climbing, are quickly growing in popularity. “There are more people practicing it and an increasing media coverage. The three operators mentioned before are mostly involved, and we organise combined actions on a regular basis” explains Verly, while reminding us that Vietnam is still at the beginning of its development, with about 200 sport routes in the great outdoors and only two indoor climbing gyms and the same number of outdoor climbing walls. “But it’s what makes it exciting: going in remote areas where the rock is not yet polished and avoiding the queue in popular crags!” he exclaims.
And as it’s expected of a newly discovered land, Vietnam provides many such thrills, with a number of recently created routes that are still very much under development. One such new sector is Huu Lung, created as recently as in 2012. “Huu Lung is located 90 km North-East of Hanoi and offers 60 routes from 5C to 8A. Most of them are 30m high with 2 multi-pitch (70 and 105 meters high, the longest route in Vietnam),” says Verly, adding that this karst peaks surrounded crag in the middle of remote villages has won the prestigious Millet Expedition Award in 2015.
Those untraded routes are strong magnets for international climbers always on a lookout for new challenges. Another one are annual competitions, organized by VietClimb and Vertical Academy. “They are a great opportunity for us to invite climbers and route setters from abroad and it’s good for the local community to meet new climbers, to exchange ideas about training, tips about climbing crags in South-East Asia or just to get psyched!” says Verly. And such inspiration is surely still needed in a country, which does not yet have a national climbing team (though it’s under discussion with the Ministry of Sport and the South-East Asia climbing federation).
A reminder that it’s just a beginning of a steep climb for climbing in Vietnam comes from VietClimb’s website, which proudly states that the organization goal is “to raise up the foundations of a solid climbing culture in Vietnam.” When asked about those foundations, Verly explains that they rely on good and safe practices, ethics and a solid local climbing community. “It takes some years to build, but we are not in a rush,” he says.
And rightly so, after all rock climbing is a sport for the patient ones. More than a race to the top, it’s a slow struggle against your own weaknesses – both of body and mind. But if you’re thinking of climbing in Vietnam, than just a little bit of hurry may be advisable, if you don’t want miss your chance to be one of the first ones, in a country on its way to the top.
Find out more on vietclimb.vn
