Tonsai: Climber’s Paradise

21. November 2008 bramski

So, I’ve done a lot of cool stuff, and met some really amazing people here in Tonsai the last 4 days. Tonsai really is this amazing mixing pot of great and cool climbers as well as backpackers. I’m having a great time.

So, deep water soloing is a fun and kind of spooky sort of thing. The majority of holds in DWS are super slick, and once you start to get high up on your route, it takes some getting used to to be ready for that 30+ foot (or in the case of two guys in our group 100+ foot) fall into water, which can hurt if you fall awkwardly. Once you’ve gotten in the water once, there’s no getting around it, your hands are going to be wet for all future roots, and your shoes will be soaked. The experience in general with the sunset trip was spectacular, afterwards we drank a whole bunch of beer, had freshly caught live fish and squid, as well as watched an amazing fire show by Wee’s climbing. I’ll soon have some video to follow this when I return as well. Thanks so much for suggesting this Mikhaila!

Today was a much more relaxed day, an off day before I hit some hard and longer stuff for my last day here. So, as per Nate’s suggestion I took the one day scuba course here, which pretty much blew my mind. The instructor here, Peter Brouckner, was just phenomenal. I can hardly believe I have never tried this before, so getting PADI certified in the Puget Sound just got added to this year’s tick list.

And for tomorrow, Humanality, and Sunday, off to Tonsai. Cheers everyone!

Sphere: Related Content

Climbing, Travel | 0 Kommentare »

Go directly to Tonsai, pass Bangkok, collect 10k Baht

17. November 2008 bramski

After what essentially boils down to about 2.5 days of travel, I finally arrived here in Tonsai. It only took 3 flights after all, and I feel truly like I’ve stepped across the whole globe. One across the Pacific to Seoul, the next to Bangkok, and the next to Krabi after a 10 hou layover in Bangkok, yum. I unfortunately passed out through the second half of the leg to Seoul and all the way to Bangkok and was utterly unable to sleep upon arriving in Bangkok and waiting for the flight to Krabi. Another bus ride + long tail and I got to Tonsai at about 2pm yesterday. I believe that’s the longest time I’ve spent in commute yet, I passed out utterly at 10pm last night… and still woke up at 530am, damn jet lag.

Railay and Tonsai are simply amazing looking. The outlying islands look like floating pebbles covered in incredibly lush green tees. Most of them are narrowest right where they meet the ocean, so they have the appearance of being balanced inredibly precariously right on the water’s surface. The limestone formations are so wild that they look like someone’s 5 year old took a mound of clay and just slapped it onto these sandy shores. There are just enormous overhangs, huge stalactites and giant caves sticking into these rock faces. They are all colored in varying shades of ruddy orange and gray, so I can’t wait to get on the rock with my friend Roger from Colorado in just about an hour.

I have just gotten incredibly lucky with timing! Mikhaila suggested I do deepwater soloing with Wee’s climbing school, and as it turns out, once a month the tides are high enough to make a trip at sunset. That day this month happens to be November 20th, and yours truly grabbed a spot on his boat first thing! I hope for some amazing shots doing DWS on these amazing cliffs, ha ha! Talk to you all again soon.

Sphere: Related Content

Climbing, Travel | 0 Kommentare »