Hong Kong Climbing
Oct 1st, 2009 | By putra | Category: Featured Page, Hong KongI didnt exactly have a good experience climbing in Hong Kong. In fact, I didnt have any experience at all. The weeks prior to my trip there I made numerous attempts at contacting the climbing community there which yielded no result. Emails went unanswered and requests for more information was also to find no response.
Trying to connect to the community I tried going to the YMCA with a climbing gym in it and perhaps hook up with some climbers there. I managed to get some directions to Beacon Hill which is just off the Kowloon Tong station
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Taxi driver dropped me off at some juvenile correctional facility and the guards were very surprised and confused when I walked up to the reception. Despite its british past, people are not too keen to speak english here and I always find that I get passed from one person to another when speaking in english. I would have expected that most people here speak english, it being commonwealth and all. Apparently not. The moment you open your mouth to speak english, people become immediately more conservative.
The same happened at the climbing site of Beacon Hill. Climbers werent all too forthcoming about someone new being around and werent too keen to chat. So i didnt manage to do any climbing in Hong Kong. But I did take some pictures. From the juvenile correctional facility (who’s reception guy didnt know anything about any climbing areas) I walked behind the centre and up this little road toward the hills in the hopes that I might find some climbers there. I was walking for some 20 minutes when I spotted up ahead in the distance a rock face and some climbers. Getting from the road to the climbing area took me quite some time of getting lost in unclearly marked trails that disappear into nowhere. Under the really hot summer sun of Hong Kong, I was severely dehydrated by the time I got to the base of the rock and found the climbers.
If anyone has gone to Hong Kong for climbing, I would appreciate some more pictures and perhaps any words regarding it as I cant relate a first hand experience myself. Any contributions welcomed.
Regards,
putra
Thanks aClimer,
Thats a really great personal account. I hope others will have better luck hooking up with the Hong Kong climbing community. No one seems to respond to emails. If you know someone who is part of the community who is willing to help, that would be great if we could have his email for our next trip there.
Regards,
putra
I’ve climbed at several crags in Hong Kong. I find that the biggest challenge to climbing in Hong Kong is finding the crag itself . If you’re approaching a crag for the first time, you’ll realise that you’ll spend half a day just getting there and finding it.
The definitive source of climbing information for Hong Kong can be found at (where else but) http://hongkongclimbing.com. As you’ll notice, information on directions is not exactly the best… perhaps someone should put in their own notes or GPS coordinates next time. I don’t like taxis so I always have to enquire with the locals on the public buses to take from the nearest MTRs. But it can be done… with a bit of determination… ask and ask and ask and ask…
Central Crag is probably the easiest to get to. Get to Bishop Lei International House and walk from there. The climbing at Central is moderately easy and nice together with a “nice” view of the apartment opposite.
Beacon Hill is a long 45 minutes uphill walk from Shep Kip Mei Station, but the website indicates that you can take a cab and shorten the access time to 10 minutes. The routes here are short and technical.
Lion Rock is a 1 hour uphill trudge. Worth the walk even if you don’t climb. Just remember to bring enough water. Finding the entry to that “dirt path” is hard. Keep a lookout for some not so obvious old slings at this dirt path. The entire crag was in the sun when I was there and we finished up all our water just getting there…
Don’t try Mount Stenhouse unless you’re keen for some REAL adventure. It’s a battle just getting there. By then the war is over…
Shek O is boring. Don’t waste your time.
Tung Lung Island is supposedly the best sports climbing in Hong Kong. I probably didn’t find the right crag when I was there and ended up real bored.
Have a good time if you get to go again.