January 17th to the 22nd: Full-time Climbing at Chiang Mai Crazy Horse Buttress
Day 96 to Day 101
Staying at Jira homestay is yet another home away from home run by a an extremely friendly, generous and helpful couple. We pay 300 Baht per day for our own bungalow which has a huge porch with a rug and pillows for hanging out, quiet fans both inside and on the porch, a bug net over the spacious bed, and a t.v. with a DVD player, and free wi-fi connection. If you don’t have your own vehicles they have bikes to borrow and a yellow scooter with a side car that you can borrow free of charge for local trips to the market 2kms away or the hot springs just 8kms away. We split our meals between Jira and the local market and estimated that the cost is about the same since the portions at Jira are large. However, since we have a large front porch, we generally cook breakfast here with our MSR stove.
The walk to the crag is about 12 minutes from Jira. If you are only coming to climb, this is the place to stay. If you would like night life and shopping, Chiang Mai is a better option.
Crazy Horse Buttress is exceptionally well run. Many of the belay stations are covered in gravel and have been leveled. The improvements to the belay stations and the groomed trails are not only for convenience, but also prevent erosion and ensure that climbing in the area is sustainable. This also goes for the bolting which is for the most part quite safe, with the exception of one 6A+ Kee Gai (a.k.a. Chicken Shit, which had a long run out at the end and an expansion bolt that I tightened with my finger tips before clipping in). Most of the routes have bolts at regular intervals whether you’re on a 5B or a 7A. The majority of the climbs use stainless steel glue-ins, which will last for the next 50 years. Although we are here during peak season, we have seen very little crowds and normally share an entire area with no more than a couple of other climbers.
Climbing styles are greatly varied, and in one day you can have powerful juggy overhung tufa, technical thin crimps and balancy hand jamming cracks. We have felt that we have had to re-learn some technique after being in Tha Khek where many of the climbs tend to be on the powerful overhung side. In our limited climbing experience this is one of the best places that we have climbed.
