Rock-Climbing Northern Thailand

Entrance to Windy Cave

Crazy Horse Buttress is the 'other' Sport Climbing area in Thailand.  It's near Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand, located about 700km north of Bangkok.  It's less well known than Krabi to the South, but no less in quality.  In fact, if you are a moderate or beginner climber, this may be the better destination.  There are about 90 routes from grade 5 to 6c (the French system of grading is used here), and only one at 8a.  The remaining 25 or so routes are in the 7s.

Making our way in to the crag.  Groomed trails, nice huts to rest. leveled and clean belay areas.... All thanks to the CMRCA and it's volunteers!

The main driving force behind climbing at Crazy Horse is the Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures on Ratpakinai Rd in Old Chiang Mai.  The climbing guide book, transport to and from the crag, bolting, climbing club and other services are set up by them.  It's your first stop if you are new to climbing here.

A class doing a Tyrolean Traverse across Windy Cave.  Brave kids.  It's a long way down!

The best time to go is during the cool and dry season from October til February.  It starts to warm up in March, but remains dry til about May, and is still ok for climbing.  A 60m rope will get you up and down most of the climbs, but a 70m rope is best and you will be able to link up one or two climbs with a short second pitch.   All routes are sport, and a rack of about 14 - 16 medium to long quickdraws should suffice.  Bring mosquito repellant.

68-year-old 'Doc' Kung making his way up the 6a Chimney at Tamarind Village

Best climbs to start off with?  I recommend making your way up to 'The Rooftop'.  There are three climbs there: a 5b, 5c and a 6a.  It's a great introduction to the area and the view from up there is great!

Kai Li starting up a 6b on Buddha Buttress

If you are staying in Chiang Mai and you don't have your own transport to the crag, you'll need to book a seat on the CMRCA shuttles.  CMRCA uses three songthaews, which are pick-ups with a cab for passengers.  A songthaew can take up to 10 passengers, so if you are concerned about getting a seat, book a place the evening before.  It costs 250 Bhat and comes with lunch.  Pick up is in front of the CMRCA at 0830 and leaves the crag at 1630 in the afternoon.  Transport takes about 45 minutes each way.

The strange and the wonderful... I have no idea what this is, but there are a lot of mosquitoes and bees in the area. 

 Where to stay?  There are a couple of guesthouses close to the crag, but options are somewhat limited.  Most people stay in Chiang Mai and shuttle up to the crag.  There are lots of places to stay in old Chiang Mai, depending on your budget.  Most will be walking distance to the CMRCA and lots of places to eat.

Kai and Doc having dinner at the night market in Old Chiang Mai

A Dog Named SanDeE

SanDeE with my wife, Laura, during happier times

Cancer sucks.  It doesn't matter if it happens to a human or a dog.  It not only sneaks up and robs one of life, it does it in a way that causes much pain and suffering.  And so it was with SanDeE...

Taking a break out on the trail

SanDeE was named for the color of her coat, but spelled after Sarah Jessica Parker's character in the 1991 movie, L.A. Story (Big S, little a, little n, big D...).  When she was a young pup, she would fall down a lot.  She fell off a ledge at the back of our house (which gave us a huge scare because probably a 10' (3m) drop) only climb back up shakily.  She also fell into our fish pond, and that's when we learned that Golden Retrievers are natural swimmers.  We suspected hip dysplasia,, and a visit to the vet confirmed this.  A couple of expensive surgeries failed to fix the problem, and on our regular runs, she would lag behind, eventually dropping out of sight, but always appearing a few minutes later, soldiering on and wearing her silly, happy grin.

We had bought SanDeE from a pet store who had obtained SanDeE from a local breeder.  When we informed them about SanDeE's hip dysplasia, they offered to 'replace' the puppy.  But with SanDeE's fate uncertain, giving her up was not an option.

Out for our evening walkie with the doggies

The years passed.  She loved to swim, and swam almost everyday.  In the fish pond, when we had a pond.  Then in a pool when we moved and had a pool.  She never really could walk for long, and eventually we settled on a routine.  When she'd had enough, she'd just stay put and munch on some flowers, and we would come around to pick her up on the way back.

It's SWIMMING TIME!!!

Other than the hip dysplasia, SanDeE had the temperament and character of a perfect Golden Retriever.  She was brave, gentle, loved children and other dogs, and would comfort anyone in distress.

When we brought SanDeE in to see the vet, we had thought she had some sort of indigestion.  But no, it was cancer and the cancer was too advanced to treat and the vet advised us to put SanDeE to sleep.  It was a decision we were not prepared to make, and so we brought SanDeE home with a few days worth of painkillers.  When those ran out, we brought SanDeE back in and the vet was happily surprised to see her looking so well.  This time, we brought back two weeks worth of painkillers.

Santa and her reindeer.  Hehe... Doggies will do anything for their masters!

SanDeE lived for two more weeks beyond the initial diagnosis.  The painkillers helped, and in those two weeks, she had only four bad days.  Two of those bad days were right at the end.  She couldn't eat, not even her painkillers, couldn't move, and the last night she coughed up a lot of blood.  We spent her last day doing he favorite thing in the whole world: Car rides!  Each time we drove somewhere, we would open up the back of the SUV for her to experience something new.  New sights, new sounds, new smells.  She was interested, but we could see that she was in pain.

And when it was time to end her suffering, we kept SanDeE in her happiest of places, the back of our SUV while the vet did her work.  I locked gaze with SanDeE until she closed her eyes for the last time.

SanDeE, world's sweetest doggie, born 18 January 2003, went to doggie heaven 21 October 2013