Trip Report
"Gwei Lo" Lion Rock Hong Kong
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Sunday December 18, 2011 3:40pm
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gf
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About the Author
gf is a climber from Vancouver Canada. |
Comments
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MH2
climber
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Dec 18, 2011 - 03:42pm PT
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I liked this trip report!
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Dec 18, 2011 - 03:43pm PT
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bump for the crags, very nice.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Dec 18, 2011 - 05:12pm PT
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Wow! looks like excellent rock and a great route. You are looking mighty fit for an old guy Greg. I'm guessing all the haze looking over the city is grade A smog.
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gf
climber
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Author's Reply
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Dec 18, 2011 - 04:28pm PT
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Mike-i was sucking in my gut on all the shots...and yes, that is the detritus drifting around from one of the most densely populated places on the planet-the pearl river delta. Improvements have been made in many areas, but the rate of car growth never mind grand-fathered smokestacks keeps it pretty grim. Good thing Canada is leading by example re kyoto? That said, i'll burn in hell for the time i spend on a plane-i try to defend it on grounds that i fly economy-but one of my biz class friends claims economy has a larger footprint due to the methane the passengers give off from the crappy food served in the back. who knows?
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
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Dec 18, 2011 - 04:44pm PT
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Great bouldering too, and pretty girls. I'd just move there if I was you. T4P^
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Dec 18, 2011 - 04:50pm PT
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Great stuff! I always wondered about those cliffs but never had time to get up there. thanks
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Tami
Social climber
Canada
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Dec 18, 2011 - 05:03pm PT
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They serve "food" on airplanes still?
Great tr. Hope yer back in Van fer the winter break.
Or we'll get that weird winter surf at Amblesnide :-D
Nice tr o holy eater of food.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Dec 18, 2011 - 05:49pm PT
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Thanks for the TR. I'd heard of the climbing in HK, but didn't really know anything about it.
As to the pollution in the PRD -- a lot of industry is pulling out of Guangdong and moving inland. I don't know how much of an impact that will have in the Delta, but things will get uglier in places like Chongqing and Chengdu. We're seeing huge increases in air traffic into and out of both those places as electronics manufacturing moves there.
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Dirka
Trad climber
Hustle City
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Dec 18, 2011 - 05:50pm PT
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Bump!
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Jim Brennan
Trad climber
Vancouver Canada
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Dec 18, 2011 - 07:21pm PT
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There's that "you can't catch me" smile again ...
Back to work, slacker !
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
WA, & NC & Idaho
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Dec 18, 2011 - 08:09pm PT
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Nice, thanks!
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reddirt
climber
PNW
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Dec 18, 2011 - 08:13pm PT
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excellent TR... didn't know there was such nice rock in HK...
The route name is a bit, er, funny. I had to check if it was "that" gwei lo. Hee hee
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Bruce Kay
Gym climber
BC
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Dec 18, 2011 - 08:31pm PT
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hooda thunkit. it looks like nice stone too
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Dec 18, 2011 - 08:39pm PT
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An "eye-opening" TR.
I clicked on it with some ---hesitation.
No problems.
I have had my eyes opened for urban Hong Kong climbing.
I remember reading about the Brit Expat hill-running club there.
They seemed a pleasant blend of outdoor-suffering and urban-drinking.
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Powder
Trad climber
the Flower Box
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Dec 20, 2011 - 06:52am PT
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Nice!!
To think that I've never expected there is any mountain or crag except for skyscraper in HK to climb (based on my very superficial impression), this is absolutely cool!
Thanks for sharing.
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matthewtraver
climber
Hong Kong, living in London
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Dec 20, 2011 - 08:59am PT
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Hey,
Thanks for posting this up. Really cool to see something Hong Kong related as this was (is?) once my home turf... Gwei Lo was my first multi-pitch route way back when and my first roped solo... so it seems its a special place for many of us ;-)
If you ever want some info. on other areas and some lesser visited spots drop me a line. There's tonnes of other stuff to be had!
Have a good one,
Matt
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JSpencerV
Trad climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Dec 20, 2011 - 10:53am PT
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pretty cool.
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bpope
Trad climber
Sunnyvale, CA
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Dec 20, 2011 - 11:03am PT
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So far, I've only had a couple days of bouldering when I'm out there for work...one of these days weather/partner will line up. Way to go!
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Dec 20, 2011 - 01:06pm PT
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Great TR!
Hong Kong is a trip, with one of the most populated places in the world on one side of the peak and mostly undeveloped on the other.
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Storm Bate
Trad climber
Conwy, UK
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Dec 23, 2011 - 03:21am PT
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Great report, it brought back many memories as I've done that route numerous times when I lived in Hong Kong. Your hero pose does come immediately after the crux when you've got the 'thank god hold' in your right hand. It's a crying shame they've bolted it, but that's the way they are. My partner and I climbed a trad route to be watched and followed up by a pair who bolted it!
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Dec 23, 2011 - 07:40am PT
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Good looking route!
I spent my senior year of high school at Hong Kong Int'l School. Lived in Kowloon. Harbor City.
Not a great place for a high school kid.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 23, 2011 - 08:12am PT
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Most entertaining! So can they not afford gear in Hong Kong or haven't
they figured out how to use it?
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gf
climber
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Author's Reply
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Jan 1, 2012 - 10:14am PT
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Hi Reilly
A crag called waterfall rock features splitter crack climbing and the need to have widget placing skills -things have evolved. I'll try to put together a trip report for this area if the planets align.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
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Thank you for the very enjoyable report! I spent two years in HK and it's where I really amped up my climbing (my small kids have now put the kabosh on that! Ha ha!).
Your comment about HK and misguided bolt placements is spot on. I have never seen so many baffling bolts anywhere. Almost random. Actually, probably some really were random, especially down in Shek O.
You brought back some fond memories for me. Where else in the world do you take a subway to go climbing (and then a bus, mini-bus, or taxi)? I checked out Lion Rock once, but didn't do any routes there. Did have a few adventures on nearby Fei Mo Shan Peak though. Tung Lung is awesome, especially the random ferry to get there (more of a barge!). Plus a million other little tiny micro-crags you had to bushwhack through jungle, poisonous millipedes and killer butterflies to get to for a five minute climb. I loved it all of course. Thanks again!
M'goi sai!
Eric
P.S. Also remembering the absurd deals I got on equipment. I got my Kaukulators there, brand new, for something like $87 (and no sales tax, of course!).
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kc
Trad climber
the cats
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Anyone else out there thinking 'Balls of Fury' (the movie). "What do pandas eat, anyway?"............
Looks like an awesome route/awesome rock. Good job!
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cowpoke
climber
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thanks! always a treat to read beyond North America tr's...and that rock looks really nice
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KaiPL
Mountain climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Apr 20, 2012 - 10:07am PT
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"Gwei Lo" doesn't really mean "grey ghost". It is a pejorative term for white people.
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Bruce Kay
Gym climber
BC
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Apr 20, 2012 - 10:30am PT
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cool. Our indigenous people say "white man" or "honkey".
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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Apr 21, 2012 - 03:15pm PT
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Back in the early 1980s I was posted out to Hong Kong, and lived in Kowloon Barracks, beneath, and a couple of miles away from Lion Rock. My wife and I did this in it's original form, a Very Severe route with a lot of aid, though we dispensed with the vast majority.
But, the notable groove used to have an exotic tree at the top, and a root, about 1 1/2" in diameter hung down the length of the corner and was used as an occasional hand hold.
It was all very overgrown and dirty, and had a number of rotting pegs scattered about on each pitch.
All these routes were the work of the local RAF Mountain Rescue team, and were climbed in 'big bendy boots'. The original description is scanned below for posterity. Sadly I have no photo's of the groove, tree or route.
I recall we were up there one weekend and followed three local Chinese lads repeating a route they had put up on the steep East face of Lion Rock not long before. We chased them up it it, an much to their annoyance we dispensed with a couple of nuts they used for aid. They were particularly irritated by the fact that Bronwen did it free. (They shouldn't have been, they had no idea how good she was!) The line seems to have been consumed by bolt routes claimed in the 90s! It was ever so!
I also freed a single pitch aid route, Marathon, on Kowloon Peak, in front of a local climbing club. I got a round of applause!
We didn't really do much in our two years though, I was much involved in the local squash scene and the weather, with it's extremes of heat and humidity, and the dirty nature of the crags made it all a bit unappealing. Looks much better now though!
Unfortunately not many photos have survived, but here's a few from BITD
Regards,
Steve
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gf
climber
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Author's Reply
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Apr 21, 2012 - 08:56pm PT
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Steve
Thanks for the historical post -super interesting
Heres' a bit more on Gweilo for those interested:
gweilo
(n.) vaguely pejorative Cantonese slang for foreigner. Translations differ depending on who you ask. Apparently it was once meant to mean "foreign devil" (an extreme insult), but usually these days is said to mean "ghost man" due to white foreigner's pale skin and is used as a general term to mean foreigner. Gweilos get upset about being called this. Chinese think it's no big deal.
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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Apr 21, 2012 - 11:42pm PT
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Hey GF,
Damn! - knew that and meant to add it - Doh!
:-)
Steve
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Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
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Apr 22, 2012 - 12:10am PT
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We used to refer to ourselves as gweilo's all the time. "Vaguely pejoritive" is a good definition. We were odd creatures to the locals, indeed! Kind of like Akroyd and Steve Marting in that old SNL skit "What.. the hell.... is that?!!!!" :-)
"I don't know, but don't put your lips on it, kid!"
Eric
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kc
Trad climber
the cats
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Apr 22, 2012 - 05:57am PT
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Ahhh....now 'Balls of Fury' makes sense!
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