Mai Pen Rai ( no problem)

When Sue and I came here in 2009 I had my eye set on a climb on a wall called the Defile. The climb was Mai Pen Rai and rated at the French grade of 6a+. depending on which guide book you use that's around a 19 in Australia.

The hardest outdoor lead I've ever done was an 18 in the Blue Mountains and I had the advantage of trying it on top rope, then pre placing the drawers before climbing it.
This was going to be different, a ground up ascent, no prior attempts. So in 2009 sue and I waited till low tide,as you can't access the wall till then, we got round there, I roped up and then the heavens opened and we were saturated. We ran out of time and not till today have I had the opportunity to come finish what I started.
So once again we waited till low tide and headed round.



The climb is the right wall in that gap where you see light coming through.

The first clip is only a meter from the belay stance but if you fall you would drop about three meters into a rocky hole lower down, so the belayer has to tether in to catch the climber.


The tether is a thread drilled in a rock and you can see the drop off to the left. Because of this drop, this climb is serious from the get go and I couldn't reach the first bolt to pre clip. Fortunately it would appear I was not the first and sitting nearby was a stick which I believe has been used before for a safe first bolt stick clip.



Here is Susie with the safety first stick. Once this was done it was a delicate move to the second clip and then the real fun started. The rock was so sharp I nearly severed my ukulele playing callouses and so desperate I fell around 5 times, taking bark off every time.
Luckily for me with a bit of tape, my lucky stick and a true Macgyver moment, I was able to pre clip the rope and drawer on the third bolt, meaning I could complete the move without the fall fear. I came back down, rested and completed the climb.



That's my rope hanging behind me on the climb. The rest of the climb was lovely and really long affording me a great view over to the beach. Wow what a way to tick a climb.
Sorry if that's a whole load of waffle for all you non climbers, but for me that's a project completed.
So now it's tools down and watch a movie on HBO.



Note the climbing gear and ukulele are sharing a chair.

Uke complete me!

Location:Railay, Thailand