Go back to Cat Ba Day 1.
Go back to Vietnam. The Black Slab.
Next day we headed for the main dish of the trip: a route on Big Ben Tower, an imposing formation that overhangs on one side. No junk boat this time but an hour long ride in Chu Bien’s little basket boat (our shuttle from the previous day) through some heavy chop instead. Pretty exciting. As the water was pretty rough, we were not able to belay from the boat but instead had to jump onto & scramble up into a small stance on the tower to get things going. We did a combination of Clockworks to Westminster routes totaling 4 mostly short pitches and clocking in at about 5c or 6a (multiple variations exist). This tower was also the reason we would haul 2 sets of very large cams through Vietnam for two weeks. This was motivated by inaccurate beta; you don’t need anything larger than a #4 (if that). Got our first taste of the very sharp limestone on this one but the summit with its 360 degree pano of Hanla Bay was fantastic. Pain in the ass rap down an overhanging face requiring some acrobatics & on-the-fly inventiveness.After lunch, which included a few shots of happy water (notes of corrugated iron and a slight diesel finish), we headed out to the Black Slab formation and its only route called Ross’s Closed Project (2 pitches, 5a). This one is exposed to the open sea and so the water was very rough. We doubted that our driver Chu Bien would be able to deposit us onto the slab. He proved us wrong – with a bit of acrobatics and a lot of good timing, we were both able to jump onto a small stance at the base of the slab without capsizing the little boat. Quick 2 pitches – easy but very aesthetic – and we were rapping back down into the boat. Again, some good timing and driving skills on the part of Chu Bien ensured that we were sleeping back in our hotel room that night and not on the tower.
Photos
Shirley and Andrew looking for Chu Bien’s boat in the morning (Nov. 2018).
There he is (Nov. 2018).
Departing the port (Nov. 2018).
A basket boat piloted by Chu Bien’s son I think (Nov. 2018).
Chu Bien Tower…we’ll be back in a day or two (Nov. 2018).
Approaching Big Ben Tower after a pretty nauseating ride (heavy chop) in Chu Bien’s basket boat (Nov. 2018).
Big Ben Tower. Clockworks to Westminster climbs the large, somewhat brushy dihedral system just right of the light colored, overhanging face on the left. OK climbing but stellar tower and position (Nov. 2018).
Shirley scrambling up to our stance on Big Ben Tower while Chu Bien is trying to keep his boat from smashing into Big Ben (Nov. 2018).
The Ha Long Bay limestone bites back. Learned to be a bit more careful after that (Nov. 2018).
Our ride, safely away form the limestone (Nov. 2018).
Leading the first pitch proper of Clockworks belayed by Shirley and photographed by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Chu Bien and Andrew on the basket boat (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on pitch 1 of Clockworks. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Arriving at the first belay on Clockworks (Nov. 2018).
Short but bushwhacky pitch 2 of Clockworks (Nov. 2018).
Starting up pitch 3 of Clockworks. This is an easier variation which was recommended to us. The other variant is a crack on the left which looked good except for the razor sharp texture of the rock (Nov. 2018).
Leading pitch 3 of Clockworks belayed by Shirley. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Shirley starting pitch 3 (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on pitch 3 of Clockworks belayed by yours truly. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Views from high on Big Ben Tower (Nov. 2018).
Shirley topping out on pitch 3 of Clockworks. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Shirley topping out on pitch 3 of Clockworks (Nov. 2018).
Starting up Westminster. We joined this route on our pitch 4 (Nov. 2018).
Looking back on our ride (Nov. 2018).
Higher on the summit pitch (Nov. 2018).
Looking back at Shirley from the lead of Westminster’s final pitch (Nov. 2018).
A slice of Ha Long Bay from the summit of Big Ben Tower (Nov. 2018).
Sharp as fuck (Nov. 2018).
Shirley topping out on Big Ben (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on the summit of Big Ben Tower (Nov. 2018).
Extending the rap anchor on the summit (Nov. 2018).
Slinging some shit for the traversy, overhanging first rappel off the summit of Big Ben Tower (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on the first, pain in the ass rap off the summit of Big Ben Tower. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Big Ben Tower (Nov. 2018).
Big Ben Tower and a small floating settlement (Nov. 2018).
Another floating settlement (Nov. 2018).
A concrete boat (Nov. 2018).
Shirley overwhelmed by the quantity of food being served for lunch on the junk boat (Nov. 2018).
Chilling on our private junk boat (Nov. 2018).
Teamwork while pulling up the anchor (Nov. 2018).
Typical day in Ha Long Bay: climb some in the morning, overeat for lunch, chill and let the food stick to the ribs while the boat moves to the area of afternoon climbing (Nov. 2018).
Chu Bien’s boat in tow (Nov. 2018).
The Black Slab formation. Ross’s Closed Project route climbs the face on the right visible in profile (Nov. 2018).
Complicated landing on The Black Slab in some heavy chop (Nov. 2018).
Established at the base of the Black Slab formation. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Starting up Ross’ Closed Project route on The Black Slab (Nov. 2018).
Starting up pitch 1 belayed by Shirley. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Leading pitch 1 belayed by Shirley. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
View from the first belay inside the chimney (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on pitch 1. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on pitch 1 with Andrew and Chu Bien chilling on the boat (Nov. 2018).
Nearing the first belay. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Shirley arriving at the first belay (Nov. 2018).
Starting the lead of pitch 2 of Ross’s Closed Project. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
A close-up of the start of pitch 2. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Easy but aesthetic crack climbing on this one (Nov. 2018).
Looking back from the lead of pitch 2 (Nov. 2018).
A beautiful face. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Summit views (Nov. 2018).
Shirley starting up pitch 2 (Nov. 2018).
Views from the summit (Nov. 2018).
Shirley on the enjoyable pitch 2 (Nov. 2018).
Nearing the summit of The Black Slab. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Shirley topping out on the route (Nov. 2018).
Setting up the rappel on the summit of The Black Slab. Photo by Andrew (Nov. 2018).
Shirley starting the descent (Nov. 2018).
And dealing with the double rope clusterfuck (Nov. 2018).
Mr. Chu Bien, our boat driver, chilling out (Nov. 2018).
Oh yeah!
Ha Long Bay traffic (Nov. 2018).
Hiking back to the beer after another successful day in Ha Long Bay (Nov. 2018).
