Dali Area Rock Climbing

Adam Kritzer, the main developer of crags around Dali, wrote a guide to sport climbing venues in 2014. Much of the information contained in these MtProj pages is from that guide, with some modifications and updates. Here’s a web link to the Chinese version. Adam also wrote a shot article in GoKunming magazine in 2011 with general descriptions of the three sport areas and good access info (as of ten years ago, so use with care). Daliwood bouldering is newer and not included in Adam’s guide.

Currently (2021), rock climbing in Dali Prefecture consists of three sport areas and one bouldering venue. The first sport climbing crag developed was at Guanyin Temple in Binchuan County, about 30 km (straight-line distance) east of Dali Old Town. The first six routes were developed by local climber Ma Yun in 2006, with two others added in 2011-12. 

Recognizing the vast potential for rock climbing in this part of Yunnan, Adam Kritzer founded ClimbDali in 2008, with the intention of developing rock climbing in the greater Dali area. To date, most of the expense of route development has been absorbed by the Climb Dali team. The first six routes were established in December of that year near Shuanglang village across Er Lake northeast of Dali Old Town. By 2012 a total of 40 sport routes were developed at two Shuanglang crags. Both Guanyin Temple and Shuanglang are limestone crags typical of the vast Yunnan Plateau, which stretches for hundreds of km to the east. 

The third sport venue to be developed around Dali is in Shimenguan Gorge in Yangbi Country on the other side of the Cang Mountains west of Dali Old Town. Unlike the other two, this area is hard gneiss associated with the Cang uplift. Nineteen routes were developed by the ClimbDali team during 2010-2012. The area lies in the Cangshan Mountain World Geopark managed by the local government. Access to climbing has always been tenuous from the very beginning, but now (2021) the 19 routes in the gorge are permanently off limits as per Yangbi County Tourism Bureau officials.

All Dali sport routes were cleaned during development, but these crags have not seen heavy traffic. Loose rock is always a concern. You should first test holds that appear to be loose before pulling on them. Proceed through sections of chossy rock carefully, and most importantly, wear a helmet!

Access

ClimbDali has worked tirelessly to head off any potential access issues at all of our crags. To ensure that open access remains the case, please be respectful. Don’t litter (pack your cigarette butts out!), don’t endanger non-climbers, and consider that an injury caused by poor judgment will jeopardize climbing for everyone. They especially worked hard with Yangbi Tourism to allow climbing in Shimenguan Gorge, which worked for a few years, but ultimately failed. At present there are no similar access issues reported for Shuanglang and Guanyin Temple. 

Weather 

The best time of year to climb in Dali is the winter, when it is sunny almost every day and temperatures are mild. It is still possible to climb during the rainy season (June – September), since temperatures are still tolerable, and rain is interspersed with sun. While it’s not practical to climb anywhere in Dali during the rain, most of the cliffs will dry in a few hours if exposed to sun. 

Route Development 

With a single exception, all of the routes in Dali are sport climbs, protected by fixed bolts and rappel anchors. All routes bolted by ClimbDali were equipped with M10 Stainless Steel bolts/hangers and are quite reliable. While there haven’t been any issues of bolt failure to-date, you should always be vigilant about checking bolts for signs of weakness/looseness before clipping them. Regardless of what you may have heard, it is stupid to blindly trust all bolts. This is especially true at Guanyin Temple, where the first six routes were bolted using different bolting standards and locally purchased bolts. Again, thoroughly inspect all bolts and anchors before trusting your life to them. If you are unsatisfied with an anchor, consider back it up with an extra piece of hardware. 

Some of the anchors have two fixed carabiners that you can clip into and descend without untying. Always make sure these carabiners are locked before lowering down, and DON’T TOPE-ROPE THROUGH FIXED HARDWARE, USE YOUR OWN GEAR AND SECURE A TOP-ROPE ANCHOR DIRECTLY INTO THE BOLT HANGERS. Other anchors contain chain and/or carabiners with stuck gates, which means that you will need to untie before being able to successfully lower. Only competent climbers should attempt this. 

Bolt spacing, location, and grades may not conform to your expectations. Therefore, you may want to consider carrying a maillon ring, “bailer ‘biner”, or other gear in case you aren’t able to make it to the top of a route and don’t want to abandon more expensive gear. 

Equipment Required 

You should prepare a standard rack of sport gear in order to climb here: 60-meter rope (50 meter is possible though may prevent you from climbing a few routes), 14 quickdraws, slings (for clipping into anchors when threading rope in preparation for lowering), harness, belay device, extra carabiners, and a helmet are essential to safe climbing in Dali.