Defulan 谷關德芙蘭攀岩場 Climbing

Defulan 德芙蘭 is one of Taiwan's newest lead climbing crags. The cliffs are above the Defulan hiking trail德芙蘭步道 in Taichung's Guguan 台中市谷關. Please join the Facebook group: 谷關德芙蘭攀岩場 for more details, route information, and updates.

As of this writing (2022/06/18), there are currently 43 sport and trad routes, with some as tall as 36 meters. And many more routes are still in development. A lot of the climbing is slab and technical, with some crack. Grades range from 5.4 to 5.12

Development began in August 2021. Much work has gone into the crag. Constructing a rock climbing crag from scratch includes clearing away necessary plants, making trails, building platforms, clearing out dangerous rock, and then everything else involved in route development. Development is still on-going, so we're in a soft-opening stage.

The crag will either be very busy, or hardly busy at all during weekends. We're sort of in a soft-opening stage to help with crowds coming in, but also reduce hikers and passerby entering the crag.

Weather/Conditions:
All the walls face southeast. So they get some sun all morning and early afternoon. Fortunately Frontier Right and Final Frontier are covered by tall trees, so they remain predominantly shaded. Frontier Left and Racketeer just get a little sun on the ground when the sun is high, and sun on the upper half of the wall during the morning/early afternoon, (but they do have some tree cover too). Loftier (currently under development) pretty much gets full sun all morning/early afternoon with little shade on the ground. There can sometimes be breezes, but not strong wind. Winter has been great, coming into spring it's warming up, but still very comfortable. Summer is hot, but bearable, just stay out of the sun. Guguan is at higher elevation (at the base of mountains), and there's a large river that flows through the valley.
If the wall is wet, it's rather unclimbable and gets slippery. The rock has great friction when it's clean and dry. Choosing shoes that do well on edges and smears will give you an advantage. Also a narrow toe to help fit inside and utilize pockets & cracks.

Local Hazards:
Don't forget your mosquito repellent, seriously, there are a lot of them in the summer months. But very few in winter. Racketeer can sometimes have some black midges too.
Don't forget your helmet. There are steep slopes above most of the cliffs with loose rocks and dirt.

Gear:
Rock is pretty solid, just don't place shallow placements. Rock quality can vary from concentrated quartzite to higher blends of sandstone/quartzite, which starts to affect quality a little. A single rack should do, but doubles will ensure better options if you need the same size again. 0.1-#4 should be good, but at least doubles of .4-#2 is my suggestion if you don't want to finagle some placements. Some passive, but not much. Current trad routes are 20m at their highest. 14 quickdraws will do for most routes. But if you plan to do routes at Lofiter, then you'll need 20 quickdraws.

Anchors/bolts:
All bolts are 316 stainless steel (unless stated otherwise). There will be quicklinks/rings on the anchors for lowering/rappelling. 

Accommodation:
2 fee-based campgrounds are super close. And many others types of accommodation are in the area. People also camp in the parking lot too, there are no signs prohibiting it.

Guidelines 注意事項：1 . 德芙蘭正在開發中。岩壁上仍有許多危石待清除，步道也正在修建中 Defulan is still undergoing development. Cliffs are still being cleared of dangerous rocks, and trails are still being made. 2. 岩壁頂端為陡峭土坡，很陡很滑，且有大量石頭，強烈建議不要採取高繞方式架Top Rope,絕大多數Anchor位置難以在岩壁頂伸手勾到。弄掉石頭可能對下方岩友帶來危險。It is strongly advised not to go above the cliff when there is anyone below. There are many loose rocks that can easily slide down the steeper slopes and off the edge.3. 工作中的路線會以警示帶和告示牌標示，路線上仍有許多危石，如非必要請不要進入工作區,若你想穿越警示帶，麻煩大叫開發者，讓對方知道你的位置 Please do not unnecessarily enter a cliff area that is undergoing active development. Warning tape and signs will be posted by the developer to warn of potential rockfall and loose rocks being thrown down. If you must go up past a warning barrier, you must yell up to the developer.4. 若路線上掛有固定繩，請勿將引繩拉掉，也暫勿攀登，路線尚未開發清理完成 Do not climb a route with a fixed rope or if it has a "Undergoing Development" tag. The route hasn't finished development and is unsafe to climb.5. 若路線第一顆bolt太高，岩場有擺放掛繩器 Some routes have a high first bolt that is to be stick-clipped. There are some stick clips available at the crag6. 請保持適當的戶外倫理及行為  Adhere to proper outdoor ethics and behavior. 7. 請將垃圾帶走，如廁請使用停車場的廁所。 Do not leave trash behind. There is a public bathroom at the parking lot, please use it.8. 岩場下面有一個露營區和熱門的步道，請保持低調，我們跟山友共享這片山林。 There is a campground and hiking trail nearby. Please be respectful regarding noise, and exposure to dangers.