Great exotic destinations over Xmas?

Mike Lane wrote:This thread really ought to be kept going. It could morph into some kinda TripAdvisor kind of thing for climbers. Roadtrip destinations are one thing, but hearing beta on places like South Africa and Thailand from real people is fascinating to me.

I'll toss out Kalymnos in Greece and Arco in Italy as possible winter rock destinations...(both could be nippy in the shade).

I hear Kalymnos has an airport now, but, not sure the service outside the main tourism season (summer). Arco is pretty easy to drive to from north or south on the autostrasse (Austria/Munich or Milan). Both have gobs of climbing, but, Kalymnos would be primarily sport, while Arco has both sport and trad.

Thanks, Jeff Barnow, and John J. Glime for the great info. re; Mendoza, Argentina, and surrounding area. The trip is materializing for early January. : )

You could very easily not leave Mendoza in early January and have a great trip. Oh lordie, the wine is good.

If you are down there anyway, see if you can get a cheap trip to Easter Island. I did that when I got sick on Aconcagua, and I had a much more memorable time on Rapa Nui than I did on Aconcagua. If you go out there, check out the Mahina Taka Taka for a place to stay - Mama Lucia is one of the nicest women on the planet, and you'll feel like family in a hurry. It's good to speak a bit of Spanish there if at all possible - though Rapa Nui is better and not that hard to learn.

iorana - hello, good bye, welcome
maururu - thank you
kai riva riva - good food

Thanks for the great info., Andrew! We are going there for a wedding, but plan to squeeze in some adventure too. I'm recovering from an ankle injury, so any heavy duty trekking or climbing with long approaches is out, on this trip.

G

I'd like to take a moment to thank each of you for the responses and beta. Hopefully someday I'll get a better chance to use it all. Presently, I am informed that I will be heading to S.E. Asia on business for December anyway, with exact dates uncertain, so planning an adventure trip and lining up a partner will be difficult.
Looks like it will be some pan-pacific climbing for me, but probably more like Thailand or Malaysia again!

Perhaps we can keep this as an ongoing resource.

In the winter, I'd put in a plug for rock climbing in Frey, near Bariloche, Argentina. Two alpine basins rimmed with little steeples of rock--most routes are on spires, 1-5 pitches, with amazing summit views of the wet green Chilean Andes to the west, and the dryer brown Argentine pampas the other way. Little refugio that makes pizza. Rolo wrote a reminiscence of his formative years there in a recent magazine, Rock and Ice #156/Jan 2007 which has a few pictures to give the idea. I've been there twice, is how much I like it.

Yeah reding that article made me want to get down there!! That place looks beautifull!!

Well, time for the annual "bump" for this topic. I've got Dec 20-28 free after working through Chrismas in 2007 and then going to Borneo.
In 2008 I was complpetely F'd with my knee.

So in 2009 I want to go. Most of my partners have Xmas plans with family, but I made that newyears for myself and will have Xmas off. Check the international climbing partners forum if you are interested too.

Meanwhile, any new stories beta or area discovered that people want to toss out there for December ideas?

Sooner or later you have to check out El Potrero Chico. The dates you mention are good because it doesn't get crowded here until right after Christmas but the weather at that time is a crap shoot. It could be 85 and sunny or 45 and wet. Either way you'll have a great time.

Hand's down I would pick Cayman Island Sport climbing. Most everything is bolted, climbs from 5.8 to 5.12+ with 140ft cliffs right on the ocean's edge. You have to bring all your own gear because there is nothing to buy on the island.

Potrero Chico. Non-Stop flights with Frontier to Monterrey from DIA. The choice is easy.

The Wimmera of Victoria -- Arapiles and Grampians -- is a great climbing destination but it tends to be quite hot over Xmas and IMO, it's too much travel for the amount of time you have. LA to Melbourne is a 15 hour flight and Araps is a 3.5 hour drive from there. Figure a day and a half each way, that leaves you five days, not enough time to get more than than a fleeting taste of both areas.
Even if you just focused on Araps, I don't think five days is enough to do it justice. For me, Araps is not really a greatest hits sort of place but shines more in depth of quality -- the few three star routes aren't that much better than the many one star; in other words, travel considerations aside, it's not the sort of place, unlike say Yosemite or Indian Creek, that you can really appreciate during a single short visit.

Arco hands down. Palm trees are all over town, it never gets that cold, it's a climbers town, the news stand/cigarette store sells guide books. Great food, great wine, great people. And the climbing? Just fantastic. Short hard sport routes, enormous slabs, all on great limestone. Fly to Milan and your just a two hour drive away.

Kamchatka peninsula

Hank Caylor wrote:Potrero Chico. Non-Stop flights with Frontier to Monterrey from DIA. The choice is easy.

Actually, I thnk those got cancelled with the recent restructuring, but it's looking likely that I'll take this option. Is easy and cheap. Plus, mellow and tall options are there.

EVS wrote:Kamchatka peninsula

Those are really impressive shots, but won't it be a tad severe up there in December?

I am considering a trip to el potrero chico this December as well. Any new safety concerns, or should I in the words of Spike Lee, not believe the hype?

Cabo!

Some good hard bouldering, some greasy hard sport climbs, crazy rock jumping into the bay, good snorkeling and mucho mas cervesa!

Have you been to Kamchatka EVS? I've always wanted to do some ski mountaineering there but information about traveling there is hard to come by.

ill through out a plug for Turkey, since its the only int. climbing ive done, and it was fantastic. Great limestone sport climbing from 5.8 to 5.14+, and december is just getting into prime climbing season but it could be wet. hundreds of routes in the mountains, on the beach, dws, and a great culture and people as well. Ive been around Antalya but i heard good things about Izmir as well.