James Pearson Postcards from Paradise Part 6 - 8c+ and 8b+ flash!!!
19th Feb 2012
I said the adventure would continue, and boy, what an adventure it was! 
We crossed the border to Malaysia, unbeknown to us too late for the last bus or taxi south. We were stranded, stuck, and generally felt a bit stupid – thankfully, we would soon fall on one of the most helpful people of the trip, a local policeman who would drive us around and organise everything for our unexpected stay in this sleepy little town. It turns out this kindness is not uncommon in this part of the world (except in taxi drivers) and the next morning we made the short trip to Bukit Keteri, still clueless but forever hopeful that fate, or luck would see us right. Stopping at a small “cafe” just opposite the impressive Cliff, the locals greet us with a smile and a wave as we drop our heavy packs and sit down.
“Hello, 2 kopi ice please. Oh and do you know a place we can sleep?”
James Pearson on Nix Fuer Lutscher, 8c+ Photo – Caroline Ciavaldini
It is as simple as that! Food, lodgings, and new friends – I am starting to like life in Malaysia. The cafe is run by Liza, who along with her husband, brother, mother and children, makes us feel completely at home. Lisa and the kids prepare us a perfect little nest in the shape of a mosquito net on a raised, covered gazebo, and after call us back to the Cafe for the first of many amazing meals. Food at the front, sleeping out the back, and an amazing cliff just across the road – what more can you ask for? The climbing at Bukit Keteri is world class and very unique. Bulging blank bellies of white limestone occasionally dotted with giant pockets and melting tufas make for very powerful and dynamic climbing. Routes are often bouldery revolving around one specific crux section but there are a few slightly more pumpy offerings, although they are the minority.
The most striking route of the cliff is the amazing 7b+ Belly Button Window. In addition to being fantastic climbing it is also the most obvious line I have seen in Asia – from the road it stands out like someone has marked it with a highlighter. Obviously, we made a beeline for it on day one and its quality didn’t disappoint. If there is one thing Bukit Keteri lacks it is volume of hard routes. There is almost a route at every grade from 4a to 8c+, but usually only one or two so you can quickly run out of new routes to try at your on-sight level. We decided to start to try our projects early on to give us time to work through the process before running out of other things to do. Caroline chose the amazingly intimidating 8b+ Mata Timur, whilst I decided to test my luck, and my finger on Nix fuer Lutscher – 8c+ and regarded as the hardest route in South East Asia.
Working hard routes is such a different experience from on-sighting I sometimes forget just quite what it entails. It can be quite down heartening when the first time you try a route, you find it almost impossible to comprehend how you move to the next bolt. Gradually over time you start to understand the sequence and what the route asks from you, and as your muscles and mind start to memorise the moves, the magic starts to happen.
Caroline and I both climbed our projects after a few attempts each, making a very nice finish to our little vacation. NFL felt so very hard on my first attempts, and so seeing through the entire process and learning to make hard moves on small holds in 30degrees was rewarding to say the least.
Watching Caroline figure out and then execute the complex moves on Mata Timur was inspirational; so much so that I decided to try to flash the route on our final day in Malaysia. Whilst I didn’t make it look quite as pretty as Caro, I was happy to climb fairly well – moving fast and efficiently, quickly dealing with the few mistakes for my first 8b+ flash!
With almost everything of quality in Bukit Keteri ticked, it is time again to move on. Yangshuo, China seemed like a fun option until we looked at the weather report – rain, rain, rain, rain, rain… We could go back to Bangkok or Laos for bolting, or over to Langkawi for some exploratory DWS. We could also come back to Europe a little earlier, hoping for some good conditions on the grit and getting stuck into a training regime before next month in Spain
Decisions, decisions… the only thing I am certain of is its going to be great!
Caroline Ciavaldini showing the way on Mata Timur, 8b+ Photo – Ciavaldini Collection
