Adventure Nomad

Adventure Nomad

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Ice-Climbing in the Shuangqiao Valley

Stupa, Shuangqiao Valley.  Nikon D300, 12-24mm, 1/80, f/22, ISO 200.
This is probably one of Climbing’s best-kept secret. The Shuangqiao Valley (Shuang Qiao Gou) in the Siguniang Mountain area (Si Gu Niang Shan) is pristine in winter. The hoards who visit the park during the rest of the year are noticeably absent when the thermometer plummets, and the many waterfalls in the park freeze over, making it a winter paradise: clean, quiet, and beautiful.
 
Camping in the Shuangqiao Valley on the way up Daguniang Peak (Da Feng)
There are at least 60 known climbable waterfalls here, but there is little published information available. What little information is available is mainly in Chinese, as most of the climbers who visit are Chinese. The few foreign climbers here either have Chinese friends or engage a guide.
One guide, Lim Kim Boon, specializes in foreign climbers. Most of his clients come from Singapore, where he is best known. He is completely bilingual, speaking English and Chinese, and will negotiate the beaurocracy of Chinese permits required to climb here. He can also arrange transport and accommodation from Chengu, the nearest city.
Back to School: lessons at the guesthouse in the Shuangqiao Valley.
A typical program from Kim Boon includes 4 days of guided ice-climbing with beginners instruction, and costs US$994 (S$1400). He can also include a 3-day climb of Daguniang Peak (Da Feng) 5025m for an additional US$215 (S$300).  The price includes transportation to and from Chengdu, food and lodging.
Climbing Daguniang (Da Feng) 5025m
Kim Boon resides in Cardiff, U.K. and spends each winter climbing and guiding in the Shuangqiao Valley. He can be contacted at kbclimbing@gmail.com and more information on his website: www.kbclimbing.com
Lim Kim boon in the Shuangqiao Valley

8 comments:

Jungle Runner said...

Looks amazing

Jungle Runner said...

Looks amazing

Nice post said...

Hi there , great post and nice pictures on it.however, may i kindly know how did you shoot most of the pictures esp the last 2nd pic where the sun was glaring towards you and your subject, wont it create a silhouette when you focus your subject? Just wondering as most of your shots turn out well exposed.

Great job.

Unknown said...

I used the pop-up flash on the camera to fill the shadows with some light. If you look close, the barrel of the wide-angle lens has created its own shadow from the light created by the pop-up flash, and this falls onto the ground in front of Laura.

Nice Post said...

Oh ,yeah , i saw that upon closer look after you mentioned. I would say great use of flash to compensate for the wonderful scenery at the back at the same time your subject. By the way , is that a 10-20 you are using?

Cheers

Unknown said...

A Nikon 12-24mm, actually...

Anonymous said...

Cook ,Thanks for the inputs dude.

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