Nodes in Kathmandu Area

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley. The town sits at an elevation of approximately 1400 metres above sea level.

Village Dollu near city Pharping near Kathmandu district Hattiban.

If you want a day trip or longer escape out of Kathmandu, a fun hike up some Nepali single track and sport climbing on limestone crags this is the place for you... Hey you could even stay at a monastery and develop your meditative abilities so you can relax on some of the more run out clips.

There are 4 different cliffs, mostly single-pitch climbing routes, all bolted for sport climbing with bolted anchors at the top of each route.

Good potential for shady steeper climbing.

A great little sunny crag at the end of the valley.

Easy but quite run-out.

Fun new route, following the central chimney in the middle of the crag. Best bolted and least run-out route on the crag.

Easy but run-out.

Mostly 5c with a 6a crux.

Sunny crag with beautiful views over the Dollu valley.

5c ledgy climbing with 2 6a cruxes.

at least 3 bolts

at least 4 bolts

at least 3 bolts

Can be made easier by using some good holds a bit on the left side of the route

There are at least two major variations on this route: one keeping to the right and one keeping to the left. The one to the right that follows the arrete like feature to the top is probably the easiest route on the whole crag, maybe 5b. The one to the left is somewhat trickier, maybe 5c+

at least 6 bolts

This limestone wall stands tall on a hillside over looking a valley of Buddhist monasteries and village farms. For the most part of the day it is in direct sun light which gets rid of the morning bugs and may help with keeping the leaches away from your belay partner as you whip off your new project. Not many travelers know about this spot but it can be frequented by Nepali guides on their days off, making it a nice get away from the crowded streets of Kathmandu.

The rock is gorgeous limestone with with tons of huecos and finger pockets. Bolts are mostly bomber though mind that there are some bolts that are loose or have been hammered flat; top bolts are present on all lines. Usually 7-8 draws are sufficient. Runouts are not bad.

Video. Video.

Without using the huge handholds away and right.

As the name suggests.

Route branches left below the final grey tufa with a separate bolt on the left side of the tufa. The anchor is well above the grey tufa. Shares the anchor with the right variation.

Pass the final grey tufa to the right for this harder variation. The right side of the tufa has a separate bolt. The anchor is shared with the left variation and is well above the grey tufa. The lower route can also be fully climbed on the face to the right of the bolt line, avoiding several of the good pockets on the left side. 6c+ at 8a.nu.

100m up into the trees, you will see a large crag on the hillside. As the name suggests, parts of the crag are soft and crumbly. The first climb was done with the use of trad gear, but other routes have been climbed with the aid of pitons. Tree belays at the top, retreatable abseil advised, look out for loose rock on top out. Wear a helmet.

A bolted route that starts at the left hand edge of the black face.

From the small groves with evidence of fire, climb up and right to gain the leftward trending crack. Follow this up to the base of a small tree. Go down and left underneath the tree and ascent the rock directly above it to a small niche. Gain composer for the bold movements to the top.From here head to the right of another tree under an overhang. Gain the overhang and move right and pull up to a small cave, left and up to top out. Possible belays on the way up , be careful of the rock as it is lose and may not hold a seconds weight. Double ropes adviced as the first ascent was done with a single and the rope drag was immense. First ascent was done with just nuts and slings, the grade will be decreased if other types of protection are used.

Start to the left hand side of "Thread Flintstone", just past the gully. Work your way up beside the gully using the trees as anchor points, from the second tree traverse around to the left, head stright up past the first small over hang to gain a small cave. From here go up past the next small over hang and traverse right to gain top out. From here its a scramble to the top of a rock formation once ontop find the piton and tree for use of anchor points. This climb was completed using nuts and slings, the use of cams would drop the grade of the climb.

Start a few metres right of "Swiss Cheese" and a small gully. Climb the crack line in between the overhangs and up to a small ledge with a vertical crack leading up wards. Follow this up and right to finish in between large flakes. For a direct finish climb up the vertical crack to a small niche and cave move left around the cave and up with some interesting moves to finsh just up and right of the tree in the gully.

Location? At ukclimbing they are situated at (27.623057, 85.277917) below "Wensleydale Crag", but there are no boulders (checked 11/2022). The text description there is: "Located about 400m past the boulder at Pharping village, 50m off the main road. There are 2 boulders here, Mukki Madness is the first boulder and Deesa Bhato the smaller boulder near the rock face. At certain times of the year this area is farmland. Do not disturb the crops growing and be nice to the locals. If there are corn stalks drying on the side of the rock do not move them. Ask if they can be moved first and always replace what you have moved. Situated behind Mukki Madness, Deesa Bato is a small crag, where sit-starts are required to make any good routes. The south-facing area is used as the public toilets so it smells, but some good climbs round that side; just dont fall off!" The boulder descriptions mention also a bridge and a river?

Start at the middle of the boulder, work you way up to the out crop, traverse left on the ledge, then finish of by heading right over the tuft of grass.

On the southwest facing arete, start with right foot on sloping ledge, reach up for the first jug, move up the arete and finish with the steps at the top.

Up the clean slab just left of the pill of crops on the boulders black face. Up to the arete and traversing right to top out.

#SD Located next to the northeast arete. Lay back the first few moves, reach up to ugly holds, finish off by getting your left foot high and ruck up.

Starting from the closest point of the boulder to the back wall. A bridging exercise to gain the top of the boulder.

#SD 1m right of "Smack the Donkey". Smear with small handholds. Well excuted move to gain the top avoiding the line of grass just below it.

Start just left of a bridge over the river. Smearing under the overhang, step up traversing left. Finishing just left of the top block.

Located about a meter to the right of "Mossy But Not Moist". #SD with right hand high and left hand round the out crop, work your way up to the ledge and mantleshelf to gain finish.

Nagarjun, also known as the Rani Ban (Queen's Forest), which is home to pheasants, deer, monkeys and a couple of military posts. It is one of the last significant areas of untouched forest in the valley. There are 19 climbing routes from grade 4 to 7b overhang climbing including multi pitches of 65 meters to single pitches at 12 meters. The cliff is broken up into 4 separate faces. Most of the climbing is slightly slabby to vertical, and the routes would be considered moderate difficulty.

Nagarjun Forest Reserve is in northwest Kathmandu, just outside of the ring road. The main entrance to the reserve, Phulbari gate, is about 2km north of Balaju, which is about 5 kms from the center of the city. There is a fee to enter the reserve and like everything in Nepal, foreigners pay a premium. Foreigners pay 250 NR, whereas locals pay 10 NR. There is also a charge to bring in a car/motorcycle/bicycle 100/30/10NR. You will have to pay and register with the attendant before you are allowed to enter the park. The park is open 7am-7pm during summer and 7am-5pm in winter.

In addition to rock climbing, many people visit the park to hike to the summit for the great views of the valley. A winding unpaved road and a much more direct footpath lead to the summit (2095m), which is a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site (the reserve is named after the Buddhist saint Nagarjuna). There's a small shrine at the summit to Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche in Tibetan) and a viewing tower offers one of the valley's widest mountain panoramas, stretching on a clear day all the way from the Annapurnas to Langtang Lirung, via Machhapuchhare, Manaslu and the Ganesh Himal (a plaque at the bottom of the tower identifies all the peaks). There are also grand views of Kathmandu and its valley laid at your feet to the south, assuming you can see through the smog and pollution. It's possible to make an enjoyable two-hour cardio-hike up to the summit from near the main gate.

Video.

First route on the far left side of the wall. A good warm up. Anchor is just below a large tree at the top of the pitch. Furthest route to the left on the wall. Has a fresh 1 painted in yellow and green at the base.

Another good warm out route. Second route on the wall. Have a #2 painted at the base and is the obvious bolt line to the right of the painted #1.

One the left face, third line of bolts from the left. Follows a left leaning crack that felt a bit slippery in spots.

On the left face near a lighter colored crack from water run off. Route 5 follows that stain directly, route 4 is the bolt line up the face to the left with shared anchors. Slightly more challenging than the 4c to the left. A few tricky and slippery spots.

On the left face. Follows the lighter colored rock up the water run off groove. Very slippery rock from the water run off, particularly before the first bolt. Gets easier with more features near the top. Shares anchor with route 4.

On the left side of the rock face. The darker colored rock just to the right of a lighter colored water run off. A #6 is painted at the base. Possibly the hardest route here. Slightly overhanging, slippery and relatively blank face to the right of the water run off on the left side of the wall. 1st bolt cut? May need to stick clip to reach the upper bolts. Lowest bolt may be cut, stick clip probably a good idea for this one.

On the left middle face, the left most of three bolted lines. Has a large pocket near the first bolt. For some reason, butterflies seem to like this pocket. On the left middle face, left most of the three. A nice pocket but poor and slippery feet, especially after your shoes get a little clay on them from walking around the base! Get much easier after the lower crux.

Directly above the Number 8 painted on the wall. Nice climb.

One arms length to the right of the number 8 painted on the wall. Nice features, favorite route on this wall.

First route right of the three routes with 7 and 8 painted below them. Pleasant route with a couple ways to pull the crux.

Follows a broken crack in the lower angled bowl to the left of the chimney and right of the harder routes on the middle left face. 3m to the left of a larger tree growing part way up. In the center of the broad face/ crack about 5m to the left of the chimney. Easy crack with great holds and one tricky spot near the last bolt.

Two routes left of the chimney. Easy low angle to a few moves just before the anchors.

You can only enter the park before 2 pm, if it is later they will tell you to come back tomorrow.

For foreigners the guards wanted 4000 rupee a person to climb.

Can't miss it. Look for the big chimney. This is probably the most distinct and fun route in the area. Start at the base of the prominent chimney. The bolts for this route run along the right side. Stem your way up. You need to climb up to clip the 4th bolt (works best of you extend this one), then move down a bit and traverse left. The next small, bulging section is the crux. Follow on through to the easy climbing. There is one more small bulging section to climb through right before the anchor.

The narrow face right of the chimney and left of the arete. Climbs to the left of the arete and right of the chimney. Probably best done as a top rope after climbing the chimney ("Route 14") since the bolts are mostly on the other side of the arete shared with route 16. Anchor shared with route 14

You can only enter the park before 2 pm, if it is later they will tell you to come back tomorrow.

For foreigners the guards wanted 4000 rupee a person to climb.

4+4 bolts. From the chimney, walk downslope to the right face. Route 15 and 16 climb the arete on the right of the chimney. First pitch of route 17 heads directly up the face. Gets you above treeline to see Kathmandu and Swayambhunath at the second anchors. Totally worth it. Second pitch is the crux pitch

You can only enter the park before 2 pm, if it is later they will tell you to come back tomorrow.

For foreigners the guards wanted 4000 rupee a person to climb.

You can only enter the park before 2 pm, if it is later they will tell you to come back tomorrow.

For foreigners the guards wanted 4000 rupee a person to climb.

Nagarkot lies in the hilly zone of Nepal, surrounded by the most impressive and grandiose summits worldwide.

Sportclimbing 6a to 7b upt to 25m at 2200m elevation.

Pictures. Pictures.

A couple of routes in this area but worth the trip for a day's climbing. Comlicated access due to its proximity to the army training area. Climbing is not allowed.

A couple of nice boulders. Good for a weekend visit with friends, just bring a tent and a sleeping bag. There are small shops and Dal Bhat available close by. More info at http://www.astrekclimbingwall.com/

(27.83383, 85.240247)

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#SD Topo.

(27.83346, 85.241524)

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Kakani is (so far) the closest possible bouldering area near Kathmandu. It is still in the making of and in need of route cleaning and developing. Approach is a slippery and steep downhill. Ask directions and company from Astrek Climbing Wall in Thamel (http://www.astrekclimbingwall.com/).

Looking to scrub some moss, stumble through a thorny jungle and get a FA? Well this is the place for you... that is if you have some time to kill in between treks or during your busy life in Kathmandu. It is unclear how much rock is in the discovered area but it looks as though there will be a few multi-pitch routes as well as numerous boulder problems in the coming years. Like all places in Nepal the routes will be bolted but that might prove to be a challenge as the sandstone tends to be a little weak in some areas (so climb with the intention of flashing or you might loose crucial foot holds if you repeat attempts.)

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(27.822112, 85.26675) V5+ at mountainproject, 7A at 27crags. Crimps, a jug, a sloper and a pinch culminating in a big move up over a roof. Top out is over the roof but it just might turn into an entire pitch climb in the future. Location: Center at the base of the Kakani wall.

#SD under the lip with a right hand crimp. Move up to a shelf and keep moving to the second shelf and finally the top out. LOcation: Head down the winding trail from the Kakani main wall passing a few small boulders until a clearing with an obviously cleaned face on the left.

Kakani lies 29 km northwest of Kathmandu on the road to Trisuli. From the hill-top, excellent views can be had of Ganesh Himal, Himalchuli, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and Gauri Shanker. This has one small climbing rock with 6 routes. The rock is only about 20 meters, but quite challenging. There is also an outdoor climbing wall in the Mountaineering park nearby.

A lot of small to huge boulders in the river valley above Sudarijal, see pictues. Some lines are looking good, but need brushing and pads. Not sure if it is worth the effort. I could not find the places from the 3 videos. Chhango Camp was closed 11/2022, but there are signs with rock climbing and "boldering" at the entry.

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