Nodes in Ton Sai

Who has not heard of Ton Sai, the paradise crag in southern Thailand. Things have changed recently, but the climbing is still awesome.

The most popular crag in Ton Sai with many athletic roof climbs on excellent quality rock.

Routes start from the platform of the Freedom Bar or on the terrace up the bamboo ladder.

Tree climb, old access to 'Humanality'.

All titanium bolts (P1: 12 bolts, P2: 7 bolts).

Splits to the left about halfway up P1. All titanium bolts (P1: 9 bolts, P2: 7 bolts).

Access by the first pitch of 'Humanality'. Then left of P2. Not rebolted with titanium, old stainless steel glue-in bolts.

Could be 5, 6 or 7 piches, depending how you see the climb.

1. Start up the ladder, left of 'Cowabungalow'. Climb up behind a stalactite and traverse left to the anchor on the ledge. 1 titanium bolt, 4 slings.

2. Straight up the stalactite and right to the anchor on the cave of the next ledge. 4 titanium bolts.

3. Traverse outwards to the right. Straight up on the face. Anchor to the left on a small ledge above the 'Bird's Nest Drop' anchor. 5 titanium bolts, 2 slings.

4. Straight up into the tufas to a big belay ledge. 7 titanium bolts, 2 slings.

5. Up and right under the big stalactite formation. 6 titanium bolts, 5 slings.

6. Up the wall to the right of a big structure. 3 titanium bolts, 4 slings.

7. Old pitch that traverses left on threads. Dangerous and never climbed.

Three raps with a 60m rope on separate abseil anchors from the top of pitch 5. If you have a 70m rope, you can rap straight from the top of pitch 6 to the next set of anchors.

Trad climb, which was used to open 'Humanality'.

Unfinished project on the short wall below P1 of 'Humanality'. About 8a or higher. Now behind the small shack right of the Freedom Bar.

On the short wall below P1 of 'Humanality', now covered by the small shack right of the Freedom Bar.

Starts at the platform of the Freedom Bar. Crux is right at the start. 5 stainless steel glue-in bolts, 6 slings.

The leftmost line on the terrace right of 'Humanality'. All titanium bolts.

Shares the start with 'Cowabungalow', then right towards the small cave. Be careful with loose rock in the upper part. 5 titanium bolts, 2 slings.

Short crux about halfway. All titanium bolts.

Head up the ladder then straight up the wall, which gets increasingly overhanging. 6 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Squeezed just right of 'Viking in Heat'. In Wee's update. All titanium bolts.

Do not skip the crux by going right towards the anchor -- only 6b then and risk of breaking the fragile tufas. All titanium bolts.

Climb the fixed ladder and fixed ropes to get to the upper terrace.

The leftmost line on the upper terrace. Shares anchors with 'Silkcat'. 3 titanium bolts, 2 slings.

Shares the first two clips with 'Tom Yum' and anchors with 'Big Guy Loosing the Cat'. 2 titanium bolts, 2 slings.

Big moves on big holds. Getting polished, but still worth climbing. Shares the first two clips with 'Silkcat', then up right. 3 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

5 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

All titanium bolts.

Starts on the very right edge of the upper terrace. Start is a little hard to read. 5 titanium bolts, 4 slings.

Routes start right off the beach below the roof.

Crawling through the corner on the very left side of the roof. Careful, anchors not equipped with rings. Do not lower through the slings! 1 titanium bolts, 6 slings.

Stiff start up to the cauliflower, then traverses right on the rails. Nice moves, though very polished. All titanium bolts.

Shares anchors with 'Dragon Ball' and 'Old Chicken Makes a Good Soup'. All titanium bolts.

Very Dynamic climbing. Good fun! Shares anchors with 'Spanish Wreck' and 'Old Chicken Makes a Good Soup'. All titanium bolts.

Original grade 8a. Upgraded after breakage of a stalactite. Shares anchors with 'Spanish Wreck' and 'Dragon Ball'. 6 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Original grade 7c. Upgraded after breakage of a stalactite in 2006. All titanium bolts. Share anchor with Tidal Wave.

Very popular and very polished, short and powerful with a tendency to spit you off with sloppy beta. Make sure your belayer is paying attention otherwise you could end up with a mouth full of sand. All titanium bolts. Share anchor with Hang Ten.

Original grade 7b+. Upgraded due to a broken hold. Titanium bolts.

Old route just right of 'Baby Gorilla'. Never climbed. Old stainless steel glue-in bolts.

Old route just left of 'Tantrum'. Never climbed. Old stainless steel glue-in bolts.

The Tonsai beach classic! Get on it. All titanium bolts.

Old route just left of 'Cafe Andaman'. Never climbed. Old stainless steel glue-in bolts.

Climbs straight up the obvious tufa, then traverses left. Finishes in the small cave next to the anchor. Top section can seep after rain. Titanium bolts.

Old route, sharing the start with 'Ton Sai Playboy', but going up into the left roof after the 3rd clip. Rusty expansion bolts, anchors seem to have been removed. Cannot be climbed anymore.

Very popular, easy start to pumpy roof climbing. Just keep moving all the way to the anchors! Very fun! Take the left line after the fourth bolt, or you end up in 'Playboy Connection'. Titanium bolts and slings. Holds broke recently making it a bit harder.

Linkup. Start at 'Ton Sai Playboy' and continue right after 4th bolt to join 'Mafia Connection'. Often confused with 'Tonsai Playboy' as this route is missing in most guidebooks. All titanium bolts.

Starts just left of 'Love for Travelling', finishes on the anchor just right of 'Ton Sai Playboy'. Tricky start, pumpy finish. 5 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Finish variation after the early crux. Veers right after the 3rd bolt and joins 'Love for Travelling' just below the small roof. All titanium bolts.

Very nice line that, for some reason, gets much less attention than the popular and always busy 'Lal Bab' or 'Babes in Thailand', although it is just as good. A bit of an awkward stemming start to get onto the thick stalactite. Some nice 3D climbing towards the small roof, which is actually easier than it looks once you've sorted out the beta. All titanium bolts.

Shares the first bolt with 'Germans in Tights', then left. All titanium bolts.

Shares the first bolt with 'Just Dusit', then right. All titanium bolts.

Another great line that is often overlooked and sees by far not as much traffic as many of the "classics" in the roof. Boulder out the start and then fight the pump to the anchors. All titanium bolts.

The route has been closed and the crux bolts removed (see comments). The original description is preserved for posterity:

Awesome route !!! A little bit psycho when you must fall on the tufa. Seems to be 6c for people under 1.70m, for the other 6a+. But, you should do this route!!!

Original grade 6a+. Upgraded after breakage of a huge stalactite in 2004. Good climbing other than the broken section, which wrecks thew flow. Still fun and still worth it. 6 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Popular climb on pinches and jugs. All titanium bolts.

All titanium bolts.

Early crux, followed by big powerful moves on jugs in the first half, then much easier and less steep to the top. All titanium bolts.

4 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

Too much fun for one climb. All titanium bolts.

All titanium bolts.

All titanium bolts.

Slash grade 7c+ according to youtube.

A real classic of the area. Originally graded 8a and still is if you go direct, nowadays most people head out right to the large tufa midway essentially avoiding the crux. All titanium bolts.

All titanium bolts. Share anchor with Czech Open.

Start variation to the right of 'Cara Cangreso' and share anchor. Joins on the headwall. All titanium bolts.

Another Tonsai beach classic! Starts on the crack right of 'Czech Open'. All titanium bolts.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

Starts 5m right of 'Gaeng Som Pla', straight through the steep grey roof into the structured rock below the anchor. 5 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Traverse following the crack and the ledge on the roof. All titanium bolts.

Traverses left along the upper crack in the roof, right and above 'Speak no Evil'. All titanium bolts.

The furthest line to right behind the bushes. Traverses left along the edge of the roof. All titanium bolts.

Area above Dum's Kitchen, tucked away in the jungle. Use the bamboo ladder to access the area. Where the BASE jumper's trail goes left, move right towards a roped handrail which takes you to the ledge

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

No road access. From Ao Nang hire a longtail boat to take you around to Ton Sai. Boats only operate during the day.

Steep beach side routes on top quality rock. The easy graded climbs are starting to get polished.

Leftmost line, short and bouldery. Shares anchors with 'Wadumori'. All titanium bolts.

8a+/b in the guidebook. Shares anchors with 'Full Crimp Milk'. All titanium bolts.

All titanium bolts.

The steep face right of 'Society of Gravitational Studies'. Stainless steel glue-in bolts.

Shares the start with 'Wake & Bake', then left onto the face. All titanium bolts.

Climbs the obvious corner crack. Shares anchors with 'By Way of Deception'. All titanium bolts.

Starts right of the 'Wake & Bake' corner, shares the same anchor. Original start is hidden behind the shack. All titanium bolts.

As the name suggests, jump for the jug to start. All titanium bolts.

Shares the start with 'Jumping for Jugs', then right to the anchor of 'Fips, der Affe'. 5 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Shares the first meters into the corner with 'The Day After', then left over the bulge to a technical balancy finish. Shares the anchor with 'Nair Nawn'. 2 titanium bolts, 4 slings.

Shares the start with 'Fips, der Affe', then straight up, sharing anchors with 'No Onion, No Garlic'. 4 titanium bolts, 2 slings.

Up the tufas, then left to a pumpy finish. Shares the last two clips and anchors with 'The Day After'. 4 titanium bolts, 4 slings.

Old bolts and slings, overgrown. Cannot be climbed anymore.

Pumpy start through the overhang left of 'Schlingel Max'. Easier finish. 1 titanium bolt, 4 slings.

Share start with Schlingel Max, then turn left to anchor of No Name.

Interesting crux on polished rock. 5 titanium bolts, 1 sling.

Starts just left of 'Schlingel Moritz'. Technical start, easy middle section and a big move above the bulge. Don't cheat at the start by going too far right. All titanium bolts.

Hard start for the grade, especially when you're short. All titanium bolts.

One pockety tough crux towards the middle, then smooth sailing - top is a beautiful and much easier slab. All titanium bolts.

A true Tonsai beach classic. Starts on the tufas right of 'Good Medicine'. Titanium bolts.

Squeezed in on the steep featureless rock between 'Reminiscence' and 'Mai Mee Fahn'.

Hard crux right at the start to get up to the tufas. Afterwards easier, but continuous. Reachy both at the start and towards the anchor. All titanium bolts.