Hi there,

I have plans for climbing in China this summer and I am looking to speak with anybody who has had previous experience planning trips and climbing within China (whatever type of climbing) - however, I'm particularly interested to speak with individuals who have had experience climbing in untouched areas establishing new routes.

Also, what is the best way to contact the Chinese Mountaineering Association? I am looking to speak with somebody about obtaining permits and asking general info. about climbing in China.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

You can post up here or email me directly at matthewtraver@hotmail.com

Cheers,

Matt Traver

My experience has been with TMA (the Tibet branch of CMA). Peak permit fees are exuberant and don't follow any logical pattern. They may claim that a peak has not been climbed to collect higher fees. Going trhough a reliable local intermidiary familiar with the procedures may be a less painful option.

Hope this helps
Bill

matthewtraver wrote:I have plans for climbing in China this summer and I am looking to speak with anybody who has had previous experience planning trips and climbing within China (whatever type of climbing) - however, I'm particularly interested to speak with individuals who have had experience climbing in untouched areas establishing new routes.

Also, what is the best way to contact the Chinese Mountaineering Association? I am looking to speak with somebody about obtaining permits and asking general info. about climbing in China.
Matt Traver

Contacting CMA is just ONE way to get permit to climb in China. These days local MA's (e.g. TMA) also have the power to issuing permit. The competition between CMA and local MA's has made CMA a better service provider than before. But these days local MA's have become the power-that-be and with almost unckecked power they often don't play by the rules. So I think foreign teams should contact CMA because the CMA are more regulated and, with competition keeping them in check, they are reasonable to deal with.

web site of CMA (all in chinese. oh well)
http://cmasports.sport.org.cn/
http://www.sport.org.cn/dengshan/
here is a fax number you could try
+86-10-67117809

TMA's website
http://zt.tibet.cn/t/xzdx/

If big mountain (7000m+) and Tibet is not what you aim for, paricularly if you want to climb walls for challenging routes at lower altitude whereas keeping a low profile is possible, there is another option -- just come in and climb.

Thanks for the replies.

mh - just letting you know I have sent you an e-mail to usenet_mh@yahoo.com

If big mountain (7000m+) and Tibet is not what you aim for, paricularly if you want to climb walls for challenging routes at lower altitude whereas keeping a low profile is possible, there is another option -- just come in and climb.

If doing so, just be bloody careful. If caught, it'll not only affect the climbers involved, but possibly ALL climbers in the area. In 2004 some illegal climbers were caught in Xizang/Tibet and basically all permits in the whole province were revoked. The Chinese iron fist in action.
Patronizing, yes, but I had friends on Xixa who had to get down a.s.a.p. and they were not very happy about the reason they couldn't continue their climb.

Hi Corax,

Just letting you know I've sent you a PM.

Cheers,

Matt Traver

matthewtraver wrote:Thanks for the replies.

mh - just letting you know I have sent you an e-mail to usenet_mh@yahoo.com

you are welcome. you will get better help if you provide more details. not very nice of you to post my email in a public forum.

Corax wrote:In 2004 some illegal climbers were caught in Xizang/Tibet and basically all permits in the whole province were revoked. The Chinese iron fist in action.
Patronizing, yes, but I had friends on Xixa who had to get down a.s.a.p. and they were not very happy about the reason they couldn't continue their climb.

Are you sure it was chinese iron fist or was it just pissed-off money grabbers at CTMA who wanted to show who the boss was? Why do you label those climbers as illegal while complaining about the action of "the establishment" ?

I think anyone who has had bad experiences with the mountaineering associations should send their complaints with constructive suggestions to those xMA (not just posting it here). As competitive situation developes among the MAs in china your feedback sure will work its way in making the system better.

Yikes, sorry about posting your e-mail on here! Actually did not cross my mind...

MH, please post your photo on the profile page...

~Swifty

Swifty wrote:MH, please post your photo on the profile page...

~Swifty

why ?

Are you sure it was chinese iron fist or was it just pissed-off money grabbers at CTMA who wanted to show who the boss was?

Ok, perhaps I should've written; "the iron fist of the CTMA", but after all they are mostly Chinese so big deal.

Why do you label those climbers as illegal while complaining about the action of "the establishment" ?

It's not me labelling anyone.
If you climb a peak without a permit in place where you're obliged to have one, you're climbing illegally. Period.
Did you see me complaining about "the action of the establishment" in my post?
I complained about the action of climbing illegally as this stopped a lot of other climbers from climbing.

I almost always climb with locals and have them take care of the CMA and local fees. Climbing lower stuff, under 6000M, doesn't seem to draw anyone's attention. Going into new areas I have never been approached for fees.

Not sure I would call what I do illegal. And, noone else is climbing in Sichuan's new areas: So many peaks and so little time!

BTW Corax, are you still in China? Any plans for climbing now through mid-Oct? I'm looking for something to do.

Bob Keaty wrote:BTW Corax, are you still in China? Any plans for climbing now through mid-Oct? I'm looking for something to do.

Unfortunately not. I had to cut my trip a bit short and I arrived back home two days ago. There's a tiny chance I'll head back to China later on in the season and if so, I'll let you know.
Which area do you have in mind?