National Geographic photographer Carsten Peter joins climbers Matt Segal and Cedar Wright on their journey to climb the ancient limestone karsts of China, an otherworldly dreamscape rarely experienced by Western climbers.
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Transcript
Matt: You're climbing the natural wonders of China. Cedar: Everything you can hope for as a climber is to be the first person to stand on something that incredible and that iconic. Woo-hoo!
Matt: So, when Carsten and I were discussing of a team of climbers to bring and where to go Cedar Wright, why don't you come up here, was the first on the list. And that's really because Cedar's kind of one of those kind of all-around climbers that, you know, when you're climbing with Cedar, the rope goes up. As well as Emily Harrington, who is not here with us. She is kind of known for her sport-climbing skills and now mountain skills. As well as Keith Ladzinski who did a lot of the video clips that you're about to see tonight.
And our biggest thing with this and what Carsten wanted, Carsten was like, “I want to see you guys climb the craziest formations, you know, above ground in China.” So we did a lot of research and one of the areas that we were all most excited about is Enshi Canyon. And that's where we're going to start. I mean, this place was like-- is fantastic looking I mean, this is... you know one of the craziest, limestone formations I've ever seen, it's like super-slender towers. And you know, we were walking around there and it looks like a wonderland. We're all getting super-excited. And then we start seeing signs. And we're like, you know I'd like, I know, I had emailed with everybody from the park and everybody was like, “Oh, yeah, permission, no problem.” It's not going to be a big deal. And, yeah, we're walking around and not so positive. They gave us this piece of paper. And told us to sign it. And here is Emily's description of what she thought she was--
It just says, “Don't die and if you do we're not responsible.” Basically. And I have to sign it and put my fingerprint. Totally legal. We were good to go. And there was a couple of stipulations with... when we could climb and that was mostly we could not climb during the hours of the park. So, we had to be down by like eight in the morning. Yeah, so basically we are on the dawn patrol waking up in the dark every night. Cedar: Not optimum climbing times.
Matt: No, not at all.
Matt: Yeah, buddy.
Cedar: Having fun yet?
Matt: Oh, yeah.You know, keeping the dream alive.
Cedar: That's your, that's your rope?
So needless to say, stress was a little high. And then, you know we're climbing at night and in the dark, which is normally fine but a lot of this rock was really loose. So, it was a little bit sketchy. But at the end of the day, we were really having a good time. And it was really fun to work with Carsten. Carsten was shooting it all. Shooting it all, documenting it all, kind of, we had radios-- Directing us, constantly, constantly directing us then directing us more. -Then just when you think--And Then complaining...He'd be like, “Your t-shirt, your t-shirt... You're not bright enough, make more dynamic-- I can barely see you, I can barely see you.”
Carsten: I see only your t-shirt. It would be nice to see a little bit more of your body. Cedar: Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
You can also see the quality of climbing there, it's super good. - Super good. - It was all vegetation. Yeah. It's like... just clearly super high quality rock climbing there. Hard to call that rock climbing. But then Carsten came up on the wall.
Cedar: What did you think?
Carsten: Well, it was amazing. I mean for me, I would've never been able to climb these towers. I mean, I'm a technical climber and not a free climber, like Cedar or Matt. Well, they were fantastic riggers. And well, I was able to make it up there. It's really... an incredible view from up there. It's just amazing to be so exposed on these pillars. About 140 meters, 400 feet high. Incredible!
The Chinese always, they didn't want to allow us to climb there because they were afraid the pillars could be knocked down. - Fall over, yeah-- - To them it was, it looks like it could fall over. No, trust me I'm not climbing anything that's gonna fall over. That was their biggest fear was that we were gonna actually knock the towers down. Yeah. These were like six or 700-foot towers.
Matt: Something like that, yeah.
Cedar: They were massive and so just completely incredible. And obviously a great way to see these towers is with drones. So what happened here? Tell us the drone story, this is a terrific story.
Carsten: Well, the drone story? A drone went out of control. And I mean, we were in the most beautiful landscape. I saw via video link how beautiful it looks. And I saw already what I could do and my plans were really big and then it crashed after two flights. So it was horrible to lose all these options at once and look how sad this drone looks and that's by the way the gimbal with the camera, just ripped off.
With the drones flying in the air, it does add like a kind of an uneasiness 'cause... It could definitely cut your rope. It feels real close and you know it can cut your rope. Or just chop you just... just like, just like blood everywhere. But... - Here's a-- But yeah, no it's a great tool. - Yeah, a great tool. Carsten was really psyched to use it. He's like, “a little closer.” I am up, “uh-uh, no! - Back it up! Long shot. Landscape.” - Here's-- No close ups. Yeah. And here's a little video that Keith cut while we were there about the terrible drone crash.
Carsten: Holy ****!
- Brad: There it goes, man!
- Oh, man!
Whoa! I think you crashed! Just wonder if someone has seen where exactly the copter impacted. Emily: 100 metres, I think. Oh, I found the copter. I found the copter.
Emily: Okay, good, that's awesome.
But it doesn't look awesome.
The crazy thing about that is that Brad fixed it. Where is Brad? He needs applause for that. Yeah! Applause for Brad! Where is he? It was like... Like a pot of coffee later and just like... like 24-hours of non-stop soldering and... he somehow fixed it. it was incredible. - It's amazing. How he fixed that thing. And we got it up in the air again.
And eventually once the copter was fixed we got to climbing and back to climbing. And we were able to summit. Here's a little video of Cedar on the summit. Woo-hoo! He was, he was pretty sure that he was like the man in China afterwards, he was like the first person to stand on this tower, you know.
Cedar: incredible.
And he was like, “I'm a big deal in China.” He was like really stoked on being a big deal in China. And as it turns out, he was actually kinda big in China.
Matt: He really was.
Cedar: Proportionately large.
Proportionately large.
It was... I mean, yeah, I was just, I mean... Look at that, we got to be the first people to stand on that. You know, quite possibly the only people to ever stand on that because of the restrictions in the national park, I mean-- To me that's like everything you could hope for as a climber is to be the first person to stand on something that incredible and that iconic and... just to like kind of talk about some of the climbing up there, a little bit. It was, it was really, really dangerous and loose. There wasn't a lot of protection. For people who are familiar with climbing, you know we were climbing traditionally placing cams in the rock and this is, you know limestone is really terrible for that style of climbing 'cause there's not-- it just doesn't offer a lot of points for protection. So it was pretty serious and at one point I was like about to fall on a ledge and I pulled off this giant block. And I was like, kinda did one of those, where you are like... and you're like... and then you're like... And you have this huge block, It's heavy. And you don't want to drop it. And I was just, I did one of these, I was all... And then I was like, went... and I was like, Matty, are you alive? And, you know, we summitted. We were super stoked, we were relieved because obviously that's like one of the most incredible places that you're ever going to see on the planet.
The Karsts geography of China is really something special.
Cedar: And then, it was time to move on because we had four areas that we wanted to visit. And we arrived here and Carsten is like, “It's amazing.” He's all, We've got to get in the air. And I'm like, “Are you gonna put that drone back up in the air?” I'm like “No dude! No, the perspectives and all the stuff...” And I don't know, what did you think when you arrived there, I mean...
Carsten: For rock climbers, it must be like a paradise. Also for me visually, I mean this is like knife blades out of the ground and really edges. Absolutely amazing. So incredible-- an incredible area...
Cedar: But I have to admit, this really is an unreal place. They call this the Stone Forest and you can totally see why. And just to think 200-300 million years ago, it was an ancient shallow sea bed and that through erosion, corrosion, just the magic of time it became this surreal landscape. And, you know, this was like coral. These were like coral beds. And to think that you're basically climbing on the skeletons of like 200 million-year old life forms is totally cool and surreal.
One of, one of the coolest things about being in the Stone Forest was we started interacting with locals a little bit more. And wildlife, as you can see, that was a little scary sometimes. In the Stone Forest, you know, all the locals would come up like this guy, he was really excited. Cedar: He had some good stuff. - Matt: Had some good stuff, clearly. And was just like really fascinated with what we were doing. You know, and they are just going along doing their thing, harvesting corn and... Yeah, it was just really cool to see.
One of the other crazy things about the Stone Forest was it was kinda the first time that we got to do like kinda bouldering climbing. So, the Stone Forest, these formations really offered cool, technical difficult moves. Cedar: Yeah, and Matty, this was the hardest climb of the trip. He like did a tunnel through this hole here and he actually stripped most of the flesh off his stomach. I was trying to impress Carsten with my caving-- His crawling! He's all, “I love the color.”
Well, the next area that we travelled to was Yangshou, Moon Hill. Matt: One of the first places that sport climbing was established in China. And Moon Hill is kind of an interesting thing because there's all these steps built to the base of Moon Hill. And they were built for Nixon because he was the first American President I believe, to visit China. So they kind of wanted to build him something to show, you know the natural wonders of China. Another really crazy thing about Moon Hill was it was the first time we ever saw locals climbing there.
Cedar: And there are some incredibly talented Chinese climbers here coming up in that scene.
Matt: It's definitely the epicenter of sport climbing in China. These natural arches are so wild because they are basically collapsed caves, is that correct, Carsten?
Carsten: Actually, yes, it's... it's a huge cave which just eroded away. You have maybe a tunnel and the tunnel got smaller and smaller and eventually a bridge just remained.
It was definitely an interesting scene at the base.
Cedar: Got to get your Oba Mao—
Unison: Yeah, Oba Mao shirts!
Cedar: That's so quality.
Matt: And this was Emily's last day. She decided to get her feet cleaned. She had to leave the trip a little bit early. And then Cedar, Carsten, myself and Keith journeyed on to Getu.
Cedar: This is the Great Arch in Getu. And it's truly one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. This is one of the most incredible cave systems in the world, as well as one of the most incredible natural arches in the world. You can see that bottom arch down there, it actually goes in-- Carsten: Actually this is where Miao Chamber is situated. So, it's by volume now the biggest chamber in the world. So, it's a really special place.
Cedar: As you can see this lower tunnel, there's actually a river that runs through this, and then it drops down deep into one of these huge chambers and goes who knows where. And it's really one of the most radical things I'd ever seen and so we started to just wander around and check it out. One of the really unique things about this arch system is that every morning the sun just shines perfectly through it to create, to cast this incredible beam of light. And it's really other-worldly, it's super unique, it's super beautiful. And the other thing about this, is the scale. this thing is massive. - Matt: Huge! The height of that light beam is probably at least 400-500 feet tall at this at its smallest point there as it shoots through that archway. So, to climb all the way from the bottom of the arch to the top is probably like 700-800 feet. It's massive, it's a huge monolithic arch, probably one of the top largest arches in the world.
We started to just kinda cruise around and check it out. And I noticed that there was a lot of construction going on. The Chinese are really there like “Oh, we've got this great national treasure. How can we make it more accessible, how can we get more tourism coming in here and stuff.” Which is I understand is a wonderful thing but when you see something like this, I find it a little discouraging. I'm like really, do you really need a glass elevator to take you from the bottom shaft to the top. And there's been a big backlash here. A lot of climbers have created this petition basically trying to stop this because they, they're actually going to put a hotel up, basically inside of the upper arch.
But at the same time we are up there to climb and up there in that main arch, it was just incredible. We were looking around at all these possibilities for climbing. And we saw this one line that really stood out that went from bottom to top right out of the belly of the arch all the way up to the very top of the cliff and followed this really radical line of stalactites and tufas. You can see that's actually like a melted tufa wax formation I'm grabbing there. You know, so what a unique feature.
Matt: We kind of have like a lot of these photos that just portray, just how over-hanging and bizarre the climbing is.
Cedar: The climbing was super three-dimensional.
Matt: Yeah, the most three-dimensional climbing I've ever done. Like you can see here and I don't even know how to describe it like Carsten is almost parallel with me looking in, you know like his ropes go up here and he is like looking straight at me through these caves. It's almost like you're like swinging, swimming, you know you're like going from one stalactite to the next, like you're not necessarily climbing like you would normally climb with your feet below you, like your feet are below you except you are like you're turning around and just bear-hugging the stalactite and like when I say bear-hugging-- Or doing like bridges, at one point, I was just kinda like I was just like... just kinda like did one of these I went... I got it, I got it. And when I say bear-hugging I mean like fully wrapping your legs like around and hugging these tufas for dear life, because your forearms are starting to get tired but you could you know, literally wrap your legs all the way around it and lock your legs and you know, rest your upper body.
Alright, so we are headed up to the high-point of this amazing route. And as you can see it is insanely steep. We're going to fix lines right now to check out the last pitch. And I mean it is, it's almost nauseatingly steep. Oh, it's like, there's the rope, going up. There's Matty hanging tough on the portaledge. There's the ground. There's my feet. Oh, yeah! Extended selfie there, for your viewing pleasure. Really good about the extended selfie, Cedar. Thank you. It's an art form.
At the end I was like, “oh, this would also make like a really great, like, short festival piece.” And I'm happy with this little edit you guys are about to watch.
Cedar: China has one of the most surreal landscapes that I've ever experienced. These ancient karst formations have been sculpted by wind and water and millions of years of erosion into these beautiful, natural sculptures. Behind me is the Great Arch which is a prime example of just how unique and beautiful these formations are. The next month is for sure going to be an adventure. I'm here with my good friends, Emily Harrington and Matt Segal and we're here to explore the limestone karst formations that are unique to this part of the world. The legendary National Geographic photographer Carsten Peter is going to be documenting the entire journey. So, I'm pretty psyched to see the photos.
Carsten: I need to shoot now. We are probably in the most extreme environment for limestone formations. And it's always nice to have people for scale or just the adventure to climb.
Cedar: The whole mission started at the Stone Forest which 270 millions years ago was sea floor and now through time and erosion, is hundreds of square miles of free-standing limestone spires. So, one of the craziest things about limestone in general especially the limestone in China is to think about at one time this was a sea floor and all the limestone was living coral essentially, which-- it's really wild to think about how you know, you're climbing on these things and you know a really long time ago, probably millions of years ago they were alive.
Carsten: Walking inside that Stone Forest, yeah, it's like a labyrinth. What nature can form-- I was stunned by the beauty.
Matt: Running around in a wonderland, just having fun and getting to climb on some of the coolest and most unique formations any of us have ever climbed on.
Cedar: Really good.
Matt: was it fun? Really fun. I need food and some beer.
Emily: I need a beer and some water.
That's the kind of spirit behind these expeditions. Things develop always different than you expect. There are funny, quirky situations. The drive was supposed to be five hours, we drove for 11 hours! And now it's night time and we're eating street food. Bit too much of the grill. All the weird shit we're eating. What is that? We're supposed to be eating clearly the most adventurous-- It is damn delicious. Oh! We're at the kissing fish spa. The fish eat your, the dead skin off your feet. This tickles. It really tickles.
Cedar: And it feels kinda good actually.
Matt: The trip to Yangshou was long but it was definitely worth it when we got there and we saw what an amazing place it was.
Emily: Yangshou is the city that sits next to this beautiful river the center of countless, massive karsts. The Arch, the Moon Hill Arch is-- It really is a surreal place.
Carsten: And these arches are maybe the relics of former caves. They just got eroded and what just stays behind is a giant arch. And it was just mind-blowing what our climbers were able to do there.
Cedar: The stone here from climbing perspective is just, it just calls to you. It's just very inviting and you know, not only is it spectacular but it's amazing to climb on and offers a super-gymnastic athletic movement but it can also be very adventurous, sometimes dangerous, but always beautiful. I'm really hoping that this half-an-hour drive takes three hours.
Matt: We thought Moon Hill was going to be like the most amazing arch we were going to see. We arrived to Getu and we're like, “Oh, wow! Okay, this is the great arch.” Every morning the sun shines right through the arch.
Cedar: So we spent the first couple of days working on this huge route that went all the way up the left side of the arch. And then with one day left we gave it the full Hail Mary attempt. This is our chance to ascend the route so, hopefully things go well but no matter what, we're going to get to climb on a spectacular route and a spectacular location. Hopefully we can put it all together and there's a lot of hard climbing up there so, hopefully luck shines upon us.
Cedar: Holding on for dear life, getting winded and your muscles are pumped and you're sweating and you're scared and-- but you're loving it, you know, that's kinda-- that's what we came here for. You gain a lot of energy and power from interacting with these amazing landscapes.
Carsten: They are amazing. I don't know how they climb these walls, how they manage these walls, over-hanging walls, it's unbelievable to me. I don't know how you can do it.
Cedar: Come on, Matty, come on! Oh, yeah! Totally against all odds. - Boom! Yes! Yeah, it's like a geologic wonderland. It goes through some of the wildest formations of tufas and stalactites. How do I get back down is the big question mark... It's not like you just drop down the rope or else you'd just drop out of space and be like, well that was dumb. That was heinous. - I'm going to push off... I'm serious, I'm going to push you in. Don't do that. I got this. After the Great Arch we were basically like well, nothing's going to top that. And then we headed out to Enshi Grand Canyon, Based on some photos that we'd seen on the internet, they looked like some pretty cool spires. And then we arrived to the most incredible unclimbed spire we'd ever seen.
Carsten: You're at the forefront of exploration it's making new discoveries or you venture into new territories or onto new summits. I mean, it's exciting. We're going to be heading to the summit of one of the wildest towers we've ever seen. Frigging psyched, slash a little gripped. And here we go. Hold on. Oh! Holy shit! you wanna put me on belay? Yeah. About to blow. Watch here.
Matt: Nice, Cede.
Emily: Hold the branch.
Emily: Hell yeah, dude!
That was pretty mellow. Cedar: It's one of the most beautiful towers in the world. And we were the first people ever to climb it. It was incredible.
Matt: What's really crazy about this is we spent one month in China and we went to so many different areas that were totally unique and different. Whoopee! It just goes to show how unexplored China is.
Cedar: Looking back on all of the wild formations that we've seen, it's just-- It's incredible that this is all in one country. You go into a landscape like this and it affects you and it changes you as a person, it inspires you.
Carsten: I got great satisfaction and also, a great desire to continue, it makes you hungry for more because you want to have more of these experiences and you want to maybe stand on more of these towers.
