Read a finger crack by how deep your fingers go: only to the first knuckle is tips, to the second knuckle or the base of the fingers is a good finger crack, and in but wobbling is rattly fingers. For the good size, go thumb down: fingers in to the base, palm and forearm flat on the rock, rotate the elbow down until the forearm lines up with the crack, and pull down, not out. Too thin, flip to pinkie down; rattly, rely on torque and push your thumb on the edge; any wider is off-fingers. Knuckles locked above a constriction cost the least effort, and pin scars are ready-made constrictions, though they are hard to protect and hard on your toes. Feet go on face holds first, then toe jams or front-on smears on the crack edges. If the jam won't stick, the edge is good to grip and the wall isn't steep, layback. A millimeter changes everything, so measure cracks with your own fingers.
In a hand crack a foot jam takes four steps: drop the knee outward so the foot turns to its thinnest side (little toe down), slide the toes in, then bring the knee back in line with the crack so the foot twists tight. The most common mistake is getting only the tips of the toes in. Sources disagree on depth; Pete Whittaker's sweet spot puts the crack edge half to a full toe's length past the webbing of your toes. As you weight it, let the heel sit lower than the toes: pressure moves off the toe knuckles and the jam gets more secure. Foot pain usually means over-twisting or shoes that are too tight. To get out, reverse it: knee out, ankle relaxed. Finger cracks take only the toe; fist cracks take the whole foot straight in.
Before you climb a crack, work out how wide it is: tips, fingers, off-fingers, hands, fists, offwidth, squeeze or chimney. Each size has its own jams. But you measure the size with your own hand. Pete Whittaker's comparison: cam sizes 0.75 and 1 are perfect hand jams for small hands and thin, strenuous jams for big ones; a #4 is a fist jam for big hands and a butterfly stack for small ones. So 'this one's easy' from a friend may not apply to you, and you have to climb every size for the difficulty to even out. The series starts with hand cracks, the easiest to learn, and works outward toward narrower (fingers) and wider (fists, offwidths), with 2020-or-later videos from many crags and climbers in every post.
A hand jam's strength comes from the thumb, not the fingers: relax and flatten the hand, slide it in to the wrist, then tuck the thumb into the palm and push it toward the little finger so the muscle at its base presses on the rock. The fingers only help. The most common mistakes are not going deep enough, grabbing the crack edge with your fingers, and jamming at chest height. Thumbs up to move up, thumbs down to rest or place gear; cross hands in straight cracks, shuffle in leaning cracks and corners. A crack that's perfect for big hands may be cupped hands for small ones, so find your own 'hand number' first.
Koshizawa Buttress is an Okutama multipitch training cliff. Modest grades still require trad, rope-management and retreat skills; confirm the current approach after historical typhoon damage.
Mikuradake is a granite destination around three rocky summits in Otake, Hiroshima, with cracks, slabs and multipitch lines. Submit the park entry form at the rest house, then choose a wall for your gear-placement and descent skills.
Mitsutoge is a mountain multipitch cliff, generally April–October, for teams with trad and multipitch skills. Include the walk, insulation, protection assessment and descent in the day.
Nabari is a welded-tuff crack-climbing destination in Mie Prefecture, with routes from Crack Baby and Nabari Nyumon to difficult finger cracks; bring gear-placement and jamming skills. For a first visit, obtain the local topo, assess the river crossing, and bring a vehicle marker, a yellow flag and appropriate crossing equipment.
Tachiokayama combines Koyama Rock sport climbing and the multipitch left ridge. Prepare them separately; use designated parking and favour a booked ride over the limited, late-arriving bus.
Where 20 Insubong routes start, how long each pitch is, which pitch is the crux and how to get down, including Insu A, Insu B, Lonely Road, Chouinard A/B, Biwon, Yangji, Crony and Dongyang, compiled from Korean climbing-community write-ups dated 2006 to 2024. This is not a topo: there are no wall photos or route numbers, so carry the Mont Blanc Lines East Face topo on the day; the page also lists where to find the Korean community's topo drawings.
Almost all aid gear is rated for body weight only: aiders are for standing, daisies and fifis are for hanging, and the climbing rope is always what catches a fall. The lead cycle is place, clip an aider, step down and bounce test, step up, clip the rope. Never clip one carabiner into two pockets of a sewn daisy; BD says a mis-clip can be as weak as about 2.2 kN. Jug on two ascenders and tie a backup knot to your harness every 5–7 m. Never create a fall onto an ascender or progress-capture pulley: HowNOT2 stripped the sheath at about 4.7 kN. For a first pair of ascenders (one per hand), choose between the BD Index and Petzl ASCENSION, about NT$2,700–3,000 each in Taiwan.
Most people start with one each of BD Camalot C4 .3 or .4 to #3, then combine with a partner's set to make a double rack; Taiwan's route info uses BD numbers. TOCC's Longdong rack is Z4 #0–.75 plus C4 .3–#3, 14 cams; on a budget, start with Z4 .2 plus C4 .3–#2, 7 cams. DMM Dragons share BD's colours but not its numbers (Dragon 1 = C4 .5, Dragon 3 = #1); Totem and Metolius use their own schemes. By BD's listed weights, swapping .4 to #4 to Ultralights saves only about 139 g, so skip them for a first rack. Longdong air is salty: wipe your cams after every trip, since BD axles and trigger wires rust easily there.
Wear the waistbelt above your hip bones, tight enough that you can't slip out upside down; for most people that's around belly-button height. Hang in it in the shop if you can. Choose gear loops by use: 2 for indoor top-roping, about 4 for outdoor sport, 6 for trad and multi-pitch (Petzl Taiwan). If you don't yet know where your climbing is heading, make your first harness one that adjusts at waist and legs, such as the BD Momentum or Petzl Corax. If you're sure it's gym and sport, look at fixed-leg harnesses like the BD Solution or Petzl Sama/Selena; those leg loops can't be adjusted later, so always try them on. Starting trad or multi-pitch, look at the Petzl Adjama/Luna, with adjustable legs and 5 loops.
Helmets come in three constructions (Petzl Taiwan): hard shells are the heaviest, toughest and cheapest; foam shells are lighter with middling durability; hybrids are lightest but the most fragile and most expensive. A first helmet is usually a hard shell or a foam shell: the Petzl Boreo and BD Capitan E are durable hard shells, the Petzl Meteor and Mammut Crag Sender lighter foam shells; save a hybrid like the Sirocco for when you know you'll be on long routes. Always try it on: for the same head circumference, brands differ in shape, and Japanese shop staff and bloggers warn that Western brands may not suit Asian heads. Fitted properly, it shouldn't move when you shake your head, and the chin strap has no slack.
Make your first set curved nuts: if you'll lean on cams and money is tight, BD Stopper #5–11 (the set Adventure Taiwan's trad course uses); if you want a British-style set to climb on, DMM Wallnut 1–11. TOCC's 2024 guide says Long Dong's cracks are covered in crystals, Stoppers tend to get tugged out of place there, and the grooves on DMM Wallnuts and Alloy Offsets hold better. Offsets come second, replacing the mid sizes in one set. Small sizes vary a lot in strength, so read the manufacturer's table first; among #7–11 offsets, Trango rates its own at only 7 kN. Buying second-hand Wild Country Superlight Rocks? Check the batch against the 2023 recall first.
Rappelling accidents kill a larger share of the people involved than climbing accidents overall. The usual causes are rappelling off the rope ends, anchor failure and no backup, and recent AAC fatality reports add devices on only one strand or on the wrong strand. The fix is to run the same sequence every time: clip in first, knot the ends, put the friction hitch on before extending the device, and load-test and get a partner check before unclipping. Single-strand rappels (GRIGRI, pull cord, fixed line) are most dangerous when the device goes on the wrong strand, and simul-rappels and tandem rappels are rescue techniques not to improvise.
Hauling means the leader trails a 6–8 mm static line and pulls the pack up at the anchor through a progress-capture pulley like a Micro Traxion, so the second climbs without it; haul only on steep, hard pitches without loose rock, keep the line tight and never yank a stuck bag. On big walls, haul 30–40 kg bags with a Pro Traxion and body weight, and dock the bag before unloading the pulley.
Insubong offers granite cracks, friction slabs and chimneys in Bukhansan National Park. Insu A and Chouinard B are graded YDS 5.8, but still require trad, multipitch and descent skills. Take the Ui–Sinseol Line to Bukhansan Ui Station, then a taxi to the Baegundae trailhead to save the uphill road walk.
Janggunbong in Seoraksan has Front and Southwest Walls with granite cracks, slabs and face climbing. A2O and the Standard Route offer different grades and lengths. Choose the face and full route before arranging park authorization.
Jeokbyeok is a west-facing granite wall beside Biseondae, with steep cracks and overhangs. Solo is listed as 5.8/A1, Echo as 5.11c/A2 and Mura as 5.9/A4: the free grade alone is not a route-selection guide.
Seoninbong is a granite wall in Dobongsan with cracks, slabs and multipitch climbing; Leopard (표범길), Bat (박쥐길) and Yodel Buttress are the recognised classics. Even the moderate lines need your own protection, and most teams climb to mid-height and rappel the route. Subway lines 1 and 7 run to Dobongsan Station, about 40 minutes' walk from the wall; the closure after the 2025 rockfall was lifted that May, but check the KNPS live notices before you go.
Ulsanbawi in Seoraksan offers granite cracks, chimneys and multipitch routes. The complete ridge is a different, multiday objective. Choose the wall route or ridge first, then confirm park authorization and the approach.
Yuseondae combines ridge climbing and southwest-facing granite multipitch. MP lists Longing for Two as 5.8 and 11 pitches, and Yoosun AB as 5.10b and six pitches. Choose the style before planning the approach and descent.
A big wall usually means NCCS Grade V or higher, a route that needs a night on the wall. El Capitan's The Nose is written VI 5.9 C2: VI means two or more days, 5.9 is the free climbing, C2 the hammerless aid. The leader climbs and fixes the rope, the second ascends it with ascenders and cleans the gear, and meanwhile the leader hauls the bag. Taiwan has nothing of this scale — Long Dong tops out at about 70 m — but it is a good place to master trad, anchors and multi-pitch.
Shoes, harness and helmet in the cabin, rope in the hold: that is the most common split across 45 community examples. One person's nine-day sport kit came to about 16 kg checked; departures from Mexico City and Spanish airports are where quickdraws and ropes most often get sent back to check-in, while Asian low-cost carriers tend to trip you up first with a 7 kg carry-on limit.
The coast around Baunei on Sardinia's east side is the island's densest multi-pitch area: the 143 m Aguglia di Goloritzè spire above its beach, Punta Giradili with lines of 390 m and more, the Pedra Longa sea stack, and inland the Supramonte walls of Monte Oddeu, Punta Cusidore and the 400 m, 8b Hotel Supramonte. The easiest line up the Aguglia has a hardest pitch of 6b and is badly polished. What changes trips most is the cap at Cala Goloritzè: no more than 250 people at a time, a €7 ticket booked through Heart of Sardinia that opens three days ahead, and climbers have to work within the trail's opening hours too.
The Brenta group east of Madonna di Campiglio, centred on the 2,883 m Campanile Basso. The normal route, first climbed in 1899, is IV and about 270–350 m; the 1908 Fehrmann corner and Preuss's 1911 east face are classics at IV+ to V. The walk from Vallesinella to the start takes 2.5 hours, and most parties stay at Rifugio Brentei or Pedrotti (Pedrotti was open 20 June–20 September in 2026). In summer the Vallesinella road is closed during the day and you must book the shuttle (13 June–13 September in 2026); the B201 bus runs from Trento to Madonna di Campiglio all year.
Camaiore sits on the Tuscan coast between Viareggio and Lucca. Its valley holds 25 limestone sport crags; the core, Candalla (upper and lower sectors), lists 229 routes on theCrag, mostly in the 7th grade, and is known for steep tufa walls. San Rocchino has Naturalmente 9a+, first climbed by Adam Ondra in 2017. In the Alpi Apuane to the north, the north face of Pizzo d'Uccello carries the Oppio-Colnaghi, a trad classic about 850 m long. The thing most likely to change your plans is transport: the E33 bus up to Candalla passed to a new operator in June 2026, so check it again before you go.
Dolomite towers in the Catinaccio group above Val di Fassa. The three southern Vajolet Towers stand right next to Rifugio Re Alberto (2,621 m); most routes are IV to IV+ and 120–170 m long, and the 1911 Spigolo Piaz is one of the most popular classics in the Dolomites. The Steger route on the Catinaccio east face is V+ and over 500 m. The season follows the huts: Re Alberto was open 17 June–3 October in 2026. Take the cable car from Vigo or two chairlift legs from Pera, then walk about 3 hours; the road to Gardeccia is closed to private cars.
A dolomite wall up to about 1,200 m high above Lake Alleghe that climbers call the 'wall of walls'. A 2025 guidebook covers 78 routes on the north-west face; the 1925 Solleder-Lettenbauer (VI-, 1,100 m) is regarded as the first sixth-grade route in the Alps. Most routes are long, the rock is unreliable and the gullies can hold ice all summer. Planning the huts is the key: Rifugio Coldai says it opens mid-June to end of September, Tissi sits right opposite the face, and Alleghe's two gondolas, open 13 June–27 September in 2026, save part of the walk up.
The Gola della Rossa and Gola di Frasassi are two limestone gorges in inland Marche, both in the same regional nature park; Planetmountain counts more than 500 routes across the area. Single-pitch crags such as Sulfuria, Falcioni and La Sbarra are mostly in the 5th and 6th grades, and the gorge walls carry bolted multi-pitch routes of roughly 170 to 270 m alongside old-school trad lines. Autumn to spring is the best time. The thing most likely to change your plans is the park rules: you may climb only routes on the park's official list, some walls (parts of the left bank of the Gola di Frasassi, Valle del Vernino and others) are permanently closed, and some routes have seasonal limits.
Gran Sasso in Abruzzo is the highest massif in the Apennines (Corno Grande, 2,912 m), and its limestone offers two kinds of climbing: multi-pitch routes on Corno Piccolo and Corno Grande, from grade III historic ridges to grade VIII big walls, mostly on your own gear; and summer bouldering plus the Vado di Sole sport crag around the Campo Imperatore plateau, from 6a to 9a+. The season is summer to early autumn. What changes your plans most are the two lifts: on the L'Aquila side the Funivia del Gran Sasso has been closed for maintenance since 21 September 2026 (the SP17bis road stays open), and on the Teramo side the Prati di Tivo gondola towards Corno Piccolo ran only until 20 September in summer 2026. For now you walk up.
Lecco, at the south-east corner of Lake Como, is ringed by more than a hundred bolted limestone crags, and the official tourist board calls it one of the capitals of sport climbing in northern Italy. Beginners should head for Galbiate or Introbio, technical climbers for Versasio; for multi-pitch there is the Corna di Medale and the dolomite towers of the Grignetta, which are closer to mountaineering and need a helmet and a rack. The train from Milan takes about 40 minutes and the crags at the edge of town are on city bus routes, but in winter only two buses a day go up to Piani dei Resinelli. Versasio was closed by a municipal order after a rockfall at the end of 2022 and no lifting notice could be found, so check before you go.
The south face of the Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites. Planetmountain calls it 1,000 m high and three kilometres of limestone; the Versante Sud guidebook covers about 200 routes, mostly 550–900 m trad multi-pitches of 20 pitches or more, graded UIAA IV+ to VIII+, with Attraverso il Pesce the most famous. The season follows the hut and the lift: Rifugio Falier opened on 10 June 2026, and the cable car used for the descent ran 12 June–27 September 2026 with the last ride down from Punta Rocca at 16:30. Miss it and you walk down the north-side glacier, which has been an 'area of attention' since the 2022 serac collapse and can be closed again in hot spells.
Mont Blanc granite above Courmayeur. The Skyway cable car takes you to Punta Helbronner at 3,466 m, and from there you cross the glacier to the Tacul satellites such as Grand Capucin and Pic Adolphe Rey: routes of 200–600 m, mostly 6a and up. On the Val Ferret side you walk two hours or more from the valley floor into the cirques. This is not a normal crag: you need glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills, or a mountain guide. The season follows the cable car: the Skyway reopened on 23 May 2026 and is closed from 16 November to 4 December (checked October 2026). The Aosta–Ivrea railway is shut, so public transport means buses.
Val d'Ossola, at the northern tip of Piedmont and wedged between the Swiss Valais and Ticino, has more than 30 crags on 8a.nu. The most famous is Cadarese in Valle Antigorio: smooth granite packed with cracks, some sectors bolted only at the belays (bring two sets of cams) and others fully bolted. Croveo and the other sport crags are mostly 6a to 7a, and the forest at Foppiano di Crodo holds a thousand-odd gneiss boulder problems. Cadarese is best in spring and autumn, Foppiano from April to October. Every year the Val Grande park closes the walls around Colloro from February to the end of July for nesting peregrines.
The largest mountain group in the Dolomites, above Primiero in Trentino. The classics are the 1920 Spigolo del Velo (IV+/V, 430 m), the 1926 Solleder on the east face of Sass Maor (about 600–700 m) and the 1950 Fessura Buhl on Cima Canali (VI-, about 550 m); all of them mean a night in a hut or a pre-dawn start, and Rifugio Pradidali opens from mid-June to the end of September. Below the peaks, the tourist board counts 53 crags and over a thousand single-pitch routes, including the porphyry of Tognazza at Passo Rolle. Buses reach San Martino di Castrozza; the trailheads are on foot or by car.
A dolomite massif between Val Gardena and Val di Fassa, with the main summit at 3,181 m. The climbing is mostly alpine trad multi-pitch: the Pichl route on the north face is only UIAA IV but runs 27 pitches and about 1,000 m, so length and the descent are what matter; the Cinque Dita traverse and the south face of Punta Grohmann are shorter grade III–IV classics. The season is summer, around July and August. Line 471 to Passo Sella and the Forcella Sassolungo lift both run only in summer (the bus ran 7 June–11 October in 2026), and both have stopped by mid-October.
Dolomite climbing around Passo Sella and Passo Pordoi, all within 5 to 60 minutes of the road. The Sella Towers (150 routes on UKC) and the south face of Piz Ciavazes are classic grade III–VI trad multi-pitch; Sass Pordoi's south face has the IV+ Via Maria. Cansla is technical 6a–8a sport multi-pitch, and Città dei Sassi is single-pitch on the boulders below Sassolungo (about 175 routes, 3a–7c, per the tourist board). The season is summer. In 2026 the pass buses ran only until 11 October (the Trentino Trasporti lines until 9 September), the Sass Pordoi cable car runs until 1 November, and parking is often full in high season and mostly paid.
Tavolara, off Olbia, is a limestone island rising about 565 m straight out of the sea. climbingitaly lists 38 multi-pitch routes, mostly trad from 5a to 6b+ and up to 350 m long, plus a sea traverse of more than 1,000 m. But about 90% of the island is private land owned by the Marzano family, the eastern half is a NATO military zone and the surrounding sea is a marine protected area. In May 2025 the mayor of Olbia banned climbing and via ferrata on the island, except for mountain guides on research or study, and then limited the ban to 30 September 2025. I found no notice on whether the ban was renewed or replaced for 2026, so confirm with the City of Olbia before you go.
A 3,225 m dolomite peak west of Cortina d'Ampezzo whose south face is close to 1,000 m high and split into 8 pillars. The famous Costantini-Apollonio (Pilastro, 500–580 m, VII to VII+) needs solid VI+ trad climbing; gentler options are the Primo Spigolo (about 400 m, V+) and the Dimai-Eötvös (hardest V, but 1,150 m long). The season is summer, and you park at Rifugio Dibona. On 4 October 2026 a huge rockfall came off the north face of Tofana di Dentro, and Cortina closed trail 401 in Val Travenanzes and the Cengia Paolina until further notice.
The three most famous dolomite peaks in the Dolomites. The Comici-Dimai on the north face of Cima Grande (550 m, VII) is a classic Alpine north-face line; on the south side there is the grade III normal route on Cima Grande and the V- Grohmann-Hainz. The season runs mid-June to early October. Driving up the toll road to Rifugio Auronzo needs an online booking tied to your licence plate; the road is open roughly late May to late October. Buses are the Dolomiti Bus Misurina shuttle and line 50, plus South Tyrol's line 444; in 2026 all of them stopped in early October, and line 444 only returns in summer 2027.
Crack climbing is not gripping and pulling; you insert a body part and expand it. Climb straight cracks thumbs-up; thumbs-down is usually the most secure for resting or placing gear; on slanting cracks, top hand thumbs-down and bottom hand thumbs-up, shuffling without crossing. Long Dong's rock is described two ways: Taiwanese sources say 四稜 sandstone, Mountain Project says quartz-rich metaconglomerate, and both call it coarse and high-friction, so tape up. Taiwanese trad courses mostly teach protection; jamming needs separate practice.
A cluster of dolomite towers at 2,200–2,360 m west of Cortina d'Ampezzo. Planetmountain lists 130 routes (including 18 classic and 19 modern multi-pitches), theCrag 137, UKC 150. The main season is summer; the chairlift ran 6 June–11 October in 2026, and the road up to Rifugio Cinque Torri is restricted in summer. By public transport, take Dolomiti Bus line 52 to the Bai de Dones chairlift.
A granite valley at the head of Val Masino in Lombardy, a nature reserve since 2009. Thousands of boulder problems; the multi-pitch is known for friction slabs and cracks, often with long run-outs. Bouldering is best in spring and autumn; for multi-pitch UKC says May–September and Planetmountain April–October. Take the train to Morbegno, the STPS A20 bus to San Martino, then walk about 25 minutes into the valley. Driving in is capped at 40 cars a day with a €12 pass, and camping outside campsites is banned across the municipality.
A valley on the southern side of Gran Paradiso National Park in Piedmont, known for gneiss cracks and the big walls of Sergent and Caporal. Mostly trad with a clean-climbing ethic, though most belays are bolted. Climb Europe gives late May to early October; SummitPost says spring and autumn, plus summer when it is not too hot. By public transport, take the SFM1 from Turin to Rivarolo or Pont, then GTT bus 137 up to Ceresole Reale; services are sparse and most people drive.
A bolt is a permanent hole in the rock, so most climbing communities give the decision to community consensus and land managers, not to individuals. The BMC's 2014 policy says changes to a crag's bolting status must be agreed by consensus at open meetings. Long Dong's consensus is no lead bolts on established trad routes, and TOCC said in 2021 it "absolutely does not agree" with private drilling. TOCC's route database lists 16 entries where sport routes had old bolts cut and became trad.
An anchor has to pass three tests: each piece is strong, another piece takes over if one fails (redundancy), and a failure does not drop the load onto the remaining pieces (no extension). In Petzl's tests with 80 kg people, a factor 1 fall put about 4 kN on the climber, 2 kN on the belayer and 6 kN on the top piece. A quad adapts to changes in direction but shock-loads the other point if one fails. In 2019 a three-piece trad anchor on Long Dong's #313 pulled out completely as two climbers weighted it.
YDS, French, and UIAA grades measure only how hard the climbing is, not how well it protects. The British grade folds protection into its E grade; the American system adds an R or X after the number. Conversion tables are approximate: Mountain Project pairs 5.10a with E1 5a, while the BMC says E1 usually goes with 5b. Rockfax suggests being solid on sport 6b before trying E1 trad.
Multi-pitch means repeating single-pitch tasks in mid-air: the leader reaches the stance, builds the belay, brings up the second, changes over and sets off again. Petzl's changeover: clove hitch to each anchor, clip a directional, take in rope, install the REVERSO and belay the second; when the second arrives, move the device to the belayer's harness and keep the brake-strand knot until the new leader clips the directional. The highest load on a belay comes from a leader falling just after leaving it. Most Long Dong routes labeled P1/P2 are trad.
Start with the simplest option: communicate, lower, call 119 in Taiwan (no signal: dial 112 and press 9). Escaping the belay, ascending the rope and hauling systems come last. In a 2013 review of the previous decade, the AAC found more than half of lowering accidents involved the rope end passing through the belay device. In the 2019 Marmolada accident at Long Dong, more than 20 climbers helped bring the injured climber down before a boat transfer to hospital. Technical rescue has to be learned in a course: Adventure Taiwan, ZA, Wild Lily Rocks and Learn from the Mountain all teach related skills.
The standard trad progression: be a competent top-rope climber and lead belayer with some sport leading → place gear on the ground → second → mock lead → lead for real. Courses in Taiwan set prerequisites in the same order; for example, Adventure Taiwan's single-pitch trad course is 2 days for NT$6,000 and requires lead experience (checked 2026-10-17). The AAC reports that more than half of lowering accidents happen when the rope end runs through the belay device, which a knot in the end prevents.
In sport climbing the protection is pre-drilled bolts; in trad the leader places nuts and cams on the way up and the second removes them. TOCC's Long Dong route database (checked 2026-10-17) lists 325 trad and 209 sport routes, and among routes graded 5.9 and under, 182 are trad and only 12 are sport. The limestone crags in the south (Kenting, Shoushan, Guanziling) are all sport.
Sandstone has cracks you can protect: Long Dong has 325 trad and 209 sport routes. The limestone crags of Kenting, Shoushan, and Guanziling are almost all sport. Long Dong's Grand Auditorium closes 02/10–06/30 each year for nesting falcons. Shoushan allows climbing only at Yixiantian, by online application 90 to 3 days ahead. Kenting bans climbing at Dajianshan, Frog Rock, and Sail Rock, with a NT$3,000 fine. Taroko allows climbing only in areas its park headquarters designates.
A nut wedges into a constriction; a cam turns a downward pull into outward pressure and friction. Standard minimums: 5 kN for cams, 2 kN for nuts, but read the rating on the unit. A good placement needs solid rock, the right size (cam lobes about 50–90% retracted), and alignment with the direction of pull. At Defulan, Miruku (5.11b) lists "small cams, nuts" and Genesis (5.9+) lists "single rack to #2".
Tonai-kabe (藤内壁), the granite crag on the north face of Mt. Gozaisho in Komono, Mie, is known for long multi-pitch lines on Maeone and Nakaone. ROCKTOPO lists 124 routes (79 face, 36 crack, 9 multi-pitch), and both Japanese sites give April–November as the season. Take the Kintetsu line to Yunoyama-Onsen Station, a bus to the Gozaisho Ropeway stop, then about an hour up the Ura-michi trail past Tonai Hut.
Jogasaki is a lava sea cliff in Ito, Shizuoka: andesite, mostly trad crack climbing plus sport routes and bouldering. ROCKTOPO lists 494 routes (255 cracks). Best from December to April, reached on foot from Futo, Jogasaki-Kaigan or Izu-Kogen stations on the Izukyu line. Seaside needs a rappel in and a climb back out, and the crag is not officially sanctioned, so a run of accidents could get it closed.
A granite crag in Hokuto, Yamanashi: ROCKTOPO lists 733 routes (371 cracks, 128 multi-pitch) plus 539 problems at Mizugakiyama Boulder. Season is April–November and the forest road closes in winter. The seasonal bus from JR Nirasaki Station does not reach the Mizugakiyama Nature Park where climbers park.
Odo Kaigan is a granite sea-cliff crag at Shikoku’s southwest tip, mostly for trad crack climbing; easy grades still require anchor and retreat skills. Prioritize November to March and access by car, then check your sector’s tides, road access, and way back to the clifftop.
Granite crags around Mawarime-daira in Kawakami, Nagano. ROCKTOPO lists 1,055 routes (sport, crack, multi-pitch) plus 611 boulder problems. ROCKTOPO gives April–November, CLIMBING-net May–October; the campground sits around 1,600 m and gets cold in spring and autumn. The nearest station is Shinano-Kawakami on the JR Koumi Line, then a village bus to Kawahake.
A granite crag in Tateyama, Toyama, with 51 routes on ROCKTOPO (46 face, 5 crack), mostly 5.10s. CLIMBING-net gives the season as early April to late November, but the Shomyo Road gate at Katsuradai officially opens only from late April to late November, and only in daytime. The nearest station is Tateyama on the Toyama Chiho Railway; the bus timetable lists no stop near the crag.