woolsanam climbing

Team of 6, from Seoul 5 and 1 from Wontong got together at Sokcho in the morning of June 19th 2012 to scale the .  Won Jongmin, Jae Haak Youn, Jaeshik Sohn, Yang Joon Jeon,

Joon Gyo Chung from Kolon Climbing School and Seung Mo Shin from New Jersey, U.S.A. were

the team members for the day.  Seung Shin scaled the rock precipice in the summer of 1972, so

this visit will be his 40 years anniversary climbing of the crag.

In 1972, GyeU mountaineering club planned the climbing to apply big wall climbing tactics. So the

team applied yosemite climbing method that is regarded as the first time to use the tactics.

It took 4 days to finish the climbing with 5 pitches of free climbing and aided pitches. Overall

grade of the Woolsanam  North East Wall Crag viewed as 5.10C,A1.



The route remain still untrodden path and crags with quite rugged granite rock quality caused by
rainy weather pattern that is adjacent to the East Sea.  The eroded rock surface was quite brittle
like rotten cement.  However going up to upper crag, found quite rough and sharp crack and thin
ledges.  A few vegetated area provide natural and aesthetic value of the cliff.  The lower 3 pitches
provide traditional crag climbing that requires super cam protections.  From recent visit with
renewed works of revolting refreshed the route where it avandoned for more than 4 decades.

Seung Shin viewed the cliff, almost perpendicular have potential for new routes with thin slab
and thin crack that require highly technical rock climbing skill.   The main reasons of having
been avandoned the route was the approach from Seorak National Park acess from Seorak-dong.
The approach have to cover easy 40 minute trail walks and bushwhacking through densely
forested path.  The most interesting part of the 1 mile stretch of the beautiful granite rock  ridge
is the Inferno Gate that is formed colossal rock covered path that links the South Eastern part
of the rock and the North East side of the wall that is separated from the main wall.