“Woofstuck is in Huu Lung as all the crags we’ve developed, and at the moment my favourite is “L’entrée des Artistes”; a new crag we bolted last January.”

Steep, long, and crimpy

Jean Verly is the founder and director of VietClimb, the first indoor bouldering gym in Hanoi in 2011.  A climbing fan himself since he was ten years old he came to Vietnam from France in 2006 to find out more about his roots. Since then he’s been working on building the climbing community in Vietnam and in particular in finding climbing and bouldering routes in Huu Long.  VietClimb now does guided climbs in Huu Lung, Cat Ba and Quoc Oai and it’s to Huu Lung that Jean’s thoughts turn when we ask him what’s his favourite climb.

“To be honest it’s a tricky question, I don’t really like to repeat routes, so my favourites are usually the ones I haven’t sent yet.”

“Woofstuck  is in Huu Lung as all the crags we’ve developed, and at the moment my favourite is “L’entrée des Artistes”; a new crag we bolted last January. It’s sustained all the way up in a steep wall on small crimps and it’s a 7c+/8a.

And why does Jean like it so much?  “It’s steep, long, and crimpy.”

Words by Steve Shipside.