A brief introduction to the activity that lies between hiking and rock climbing. Increasing the difficulty on routes good for the dry season.

For winter months or people who do not feel comfortable yet with wet options (streams or coasteering). Scrambling starts with routes that require you to use your hands a bit. Add more vertical terrain and you are moving to grade two & three scrambling that can get dangerous fast if without sufficient skills and gear.

Clothes – Gear – Technique – Route progression

Clothes. Full article with clothes information. Summarizing, use fast-drying, non-chafing fabrics. Some of my friends like to go in shorts and t-shirts. It is not my case. I like my skin to be well covered, in case we find any bushy section or I need to tight chimney climb up or down. So, long stretchy pants and arm-covering sleeves are ideal for me. A few buddies like to use knee and elbow pads instead.

We want the best traction shoes. Those usually are approach shoes with smaller lugs and quite some contact surface. You might want shoes with reinforced upper to avoid early wear. Five Tennies, Sportiva TX series and alike.

Full shoe information article.

Additional gear. Gloves. From the most to the least protective that I usually see in our outings.

I like the latter type, with no finger cover, so that I can feel the rocks. I would not suggest the middle ones to anyone. If you want to go full cover, go for the upper model and snug, so that you can feel the rocks as much as possible.

We have friends who use proper climbing gloves like the ones above. You can find different finger styles. The Singing Rock upper left pair is used by the HKOutsiders team. They don’t fit me, though. The gloves need to be snug enough but without any painful/uncomfortable pressure points. I tried different sizes and brands, but I was not comfortable with any and ended up buying the cheapo gym gloves from Decathlon again. They fit me perfectly, although not as durable. When hard bush walking, I bring within the pruners bag an extra pair, full finger cover, to avoid cuts and thorns on my fingertips.

Quite a few of our climbing friends go barehanded while scrambling. Best rock feel, but you better have well-trained hard-skinned hands.

A helmet to avoid being hit by rocks dropped by hikers above you can be advisable depending on the route. I would bring at least a rope for anything tagged as scrambling in this web. Usually, the ropes I bring are climbing type, but short and thin so that they are not too heavy, up to a max of 25m 7mm one.

On a few occasions, we bring machetes or pruning scissors to open our way in the most jungle-like routes.

Some old scrambling routes have been bolted in recent years. Devil’s Peak, for example. For those I would bring a carabiner. You could also consider bringing a light harness, above all if you have very different level buddies in your group. The best climbers could help the weaker ones that way. Out of the scope of this post is how to secure and belay a buddy. Attend a proper rope course for that. Ben Wo (WildernessExplorersHK) and others can provide you.

The requirements for your backpack are simpler than for wet activities. Go for something not too bulky, with sternum & waist straps, so that it stays as attached to your body as possible. I most frequently use a vest type. But any fit day backpack can work. Full article about bags.

I take my pics with the phone. In this activity, a waterproof case is not necessary. But I do use a hard case to protect it from potential hits while scrambling. For the last years I also bring a GoPro. As a backup camera and also to record way more videos. For that, eventually, I found that the DJI Bite Mount is a good option.

It is small enough that I can bring the full thing in my trousers side pocket (with a tiny carabiner attached to the trousers belt loop that I can link to the leash for extra security) and every time I want to record anything I just put it in my mouth and I have my hands free to scramble, etc. (full tech post).

Just be cautious with all these gadgets and anything that could be dangling from your backpack. You don’t want anything bothering you while you are in a tricky scrambling section. Anything that could get stuck can be dangerous. In some sections, we might even remove the backpack and pass it from one to the other by hand or using the rope. For example, here Denvy was not sure how to scramble the upper section.

I removed the backpack and chimney climbed it. You can see the technique clearly in this video.

Before trying that, you should be comfortable scrambling something easier. A video summarizing the main basic concepts.

If you want to go to the next level, increasing difficulty, you can find tons of videos on Youtube with climbing technique, for example:

There is a nice concept in climbing called “problem-solving”. The problem is the wall in front of you where different routes might be optimal. Depending on your body size, flexibility, strength, technique, and others, your best way up might not be your buddies’. Practice in a safe environment and increase your outing difficulty slowly.

Scrambling routes progression

You could start with something easy like any of the various paths up Dog’s Teeth. Relatively simple but needing to use your hands a bit.

Even just here, a few friends of mine discovered that they had vertigo and they did not enjoy it at all. Just see if you are comfortable and build your confidence in similar routes for a while. There are tons of routes like this one all over Hong Kong. Teapot ridge, easy Lion Tail options, Beacon Hill, the Hunchback, D’Aguilar peninsula, etc.

I would go to the various rock forests after: Luk Chau, for example, for the easier version and the Wo Yang Shan area later.

Try to find the easiest ways up initially, even if that means tracing back a few times. You could visit the same area and try to scramble it in different ways. Your first time, you could join HKOutsiders for an easy guided version in Luk Chau. They do other scrambling routes, too.

The next step would be higher vertical walls but with good hand and footholds on good quality rock. For example, Tsing Tip or the easy walls in Chi Ma Wan. Already a bit spicier.

You could move to slabs later. Not completely vertical walls but with smaller or no holds. Usually smooth granite or sandstone with good friction. Tai Ho slab, for example.

You need to rely on the friction of the shoes’ outsole, balancing, and body positioning more than strength. It can be mentally tricky. If you stop trusting the grip of your shoes mid way you are screwed. Here, Summer having problems on the slab in Ma On Shan, after she decided to try a different way up instead of following me.

Luckily, I had been there before, I knew the “correct” beta, and I had the rope with me. Since there are not especially good anchors to tie the rope, I used some thicker bushes and myself as an anchor. She only needed to feel the tension on the rope and “remove” a few kilograms of gravity to come up more easily.

And then I would go for all the perilous route classics of Hong Kong: Inverted Wrist, Crouching Dragon, Devil’s Peak, Feng Bi, and alike. Can you go more difficult? For sure. Have you watched Alex Honnold free-soloing el Cap? 😉 Try to assess honestly your skills and have a plan B, including who could rescue you… You have DiazMan’s videos from wildconquerors, among others, if you really want more ideas.

Be safe out there!