This year was the first time I spent the summer in Yangshuo and with temperatures reaching to the high 30’s, (90+ degrees for those across the Atlantic), climbing conditions where not exactly what you would call ‘primo’. Climbing at crags like Lei Pi Shan and Riverside, offer shade from the relentless sun, however the soaring humidity levels would hamper most attemps to climb, leaving you in a sweaty mess and hating your life a little bit. However, every cloud has a silver lining and with the hot temps and lack of rain fall, Moon Hill’s impressive tufa system finally got a chance to dry out after all the spring rain.

The position of Moon Hill makes it the perfect summer crag, sitting proud on top of a karst leaves it fairly exposed and is gifted with a good breeze through out the day, staying much cooler than many of the other crags. It is also in the shade for most of the day, with only a few routes seeing the sun for the final hours at sunset, where vivid orange’s and red’s are cast across the arch. I had my eye on two particular routes that climb through either side of the arch. Lunar Tick is an impressive line, breaking leftwards from the fantastic Over The Moon, following a tufa system across the steepest part of the roof and goes at 8a. The other was Red Dragon, a Todd Skinner classic, consisting of steep, technical climbing, bat hangs and a heart breaker crux at the chains, with the grade of 8a+.

I set about getting to work on Red Dragon first. I had already had a session on it last year, where I fell at the start of the final crux before it got wet for the rest of that trip.

After a session of reaquainting myself with the moves and coming up with what seemed like a solid sequence, I was ready to tie in for a red point attempt. The route its self breaks down to a 7b+ first pitch to an ok rest, followed by big moves on good holds in steep terrain to a bat hang rest that isn’t so great. Up to there it is around 7c+ but then you arrive at the V6 crux consisting of big moves between small tufa pinches and thin pockets before the anchor.

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