Rock climbing in Laos
Rock climbing - a "must-do" in Lao! Unbelivable that rock climbing in Lao started as recently as in 2002. But Lao opened principal the borders for tourism in 1987. It took another 15 years that the first climbers got the permit to bolt in routes. Year by year new routes have been bolted, mainly by Ger-mans, French, Polish or Americans. Significantly involved was Green Discovery Lao who helped to get permissions and bring forward the climbing.

The countless Karst mountains all over Lao are inviting you to brilliant climbing on wonderful limestone with extraordinary structures and formations. Until nowthere are more than 250 routes in Lao, most of them in Vang Vieng and Thakhek.

Short history of rock climbing in Thakhek
Volker and Isabelle Schöffl from Germany discovered the walls near to Thakhek. With the help of Green Discovery they got the permit to open a climbing area. In January 2010 Volker lead a group of 17 people who bolted in the first 50 routes (sectors Hilton, Elephant wall, Roof left and right, Honeymoon, Schöffl Block and Methan). After the climbers magazine "Klettern" reported about the bolting in Thakhek, the area fast became well-known. Many climbers came here in the first year, so as Uli and Tanja Weidner.

Very spontanously they decided to move to Thakhek and establish a climbers camp. In collaboration with Green Discovery the project will start in October 2011. In February and March 2011 Uli and Tanja opened the new sectors 'Worldtrip' and 'Climbers Home'. There is endless potential for further route development within and around the area of the Climbers Home, so there will be many more routes in the future.