Jesselton

Jesselton is an interesting place. Locked away in a secluded housing area (you have to get past the guard house so try not to enter in too large a convoy of cars), it’s a pretty scenic climbing spot.

Jesselton offers a slabby, granite rock face that will challenge your balance and your leg power.

How to get there (thanks Eugene for the map):

There isn’t a lot of information on Jesselton and it obviously hasn’t changed much over the years. All the route information are the same regardless of whether you check Rock Climbing – Jesselton, The Rockpod – Jesselton, or Nomad Adventure – Jesselton.

Route Descriptions:

1. I Hope You Get Fat, 6b, 7m, 3 bolts

2. Sister Psychosis, 6b+, 7m, 3 bolts

3. You, Me & A Dog Named Blue, 6a, 7m, 3 bolts
Note: Route 1,2,3 share the same anchor.

4. The Cream of Extreme, 6b+, 9m, 4 bolts

5. From London with Love, 6b, 9m, 4 bolts

6. The Tooth, 6b, 12m, 5 bolts

7. Dead Monkey, 6a, 12m, 7 bolts
Note: Routes 6 & 7 share the same anchor.

8. No Man’s Land, 7a+, 17m, 7 bolts

There’s been a comment that “Dead Monkey” is actually a 5C, but I beg to differ. Unless you consider “crimps” within the repertoire of a 5C climber, I don’t really think it’s fair to label this 5C. At least, back when I was learning to climb 5C, I didn’t even know what a crimp was let alone recognise a hold that was a crimp.

A pretty good depiction of this truth would be the scenario when I was leading “Dead Monkey” and looking for the next hold to get up. Eugene, who was the only one who had ever climbed the route, was yelling beta from the ground.

Eugene: There’s a hold right in front of you
Me: Where? Where?
Eugene: It’s right at your face!
Me: This!? You call this a hold?