Warning
It appears that someone has recently removed a number of bolt hangers and the abseiling chains from the top of the crag and many abseil stations on Lion Rock. Until further notice, climbers are advised to carry a pair of approach shoes with them and hike back down upon completion of their climb as there are currently few (no?) fixed anchors from which to secure ropes.
Hopefully common sense and normality will return to the crag soon and the perpetrators of said removal will replace the fixed equipment they’ve removed so the climbing community can continue to enjoy normal climbing conditions on this fine crag.
General
Dominating the skyline behind the Kowloon Peninsula, Lion Rock (so called because when viewed from certain angles the profile of the crag resembles that of a Lion) is probably Hong Kong’s best ‘mountain crag’. Although not huge, about 250ft at its tallest point, the granite cliff is perched high on a hillside well above the city, and with few other parties generally climbing there it’s easy to feel detached from the chaos of the crowds below.
Approach
From Kowloon side:
Take the MTR to Lok Fu Station and get a taxi to Lion Rock Country Park (Sze Tse San). Follow the road to the right of the park entrance gates for about 30m before heading up the hill on a well signposted footpath. Upon reaching a small shelter on the ridgeline take the upper right hand path (signposted to Lion Rock) and continue upwards. When approximately level with the toe of the crag a small dirt path breaks off right from the main track (at a small clearing in the footpath) and leads to the foot of the cliff. Approach time approx. 40 minutes.
From Sha Tin side:
Take the MTR to Sha Tin Station and get a taxi to Mong Fu Shek BBQ. From here follow the obvious footpath up the hill towards the crag. From the shelter follow the left hand path up the ridge and approach as for Kowloon side. Approach time approx. 45 minutes.
Routes
Lion Rock has two distinct faces: East and West – meaning that either sun or shade, whichever takes your fancy, can be sought throughout the day. The majority of routes are two to three pitches long and have bolt protection, although some may be quite run out over easy ground, these have been given French style sport climbing grades. Some traditional (trad) lines do still exist. Please keep them this way and avoid retro-bolting, Hong Kong has few enough trad lines as it is. These routes have been given British Trad Grades.
Download the latest PDF guide for the crag here
Smaller buttresses are also present to the left of the West Face and in the area beneath the East Face (Hind Paw Buttress).
I’m planning to hop on Gweilo as well. Do you think one 60m rope is enough to rap down? did you come down in two pitches. If so where did you come down from?
How many draws are necessary for the climbs here, such as Gweilo?
You need a full rack of draws; up to 20 and take some slings to reduce drag if you choose to run pitches together.
Thanks — we climbed it a couple weeks ago. We had about 12 draws and a couple slings. Linked p1+p2 (not counting first “approach” pitch) without much issue, just a couple slings to reduce drag. One other thing to note for visiting climbers is the bolts are usually very close together, making it very easy to downclimb (or just reach down) and backclean, so you probably don’t need as many draws as there are bolts.
m planning to hop on Gweilo as well. Do you think one 60m rope is enough to rap down? did you come down in two pitches. If so where did you come down from?
No need to rap. Just hike off on the hikers trail. If you did want to rap, 1 60m rope would be enough, but the route does traverse a bit so you might not end up coming down the same line, but there are anchors littered all over the face.