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To Tell or Not to Tell

The dilemma of the secret spot. 

Just you and your best friends. Mix in a chalkless crag primed for first ascents, or a secluded beach with nothing but sand and waves, or miles of untouched trails, and you have perfection. 

two men standing on top of the mountain

No annoying dog barking at nothing and everything. No angry, obnoxious music about how tough someone is and how much money they have. No one littering or leaving their cigarette butts on the ground. No one else ruining perfection. 

Being the adventurous tribe of people that they are, veteran climbers, surfers, mountain bikers, and other Earth-letes commonly seek out the secret spot. It’s a spot where they can go to get away from everything and everyone else. It’s a spot where they don’t have to wait for routes, share waves, or slow down for the person in front of them. It’s a special spot on this great big Earth where they can feel at home. The problem is sometimes the secret spot is so special that they want to tell everyone else. It’s like a juicy bit of gossip that you know you should keep to yourself, but you’re just dying to tell someone. 

I’ve seen friendships fizzle because of these secrets. One person wants to share it with the rest of the community, and the other wants to keep it hush hush. One person feels like the other is being a selfish territorial elitist by not telling anyone, and the other believes that most people can’t be trusted to respect the spot. Each side has valid reasons, but when one considers everything involved with a secret, it might give you more incentive to keep things confidential. 

Many don’t know how much time and effort goes into finding and developing a secret spot. The process of finding a new sport climbing area, in particular, is like a part-time job that you pay to do. Firstly, you can travel hundreds of kilometers searching for an area. Most of the time you’re working on a hunch – I’ve risked weekends hiking through thick brush because I thought I saw a cliff from the highway. Usually, once you get to the crag it’s a choss pile with rock that crumbles to the touch. However, if you get super lucky and the rock is solid, then the next step is to clean the crag. This normally involves multiple days of hanging in your harness, brushing moss off the holds, and prying off dangerous loose blocks with a crowbar. Once the route is safe and clean enough to climb, out come the drill and bolts. Finally, after hours of sweat and toil, the route is ready to be climbed, and you hope it’s not so hard that you can’t climb it or so easy that you send it first try. 

The process is similar for other Earth-letics, too. In surfing, there’s a lot of luck involved with timing the weather. Having a degree in meteorology kind of helps, but you never know until boots hit the ground, and you make the long journey to the spot. Often on these recon missions, you end up just watching the ocean; but at least you’re watching at the ocean. In mountain biking, there’s so much shovelling and building. Builders are often creating hundreds of meters of trails. It’s basically road construction with hand tools.  

With all the effort that goes into finding and developing a secret spot, one would wonder: “Why do it all?” Depending on who you talk to, the answers vary. Some believe the more effort that you put into something, the more you will love it. Others love being first: climbing the first ascent, carving the first turns down a snowy slope, catching the first wave at sunrise, or being the first to huck the big jump. There’s an intrinsic excitement to being first. 

woman in pink tank top sitting at the table

Then there are others like myself who love the intimacy of finding and developing a secret spot. It’s like building a relationship: a chance meeting, a few dates, a lot of effort, and then you climb all over each other (never forget the physical part of a relationship). From the intimacy, there comes a special sense of belonging and privilege, as if the secret spot was made just for you. 

All over the world there are spaces that you have to share, accommodate, and compromise with others; and one should share, accommodate, and compromise. It’s how a society becomes decent and cooperative, and how things get done. But there are people who don’t understand how to share, accommodate, and compromise no matter how much you ask, and from those people, I like to get away every now and then.

I understand the guilty pleasure of telling secrets. Sharing secrets is a great way to create intimacy with someone; especially someone you want to impress. In her book, The Serious Business of Small Talk, Carol Fleming points out that sharing secrets “bestows a sense of kindred spirits.” Telling another climber, mountain biker, or surfer about an unknown, amazing area that you know is a way to legitimize your place in the community. 

Furthermore, revealing a secret spot may be unintentional. Highly extroverted and talkative folks may accidentally let the secret slip out. In a moment of awkward silence, between two strangers sitting around a campfire and who only have their surfing, biking, or climbing in common, one might say, “Hey, have you heard about this cool new spot in …?” Secrets just don’t usually stay hidden for very long. As the playwright Jean Raacine so simply put, “There are no secrets that time does not reveal.” 

Despite the best efforts of even the most fastidious secret-keeper, if the secret spot is good enough, it will most likely be found by another adventurous Earth-lete. That is the nature of the beast: to roam and seek out the best spots on Earth. But, until time does catch up to the secret, enjoy that secret as much as possible. Be grateful for the hidden gems that the Earth reveals to you, be respectful of the place, and when the others do come, try to welcome them with open arms, and lead by example. Then, maybe they’ll stay there long enough for you to find the next secret spot. 

Stoked to know about this secret crag.
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Athlete Assistance Program Launch Party

AAP Launch Party!

Excited about the coming of spring? Stoked to get outside? Jazzed to smell the honey-sweet fragrance of budding flowers? Enlivened by the long-awaited warm radiance of the sunshine during these ever-lengthening days? Come celebrate spring with team iGK at the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) Launch Party!

What's the AAP? Click here to find out how iGuideKorea is making South Korean mountain biking events more accessible for everyone. 

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Daejeon’s Spring Flower Bike Rides

A guide to Daejeon’s best mountain bike areas to enjoy spring’s flowers.

The lovely city of Daejeon, during the fantastic spring months, is home to some of the most garish and dynamic natural performances the floral world can offer up. Riding a bike, especially a mountain bike, is a great way to explore the natural environment surrounding and within our beautiful city and catch a glimpse of some of the most exciting and well-hidden vantages of this display. The parade of colors lasts from mid March through mid June, always evolving: First comes the sharp yellow vanguard of forsythia, which slowly blends into the gentle pink of the azaleas. These are joined my the shockingly white and cream petals of the cherries and other fruiting trees. Finally, crimson and purple are offered up from the bushy azaleas and roses late in the season. Just as Daejeon’s foliage is diverse and dynamic, so are its trails: Different mountains and trails in town are famous for different types of spring foliage. Let’s take a tour of some of the best. Read More

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iGuideKorea’s Podcast Episode 7: Interview with Mountaineer Ahn, Chiyoung

This is Episode 7 of the iGuideKorea podcast. In this month’s episode, we interview Ahn, Chiyoung, one of South Korea's most prominent mountaineers. I met Chiyoung back in 2005 where we did our first Himalayan expedition together. Since then he climbed his way to the forefront of the scene with ascents of Everest  and impressive first ascents that led to 2 Piolet D’or Asia Awards (the Piolet D’Or Asia or the “Asian Golden Ice Axe Award” is given to the most outstanding mountaineering achievements of the year). Chiyoung won his first award in 2012 for the first ascent of Himjung, 7140m, at the time the tallest unclimbed mountain in the Himalayas. He recieved his second award by summiting Gasherbrum V, 7147 meters. There had been multiple failed attempts of Gasherbrum V since 1978 until Chiyoung’s successful ascent in 2014. the Aplinist Magainze calling it a “historic feat.” 

In this interview we learn a more about Chiyoung’s climbing background. We also hear about how he approaches a mountaineering project and his advice for people interested in becoming a mountaineer. Due to Chiyoung’s limited English, iGuideKorea’s assistant guide, Chanhyung, has done the voice over.

In this episode we talk to Chiyoung about:

  • How he approaches a mountaineering project,
  • His  advice for people interested in becoming a mountaineer,
  • And his favourite climbing areas and some route recommendations.

 

Here are a few links to information we talked about in the interview:

See you out there!

IGUIDEKOREA’S PODCAST EPISODE 7: INTERVIEW WITH MOUNTAINEER AHN, CHIYOUNG


Production of this podcast was done by BoomBoom:

https://www.boomboomaudiovideo.com

For Audio Recording / Mixing / Editing go to:

http://www.boomboomaudiovideo.com

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iGuideKorea’s Podcast Episode 6: Dong-il Ryu Interview – Author of Climb: South Korea’s Climbing Guidebook

This is Episode 6 of the iGuideKorea podcast. In this episode, we hear from Dong-il Ryu the author of Climb, the only English rock climbing guidebook for all of South Korea. Climbing since the eighties, Dong-il is a walking encyclopedia for rock climbing in the country, and he has experienced some amazing adventures that he shares with us in this episode. In addition to doing translation work for the early Reel Rock Films, he is the main contributor to thecrag.com, an online global rock climbing guide. An avid climber, Dong-il’s writings and Facebook invitations to go climbing has opened up Korean rock climbing to expats, tourists and really the world. It was a great pleasure interviewing him and I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did:

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iGuideKorea’s Podcast Episode 5: Downhill Mountain Biking and Yongpyong Mountain Bike Park

This is episode 5 of the iGuideKorea podcast. In this month’s episode, we interview the CEO of More Korea and the YongPyong Mountain Bike Park, Woon-kwang Beck or simply Beck. Beck runs the only chairlift-access downhill mountain bike park in South Korea. Located at YongPyong Resort, one of the venues for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the mountain bike park had simple beginnings with only 2 major trails. Four years and lots of digging later, Beck has transformed the resort into an adventure destination. His efforts have attracted local and international attention including visits from the legendary Austrian biker, Marcus Stockl who established the world speed record at 167.6km/hr, and French slopestyle specialist Yannick Granieri. Yannick came to Yongpyong with Eurosport ahead of the 2018 Olympics and made a video at the mountain bike park (the link to the video is below). Beck is a super friendly and motivated biker who truly wants to see South Korea’s mountain biking reach its potential.

Read More

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iGuideKorea’s Podcast Episode 3: Mountain Biking in South Korea with Mike Moses

iGuideKorea’s Podcast Episode 3: Mountain Biking in South Korea with Mike Moses

In this episode, I have iGuideKorea’s mountain bike guide, Mike Moses, to help me out. We talk about what mountain bike is like in South Korea and the differences with North America. We also give some information about popular mountain bike parks. And for those of you interested in reserving an iGuideKorea Mountain Bike Tour, we give an overview of what you can expect with us. If you’d like more information on any of the topics we talk about today, don’t hesitate to email Eddy Park at igk@iguidekorea.com.

Enjoy!