Malawi - The Beginning

 I can now say that I have been bouldering outside in Malawi…and it was amazing!

Welcome to Malawi 6a+. The first boulder that I climbed in Malawi.
Matt actually did the first ascent but I got to pick the name.
Photo: Matt Fitton

I really didn’t know what to expect when I arrived here but was over the moon when I heard that Malawi’s first bouldering wall had just been built in Blantyre. Of course it became my mission to find this wall and more importantly, to find the climbers who had built it.

With the help of some friends I found myself on my way to the bouldering wall during my first week in Blantyre. Needless to say, I was blown away when I saw it. It is so much more than I was expecting to find and had a great variety of problems and angles. It felt so good to move and feel my forearms working again.

Malawi's first ever bouldering wall

The creators of this beauty are Jes and Matt, and The Mountain Club of Malawi have also given some support. The wall is located at a secondary school and once it’s fully finished, it will be used by the kids and other climbing enthusiasts. Matt and Jes have also been exploring some of the local climbing and that’s where the real adventure begins…

Soche is a large hill just South of Blantyre that is covered in boulders.

Soche, Blantyre

This picture isn't great I know, but if you look a bit closer
 you will see a hillside covered in boulders just waiting to be climbed

The rock is great - granite and grippy but not too rough on the skin. It was generally very solid other than the occasional dodgy looking flake. There is so much rock there! Only a tiny proportion has been explored as far as we know and the guys are in the process of putting together a guide.

Great views over Blantyre city

It was a great day out and I’ve never had the experience of climbing on fresh ground before. We tried some that have already been developed and also explored some new boulders. Looking around, deciding which boulders looked good and trying to find a path to them was a lot of fun. As rainy season has just ended, the smaller paths are totally overgrown but equipped with a panga (machete) we made our way to a new area.

Step 1: Pick some boulders and select a path

Step 2: Come prepared

Step 3...

To add to the atmosphere, the hill is actually where a large number of people go to pray, so don’t be surprised to hear preaching and singing in the background, and some areas of boulders are best left to worshipers.

Soche is also a religious site

Although we didn’t have any problems, I would advise women to cover up their knees as a minimum to avoid comments or causing offence. In general, you are just greeted by lots of Malawians on their way to pray as you head up to the boulders. 

Matt on pop-off senior, 6b

Pop-off senior, I caught it eventually!
Photo: Matt Fitton

The scope for developing the bouldering is huge and I feel so lucky that I happen to be in an area with so much potential. It doesn’t look like I’ll be struggling to fill up my time off that’s for sure!

Sunset over Blantyre