Mountain Project Logo
To save paper & ink, use the [Hide] controls next to photos and comments so you only print what you need.

Humanality

5.10c/d, Sport, 300 ft (91 m), 5 pitches,  Avg: 3.8 from 205 votes
FA: Greg Collum, Trevor Massiah
International > Asia > Thailand > S - Islands & B… > Laem Phra Nang… > Tonsai Bay > Tonsai Beach (F… > Ladder Routes (Humana…
Warning Access Issue: Warning! Stainless steel bolts are suspect near the coast! DetailsDrop down

Description

Great route with amazing exposure on the crux pitch. This route gets afternoon sun so it's best done in the morning. It's also very popular so an early start is recommended.

The pitches are thus:

p1: 6a (10a) Climb out right from the cave and then straight up about 20m. Do an easy hand traverse left to get to the belay anchor.

p2: 6b (10c) Climb straight up from the belay anchor. Many people seem to use some big stems towards the top of the pitch but there are other ways to do the crux. Once you're on easy terrain you'll see two anchors. Head to the one up and to the left.

p3: 6b+ (10d) The money pitch. From the anchor climb straight up past about five clips and then start a rising traverse to the right. The wall eventually steepens and the holds start to disappear and progress would seem to be thwarted. All is not lost: look behind you and use the obvious feature. You'll know what I mean when you're up there. A couple more clips and a small traverse past the last bolt gets you to an anchor in a small cave. It's well protected from the sun but is extremely slippery.

p4: 6b (10c) Make some hard moves right off the belay and head straight up for about 20m to the next anchor.

p5: 6a (10a) We didn't do this pitch and it's apparently not frequently done. The rock quality is suspect and because it traverses the descent is made more difficult by doing this pitch.

Location

The route is located on the Tonsai Wall and starts near the Freedom Bar. Since the route doesn't start on the ground, a couple of approach pitches are required. The guidebooks indicate that the route is approached by climbing a banyan tree about 50m left of the route and then traversing right. The preferred way now is to climb the ladder by the bar, head to your left before the second ladder, go up through a cave, and then traverse to the left (clipping a couple of bolts along the way) to a belay anchor. One more approach pitch is required. It's rated 6a (10a) but felt harder to us. Climb straight up past four clips and then traverse right about 20 feet to a belay anchor in a cave. You're now at the start of the route.

The descent: we descended from the top of the fourth pitch and did two single-rope rappels to get to the anchor atop the second pitch and then one double-rope rappel to the ground. The last rappel will put you on the patio of the Freedom Bar. The route can be rappelled with a single 60m rope but it's a pain to do it that way.

Protection

Bolts. Take a dozen draws and something for the anchors. The route has been completely rebolted with glue-ins and I don't remember clipping any expansion bolts along the way. The anchors are fully bolted and have equalized slings with rappel rings. We used a 60m rope. I doubt a 50m would work for the descent.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Humanality Topo. It is recommended to skip the final pitch whatever is left of it. All we saw after the amazing roof to pockets 10c pitch was some tat cord. Rapping down in 3 is recommended with a single rope. We used 70m.
[Hide Photo] Humanality Topo. It is recommended to skip the final pitch whatever is left of it. All we saw after the amazing roof to pockets 10c pitch was some tat cord. Rapping down in 3 is recommended with a…
The original start to Humanality. Photo taken in 1995
[Hide Photo] The original start to Humanality. Photo taken in 1995
Alex following the 3rd pitch
[Hide Photo] Alex following the 3rd pitch
Pitch 2!
[Hide Photo] Pitch 2!
Chris Andrew enjoying the opening pitches of Humanality.  Photo by Brett Christian. 2/2020
[Hide Photo] Chris Andrew enjoying the opening pitches of Humanality. Photo by Brett Christian. 2/2020
Last rap of Humanality brings you right to Freedom bar for a well deserved Chang!
[Hide Photo] Last rap of Humanality brings you right to Freedom bar for a well deserved Chang!
The view.  The bay and Freedom Bar below.
[Hide Photo] The view. The bay and Freedom Bar below.
Following the 4th (crux) pitch of Humanality.  I really enjoyed this climb, and did it 3 times in the month I was there.  Photo by Manny.
[Hide Photo] Following the 4th (crux) pitch of Humanality. I really enjoyed this climb, and did it 3 times in the month I was there. Photo by Manny.
Claire following the classic Humanality pitch!
[Hide Photo] Claire following the classic Humanality pitch!
Another shot of the exciting stem move.
[Hide Photo] Another shot of the exciting stem move.
climbing the 1 pitch
[Hide Photo] climbing the 1 pitch
The Gang onto of the last pitch after a full moon onsight.
[Hide Photo] The Gang onto of the last pitch after a full moon onsight.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

susan peplow
Joshua Tree
 
[Hide Comment] Unique route and worth the wait to get on it as there is often a line. As described, use the tree to gain access to the starting ledge. The start is part of the charm of the climb. Thankfully, I was convinced into leading the crux pitch. I was fortunate to climb the route with a guy who had done it before and knew I'd regret it if I didn't. Dec 20, 2006
Chris Perkins
vicenza, IT
  5.10
[Hide Comment] I was told not to use the tree as it is considered sacred. Climb the ladder and traverse up and left thru the small cave. Dec 24, 2006
Stan Pitcher
SLC, UT
 
[Hide Comment] What a great climb! Lots of fun climbing and spectacular views. Had the pleasure of leading two lovely Austrailian gals up it! Oct 5, 2007
Brennan Crellin
Sandy, UT
 
[Hide Comment] Often hoards of monkeys on this route in the early morning. Monkeys can seem aggressive. People have made the mistake of feeding them. Just pretend that you are calking back a slingshot and they will run away (you don't even need the slingshot), because they have aparantly been shot at enough also.

Rad climb, worth doing even with only a few day in Tonsai. Take a camera, climb in the morning, take a few slings to extend draws around roof out of cave. May 29, 2012
Darryl Styles
  5.10c
[Hide Comment] Such a good climb. It see's mega traffic, so a lot of hold are polished yet all are solid. Top pitch is getting better over time. Highly recommend this route. Any finishing off with a fresh coconut jewy is perfect. I found it a Solid 5.10b by Colorado (Shelf Road) and New Mexico Standards. Feb 28, 2013
Hannahlily
Mammoth Lakes, CA
 
[Hide Comment] Did this climb at night, it was absolutely amazing. I highly recommend doing this climb at night (make sure to bring a head torch!) Dec 9, 2013
Mike Holley
Boone, NC
 
[Hide Comment] Stellar route! We climbed it as two groups of two on a full moons eve. With a little help from our headlamps and the nearby bar lights as well as the ever jamming reggae tunes it was a super fun experience. Pretty mellow for the most part, the third pitch is where all the stalactite fun is at, yet each pitch provides something to be savored. The rappel can be a little tricky, we did it with two 70 meter ropes, but the last rap literally drops you off face first at the bar for a well deserved Chang!! Mar 26, 2014
Eric Thomas
Colorado
[Hide Comment] The pitch by pitch description is way off. I highly suggest getting a guidebook or consulting one of the many other climbers for beta because the mountain project description won't help. Dec 9, 2014
Mat J
Auburn, Ca
[Hide Comment] This route is so much fun. We did this route twice when we were there so we could swap the leads from the first run up.

Just a heads up, the second official pitch of climbing can go two ways through the crux. If you go left side of the bolts it seemed to be very awkward and strenuous 10d or 11a. Going on the right side of the bolts and through the roof is way more fun, less awkward, and about 10c. We watched many parties go left of the bolts and many of them fell or hung through that section. Nov 22, 2018
Jeff Edge
Bend, OR
 
[Hide Comment] Surprised no one has mentioned there is a separate rap route going straight down from the P5 belay easily done with a single 60. Very easy to find, no reason to do it any other way. On the final rappel (from a cool stalactite ledge above the freedom bar) consider saddlebagging your ropes or there's a good chance you'll throw them down into the sewage cesspool, and keep the noise on the roof down a little. Mar 15, 2019
Justin Headley
Tucson
 
[Hide Comment] Skip the last traversing pitch that nobody does. At the top of the pitch that starts in the cave(P4 in description), just rap straight down, and end up in the bar. 3 raps with a 70 (you can skip the cave anchor), or 4 raps with a 60. FWIW, I led the "crux" (stalactite) P3 and actually felt that while it was tricky, technical, and very heady, it was physically the easiest pitch on the route. P2 and P4 are more burly and physical. Great route. Not polished badly at all. Jun 21, 2019
Nate Ball

  5.10
[Hide Comment] Dan: Read the description, particularly "p5: 6a (10a) We didn't do this pitch and it's apparently not frequently done. The rock quality is suspect and because it traverses the descent is made more difficult by doing this pitch." As Justin mentioned below, stop at P4 and rap straight down with a single 60m.

Regarding topping-out this section of wall: no, nothing tops out this feature, and in fact there are (as far as I'm aware) zero true top-outs in Tonsai/Railay. Jul 10, 2019
Andy Ban
CO
 
[Hide Comment] As mentioned, the 3rd pitch is straight up amazing!! So unique and worth getting up early for. If you climb harder then 10+ you will giggle with joy the entire time. If you are a little hesitant leading unique limestone features or aren't solid on 5.10 you might be a bit intimidated.

Little more rap beta. Got down in 3 raps with a 70. In the final rap, from the stalagtite ledge, make sure you lower through the gap in the roof to the ground. Don't land on the roof. It's plenty strong (I think), but its a little weird getting off this rusty tin box. Jan 18, 2020
Tao Techakanon
Bangkok, Thighland
 
[Hide Comment] Finally had the chance to climb this after years of reading about it(Tonsai is dead now due to covid so there's finally no line up this thing)

I now see why it's a classic. Pretty fantastic climbing all throughout but with some weird-ish approach.

We did 3 rappels down with a single 70m rope. Jul 24, 2020
Tao Techakanon
Bangkok, Thighland
 
[Hide Comment] As of July 28th, 2020. the belay at the start of the wild tufa pitch received a new thread.

Courtesy of Faii and Dol. Jul 27, 2020
Bryan Williams
  5.10c/d
[Hide Comment] Wild route, very polished and varied. Stalactite pitch was by far the scariest to me but the pitch before and pitch after seemed much physically harder. Sep 30, 2024
Hangdog Hank
Leavenworth, WA
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] Great route but when comparing Tonsai moderate multis I think I preferred The Wave as it had much more tufa climbing.

P2 (as listed here) felt far and away the crux of the route much harder than the following 10d and 10c pitches imo. P3 is not very hard but it is wild and kinda scary (But super safe).

For the rappels, a 70m is required to skip the P4 belay anchor. The rappel is 35m’s plus rope stretch… a 68m rope will result in shenanigans Dec 27, 2024
Brandon Hamilton
Bozeman, MT
[Hide Comment] Belay from the big ledge just to your left as you climb up the ladder. From there you just make a short scramble to the belay at the base of a stalactite. Pull up the stalactite (5.10) then make a short traverse right across the polished but super low angle slab to another belay. Now you are at the base of pitch 1 in mountain projects description. We did not climb whole route and rappelled from top of P3 (money pitch) to a rap station just a little right of the second pitch. Then another clean rap to a big stalactite ledge. Then one last one to the Freedom Bar. Simple straight forward raps with one 70m rope. Started at 9AM-ish and finished around 12pm. Route was still in the shade after finishing on 1/2/24. Awesome climb. Missed all the crowds by starting “late” Jan 2, 2025
Quinn Turner
North Vancouver, BC
 
[Hide Comment] Last rappel worth saddle bagging ropes… got an earful from a hungover barkeep about waking him up with ropes hitting the roof! Wild climb. The “crux” pitch felt 5.9 with a tricky move back onto the wall, while the pitches before & after felt several grades harder. The exposure will get to you though! Worth splitting up the approach pitches from rope drag perspective. Get down in 3 easy raps with a 70. A single 70m rope stretching rappel from top of the last pitch will land on the ledge. Another full rap to hanging stalactite. One more to the ground (saddlebag here). Feb 17, 2025