Lightning Crack 5.13

Lightning Crack is a deep-water solo line on one of the limestone towers of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, graded 5.13. Climbers approach by boat and climb unroped directly above the sea, so the grade reflects not just the difficulty of the moves on steep, pocketed limestone but also the commitment of climbing without protection where a fall means a plunge into open water. It is cited as one of the harder established deep-water solos in the bay.

History

Ha Long Bay has been a deep-water soloing destination since the early 2000s, when climbers including Tim Emmett helped put the discipline there on the map, exploring lines on the bay's scattered limestone karsts. Specific first-ascent details for Lightning Crack were not found in the sources checked for this writeup.

On film

Vietnam's HARDEST Deep Water Solos | ft. Kyra Condie & Tim Emmett (2020), also released as the film Deep Water, follows Tim Emmett returning to Ha Long Bay to pass on his experience in the discipline to competition and bouldering specialist Kyra Condie. The film's central sequence documents Condie working and ultimately climbing Lightning Crack, framed as one of the hardest deep-water solos in the area, and covers the mental shift required to commit to hard movement with a water landing as the only protection.