Insubong: Granite Multipitch Above Seoul, from Insu A to Chouinard B | Korea Climbing Crags

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As you gain height on Insubong, Seoul gradually opens up behind the trees. This granite peak in Bukhansan National Park makes a city stay and a full day of multipitch climbing possible on the same trip. A subway connection to the foot of the mountain, however, does not make it an introductory outdoor lead venue.

This guide helps you decide whether Insubong suits your team, when to go, how to approach without a car, and how Insu A, Chouinard B, the East Face classics and the south-face lines compare.

What kind of crag

인수봉 appears in English as Insubong or Insu-bong. It is the climbing peak, distinct from Baegundae (백운대), the neighboring summit reached by a popular hiking trail. Both names matter when navigating: reach the Baegundae trailhead first, then follow the approach toward Insubong.

The granite offers cracks, friction slabs, chimneys and steeper face climbing. Many routes require removable protection alongside fixed bolts and belay stations. A few visible bolts do not make a route suitable for a rack of quickdraws alone.

The master index in the 2012 Climb: Rock Climbing in Korea lists 51 routes for Insubong. Mont Blanc Lines' 2025 East Face topo has 43 numbered lines. One covers the broader crag in an older guide; the other selects lines on one face. The difference does not tell us how many routes have been added or removed.

The appeal is a full granite multipitch day while staying in Seoul. You still need to manage route finding, protection, team speed and the descent. Being able to climb 5.8 is different from leading a team through a 5.8 multipitch route. For a first visit, a partner or local guide familiar with your specific route and descent is more valuable than simply choosing the lowest number.

When to go

Rick Ruffin's account hosted by the Korean Alpine Club recommends spring and autumn, broadly mid-March through June and September through November. July and August are hot and wet; winter is cold. This is an undated historical account, useful for broad seasonal tradeoffs. Spring climbing still depends on that year's thaw restrictions.

The same account describes predominantly east-facing routes, with south- and west-facing options. The East Face receives morning sun: useful on a cold day, less comfortable in warm weather. Changing faces to escape the sun also changes the approach, route finding and potentially the descent. Decide that before setting out.

For an initial trip, aim for a dry spring or autumn day, then choose the date around access, temperature and wind. Winter adds icy approaches as well as cold hands: KNPS specifically warns of ice and the need for traction on the Baegundae hiking route. A sunny climbing face does not remove that approach problem.

Allow more time on weekends. Both the 2012 guide and the 2025 topo publisher describe crowds, and delays on popular lines affect your descent as well as the climb. Choose a weekday when possible and agree on a turnaround time before leaving the ground.

Getting there

Public transport

The official Seoul tourism page, checked in October 2026, directs visitors to Exit 2 of Bukhansan Ui (북한산우이), the terminus of the Ui–Sinseol Line. It also suggests a taxi from the station to the Baegun Visitor Center. Show the driver 백운대탐방지원센터, the Korean name of the Baegundae trailhead facility, rather than asking only for Bukhansan.

The tourism page's five-minute walk is to the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center, not the cliff. A taxi saves an uphill paved approach with climbing gear; the KNPS Baegundae course page lists roughly 2 km between the Ui area and Doseon Plaza.

KNPS gives 0.8 km and about 30 minutes from Baegundae Visitor Support Center to Harujae (하루재). Continue toward the Insu area, then use a route-specific topo for the final approach to your chosen face. The official page's full 1.9 km, 90-minute itinerary goes to the Baegundae hiking summit; it is not a universal approach time for Insubong climbs.

Driving

Locate 백운대탐방지원센터 / 도선광장 on the Ui side before setting out. Bukhansan has multiple entrances: reaching the same national park from another direction can leave you far from your intended East Face approach.

Parking

The entrance is near Doseonsa Temple, but temple-area parking should not be assumed to be an unrestricted all-day climbers' car park. The official course page checked in October 2026 does not establish current capacity or climber parking conditions. Confirm those with the manager before driving. KNPS also warns of crowds during major temple events. For a climbing-focused visit, subway plus taxi is a straightforward starting plan.

Rules before you go

Check notices for the named cliff and approach trail. The KNPS Bukhansan control page identifies specific affected areas. The partial restriction checked in October 2026 concerned a trail around Gucheon Valley, not a blanket closure of Insubong. Equally, a park remaining partly open does not prove your particular approach and cliff are open.

Recheck thaw notices before a spring trip. A 2026 notice reproduced by the Seoul Alpine Federation explicitly included Insubong and allowed changes depending on weather. It was that year's arrangement, not a recurring calendar to copy into a future itinerary.

Ask the Bukhansan office about the current declaration process. KNPS has a general rock-use application service, but its generic procedure does not establish how Insubong is currently handled. A 2025 Monthly Mountain report quoted KNPS describing the Bukhansan system at that time as voluntary reporting. Confirm the current named-rock requirements and how visitors without Korean mobile verification can comply. Do not transplant another national park's permit rules.

Fixed hardware also needs a current assessment. The 2012 guide warns about old bolts and runouts, while the 2025 topo records newer chained anchors. Neither guarantees every station you will encounter. Bring protection for the selected route and establish the ascent, rope configuration, descent and retreat options before leaving the ground. The route lengths below are not rappel-rope instructions.

For an emergency, call 119; the National Fire Agency's EMS information explicitly includes foreigners. Save the Korean crag and route names and offline maps, and preserve phone battery. Ask your own insurer whether trad climbing, multipitch climbing, search and rescue, medical treatment and repatriation are covered. A general travel-insurance label is insufficient: the BMC product summary, for example, specifies activity eligibility and exclusions. Your own policy controls your coverage.

Routes by level

YDS and V-grade conversions follow the Mountain Project international grade comparison chart and are approximate; "approx." marks grades the sources give without a/b/c (such as 4 or 5+). The original grade is the one that counts.

The grade tables above are a mixed collection, not an East Face route list. The beginner band includes everything the 2012 guide and theCrag's Insubong page list, including lines that need aid (A0/A1) and lines that are not on the East Face. Above that band it keeps only routes the 2012 guide and the 2025 East Face topo both cover, because there is no second source to cross-check. A leading "2025 ✓/—" in Notes says whether the route appears on the 2025 East Face topo; "—" does not mean the route is missing, only that the topo covers the East Face alone. Classic routes sit in their own section below, under a separate source rule.

These sources already use YDS, which is retained rather than reverse-converted to French grades; the YDS column repeats the original grade without a conversion. A multipitch grade describes climbing difficulty; A0, A1 and A2 denote aid and must not be dropped. Lengths and pitch counts mainly come from the 2012 guide and identify that version, rather than supplying current pitch or descent instructions.

Videos sit with their routes in the tables; select a thumbnail to open that route's list. Watch for version differences: two of the Insu A clips climb the 인수A 변형 (variation), not the original four pitches in the 2012 guide; the Wand clip is a three-pitch free version, not the guide's four-pitch length; and the Maninbo clip is a solo ascent without a belayer, whose description says he often uses ascenders, rather than demonstrating a conventional lead. Grades and route names in a video title describe that video's version; use the source column in the table to choose the line.

Beginner: up to 6a (YDS 5.10a and below)

For the easiest line, start with Lonely Road: theCrag calls it the easiest route on Insubong, 5.6 in six pitches. Pigeon is only a grade harder, but its third pitch is aid, so it is not a free route, and it is the main descent line. For classic moderate granite multipitch, compare Insu A and Chouinard B first. Both sources give 5.8. The old guide's Insu A is shorter; the longer Chouinard B puts more weight on team efficiency. "Beginner" here is a grade band, not a recommendation for a first outdoor lead.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Lonely Road / 고독의 길	5.6	5.6	350 m / 6 pitches	West face	2025 —; theCrag only, not in the 2012 guide or the East Face topo. theCrag calls it the easiest route on Insubong.	View videos (3)
Pigeon / 비둘기 (Pigeon Route)	5.7 A0 (theCrag); 5.6 A1 (2012)	5.7, plus A0	89 m / 4 pitches	West face	2025 —; both sources list it but disagree on the aid rating (A0/A1); the third pitch is aid. This is also the descent line.	View videos (3)
Insu A / 인수 A	5.8 (hardest)	5.8	115 m / 4 pitches	East Face	2025 ✓; length from 2012 guide; 2025 topo also gives 5.8.	View videos (3)
Chouinard B / 취나드 B	5.8 (hardest)	5.8	2012 version: 177 m / 5 pitches	East Face	2025 ✓; 2025 topo names Chouinard B–Kwibawi C; confirm the linkup and endpoint.	View videos (2)
Insu B / 인수 B	5.9 (hardest)	5.9	97 m / 3 pitches (2012); theCrag gives 6	Locate using guide	2025 —; single 2012 guide source; do not combine pitch counts from differently linked versions.	View videos (1)
Chouinard A / 취나드 A	5.10a (2025 topo, hardest)	5.10a	181 m / 6 pitches (2012)	East Face	2025 ✓; 2025 names Chouinard A–Kwibawi D. The 2012 overall grade is 5.10c but its listed pitches top out at 5.10a; its length is not spliced into the newer line.	View videos (2)

Intermediate: 6a+ to 6c+ (YDS 5.10b–5.11c)

Consider Wand if slab difficulty is a priority. The versions differ by a grade, so leave margin for the harder description. Maninbo is a 15 m short route in the old guide; plan it separately from a summit multipitch objective.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Wand / 봔트	5.10b (2025); 5.10c (2012)	5.10b / 5.10c	2012 version: 162 m / 4 pitches	East Face	2025 ✓; 2025 topo 5.10b versus 2012 guide 5.10c; length belongs to the old version.	View videos (2)
Maninbo / 만인보	5.11b	5.11b	15 m	East Face	2025 ✓; length from 2012 guide; 2025 topo also lists 5.11b.	View videos (1)

Advanced: 7a to 7c+ (YDS 5.11d–5.13a)

The older guide's Villa illustrates another side of harder Insubong multipitch: a free-climbing grade alongside aid sections. If you want an entirely free route, its 5.12a number is not the whole description. NEPA's video labels the same line southwest face 5.12b; that is the video's own record, not the 2012 guide version used in this table.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Villa / 빌라길	5.12a (hardest), plus A2	5.12a, plus A2	165 m / 6 pitches	Locate using guide	2025 —; single 2012 guide source; the last pitch is listed as A2. Not a fully free route description.	View videos (3)

Expert: 8a and up (YDS 5.13b and up)

The guide tables and 2025 East Face topo used here do not provide a verified route in this band. Names from other crags or unverified entries are not used to fill it. If this is your main sport-climbing grade range, compare other areas in the series and decide whether to reserve a separate day for Insubong multipitch.

Classic routes: East Face and south face

The grade tables above choose routes by difficulty. This section adds ten lines that Korean climbers commonly treat as Insubong classics. They do not all meet the two-source rule used above for the intermediate and harder bands, so they sit here rather than in those tables. The seven East Face lines follow the 2025 East Face topo for numbering and grade; lengths, pitch counts and first-ascent notes are checked against the 2012 guide, Monthly Mountain, Korean climbing media and the Imgok site’s Korean Rock Routes (1). The three lines on the south and southeast faces are not on the East Face topo and rely mainly on Monthly Mountain route reports and the same Imgok piece. The notes identify the source and any version conflict rather than presenting a single source as settled fact.

Classic does not mean easy. This section includes a 5.9 ridge and a 5.12b crack; choose by your trad, multipitch and descent ability, not the overall grade alone.

East Face classics

The 2025 East Face topo gives each of these lines a fixed number; its grade takes precedence. Where a length or pitch count comes from an older guide or report, it describes that version, not a promise about the pitch lengths you will find.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Notes	Videos
Crony / 크로니	5.9	5.9	237 m / 9 pitches	2025 East Face #3; opened by Crony Mountaineering Club (크로니산악회) in 1970. Older sources sometimes give 5.10a; the topo uses 5.9. The pitch-6 crack (about 21 m, the old write-up calls it "크로니의 백미", Crony’s finest) is the line’s signature; pitch 5 is the slab-pendulum.	View videos (1)
Insu Ridge / 인수리지	5.9	5.9	about 215 m / 7 pitches	2025 East Face #43; follows the north ridge from about 630 m to the summit, the only ridge route on Insubong. About 4 hours for a team of three; two 60 m ropes, five quickdraws and one set of cams.	View videos (1)
Amidong / 아미동	5.10a	5.10a	7 pitches	2025 East Face #1; opened in 1963 by 이동일 of the Academy Mountaineering Club. No reliable total length was found, so only the pitch count is given. It starts on the left side of the East Face, between Crony and Insu B.	View videos (1)
Medical School / 의대	5.10a A0	5.10a, plus A0	about 100–136 m / 5–6 pitches	2025 East Face #27; opened in 1971 by the Seoul National University medical school club. Older route data gives 136 m / 6 pitches; a 2022 50th-anniversary report gives 5 pitches and about 100 m. Pitch 2 (5.10a) is the crux and pitch 3 includes aid.	View videos (1)
Rescuer / 구조대	5.10a A0	5.10a, plus A0	12 pitches / about 300–360 m	2025 East Face #39; opened in 2010 by the Bukhansan police mountain rescue team, with 12 pitches of 25–30 m each. The topo gives 5.10a A0; the free version is about 5.11b. It has the most pitches, so time and retreat management matter more than the grade.	View videos (1)
PASI / 패시	5.10c	5.10c	139 m / 5 pitches	2025 East Face #20; pitches 3 and 4 are back-to-back 5.10c, alternating cracks and slabs. An endurance test for East Face 5.10 multipitch.	View videos (1)
Sanchonji / 산천지	5.11a	5.11a	119 m / 5 pitches	2025 East Face #21; pitch 2 is 5.10d and pitch 4 is 5.11a. The difficulties are concentrated on slabs and friction.	View videos (1)

South and southeast face classics

These three are not on the 2025 East Face topo. Their grades and lengths come mainly from Monthly Mountain route reports; they share this section because the East Face topo does not cover them, not because they belong to the same grade band.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Notes	Videos
Dongyang-gil / 동양길	5.10b	5.10b	209 m / 8 pitches	Southeast face; opened by Dongyang Mountaineering Club (동양산악회) in October 1969, first ascent by 이용대. Pitch 1 starts at 5.7, pitches 2 and 3 are 5.10b slabs, pitch 4 is a 35 m 5.8 crack, pitch 6 is aid and the last pitch is a 5.10a slab; it is not a fully free route. The Imgok book piece (Korean Rock Routes (1), 2012, 조윤성) announces 8 pitches / 209 m but describes only seven; community route tables list the full 8-pitch breakdown. The pitch-count description differs by source.	View videos (1)
Haneul-gil / 하늘길	5.10c	5.10c	190 m / 7 pitches	South face; opened by Ujeong Mountaineering Club in 1969. Pitches 1 and 2 are 5.10a cracks; pitches 5 and 7 are 5.10c. Pitch 1 is where most falls happen, not just the upper pitches.	View videos (1)
Georyong-gil / 거룡길	5.12b	5.12b	originally 200 m / 9 pitches, now usually 7	South face; opened in May 1972 by 장봉완, 김제훈, 고 전재운 (Monthly Mountain spells it "고 전재운씨") and others. Pitch 1 is the 5.12b crux; pitches 3 and 4 are 5.11b and pitch 6 is 5.11a. Pitch 3 has a pendulum and pitch 6 has old bolts.	View videos (1)

Route logs online

Beyond the guides, the topo and the magazine reports, Korean climbers’ blogs keep a batch of firsthand route logs. The most common entry point is a pair of same-family whole-face diagrams: 걸리’s blog “구름에 달가듯이” Insubong concept map (2018) and 도랫굽이’s front-face diagram (2012), which carry the route numbering and per-pitch tables (Dongyang-gil 8 pitches, Haneul-gil 187 m / 7, Amidong 90 m / 3); the Daegu WITH Climbing Center re-posted the same set in its Daum café in 2014. These tables come from the same underlying school-text compilation, not from independent verifications, and should be read together rather than as separate confirmations. The table below lists route-specific logs worth reading; they add moves, time and field texture, while grades and pitch counts stay with the tables above.

Getting down

Insubong has more than one descent, and the wrong anchor costs you a rope length.

• After summiting: walk to the south side, follow the chains to the furthest right anchor and rappel Pigeon (비둘기). theCrag records two 30 m rappels to the ground and warns that the wrong anchor leaves you short.
• Lonely Road: theCrag's description is to walk SE from the summit to find a rope, then west to a chain of roughly 10 m of bolts; the westernmost anchors reach the ground in 60 m.
• Rappelling the route: people do it on both lines, but you have to check the fixed gear yourself. The 2012 guide gives no descent configuration, and the lengths in this article cannot be used to plan rope length.

"Two 30 m rappels" means two rappels of 30 m each, not two 30 m ropes; one 60 m rope doubled covers a single 30 m rappel. The actual rope plan depends on the anchors you choose, team size and your retreat options. A 2026 summit-descent video demonstrates another setup: a 70 m double rope reaching the ground in one rappel from a specific anchor. With a 60 m rope you still need more than one; confirm the anchor on site and against the topo.

Where to look things up

• Current management information: the KNPS Bukhansan control page and rock-use service cover named restrictions and the application entry point respectively.
• Transport and hiking approach: official Seoul tourism directions and the KNPS Baegundae course. Distinguish the tourism center, trailhead, Baegundae summit and climbing start.
• Guidebooks: Grades and route counts here come mainly from online databases; the guidebook is the authority. This article also directly checks the following 2012 guide tables and preserves differences with the newer regional topo.
  • Climb: Rock Climbing in Korea, Dong-il Ryou and Jonn Jeanneret, Outdoor Global (아웃도어글로벌), first edition 2012. English descriptions, with Korean place and route names; selected roped crags across Korea. Insubong occupies printed pages 230–237. It is not a source for present transport or access rules.
  • Insubong – East Face, produced and published by Mont Blanc Lines, initial version May 18, 2025. English description, Korean and romanized route names; a digital East Face topo, licensed for personal use, rather than a whole-crag guide.

Update history

• 2026-10-22: Added a community-route-logs section with a 10-row comparison table (Crony, Insu Ridge, Amidong, Medical School, Rescuer, PASI, Sanchonji, Dongyang-gil, Haneul-gil, Georyong-gil), noting that the loop-table pair (걸리 2018 / 도랫굽이 2012) and the Daum repost are the same source family, not independent confirmations; fixed Crony pitch-6 crack, Georyong founder surname “고 전재운”, and moved Dongyang-gil’s 8-pitch table attribution to Imgok plus community tables. Added 16 reference links.
• 2026-10-22: Added route videos for Insu A, Wand, Maninbo and Villa, and extended the intermediate and advanced tables with video columns; added a west-face approach POV and a 70 m double-rope summit descent, with notes on how those versions differ from the guidebook.
• 2026-10-21: Keep the route comparison table intact with video thumbnails beside each route; open the selected route’s videos on demand in a vertical playlist with separate preview images and open buttons to avoid accidental activation while swiping; external video rows identify YouTube as the destination and indicate a new tab.

References

• Official Seoul tourism: Baegundae–Ui Gugok Trail
• KNPS: Baegundae course
• KNPS: Bukhansan control details
• KNPS: Rock-use service
• Seoul Alpine Federation: Reproduced 2026 thaw restriction notice
• Monthly Mountain: Bukhansan reporting controversy, 2025
• Korean Alpine Club: Rick Ruffin, Insubong Climbing
• Climb: Rock Climbing in Korea book listing
• Mont Blanc Lines: Insubong – East Face, 2025
• Today News: Climbing Insubong's Amidong route, 2014
• Monthly Mountain: Insubong's Insu Ridge, 2009
• Monthly Mountain: Insubong's Haneul-gil, 2016
• Monthly Mountain: Insubong's Georyong-gil, 2016
• Monthly Mountain: 50 years since the Medical School route, 2022
• Imgok: Korean rock routes (1), Insubong Dongyang-gil, 2012
• National Fire Agency: Public EMS
• BMC: 2025/26 Insurance Product Information Document
• Mountain Project: International climbing grade comparison
• 산지니: Insubong Crony-gil, 2010
• 청아 (김종만): Insubong Insu Ridge, 2006
• 도랫굽이: Insubong Insu Ridge concept, 2013
• 도랫굽이: Insubong front-face diagram, 2012
• 구름에 달가듯이 (걸리): Insubong concept map, 2018
• Daegu WITH Climbing Center café: Insubong route list (repost, original 걸리), 2014
• 泰山峻嶺: Insubong Amidong-gil, 2018
• 泰山峻嶺: Insubong Dongyang-gil, 2022
• 머루랑: Insubong Medical School route, 2013
• 소소한 기억들: Insubong Medical School climb, 2019
• 킬러 & 山: Insubong Rescuer route, 2013
• 파워: Insubong route digest, 2013
• 킬러 & 山: Insubong PASI, 2010
• 달빛나그네: Insubong Sanchonji, 2024
• 울트래블러 (채울): Insubong single-pitch day, 2022
• 古山: Insubong Georyong-gil, 2007 (published)