Exposaverse (7a) First Ascent - Rock Climbing in Malaysia, Kura Kura Wall, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur

Exposaverse, short for Exposed Traverse, takes its name from the route’s third pitch, which traverses hard right across Kura Kura’s main face. The line stitches together the single pitch Gravitax (6c+), a variation of Stalactasy’s second pitch called Stalactamento (6a), and new third (6c+) and fourth pitches (7a) bolted over the 2025 Lunar New Year weekend. Grading is probably somewhere between solid and friendly. 0:04 Pitch 1 5:56 Pitch 2 11:43 Pitch 3 15:07 Pitch 4 Pitch 1: Start at the very left-most end of the crag, on the same platform that Stalactasy starts from. From that platform, the line flips out right over the arete. A first bolt on the left side of the arete serves to protect the first moves turning across the arete, and can be unclipped if desired by the belayer after the climber clips the second. The pitch is generally friendly with a single condensed dynamic boulder move which gives it its grade. Pitch 2: Pitch 2 heads straight up from the anchors, sharing the same first half as the second pitch of Stalactasy. After the third bolt, DO NOT clip Stalactasy’s fourth bolt. Bear left instead, back out towards the face of the wall, and clip the rope sling. Emerge from the gap onto the face, and continue up and left to gain the anchors. Pitch 3: Pitch 3 is a short but exposed right-hand traverse. Prussiking cords (for ascending the rope) are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as falls have a good chance of leaving you dangling in space without any holds to pull yourself back up to the bolt with. If you have no prussik cords, your best bet if you fall is to keep swinging while your belayer lowers until you can reach either the bolts or holds on Pitch 2 below. From the anchors, cross the arete to the right to gain the first bolt. This pitch is also generally friendly save for a short bouldery crux with good hands and bad feet. Pitch 4: Pitch 4 is a test of power endurance. From the anchors, climb up the stalactite to the second bolt, then cross the arete to the left. The line climbs upwards for a couple more bolts, before cutting back to the right, then following an obvious hand crack upwards. Anchors are shared with La Kura Kura. Descent: From the anchors of La Kura Kura, you have two options. The first is to scramble up the short boulder from the anchors, at which point the anchors of Stalactasy will be less than 10 meters straight ahead. The second is to rappel La Kura Kura. La Kura Kura’s rappel requires a 70m rope at minimum, so if your rope is any shorter, descend via Stalactasy. Topo: https://www.thecrag.com/en/climbing/m...