On the third day, we meet up with Devin and the three of us head in through the tunnel Cave at the top of the steps (Cueva Cabeza de la Vaca), and through to the other side to Paredon de Josue. Devin is a Canadian climber and photographer who is down here for over a month.
Soon after starting, Henri and __, two young Cuban climbers in their early teens join up with us to climb on the same routes.
We warm up on Calentaddo Baterias (10b), Tarentala (10c), and Econommizando (10b/c). Chan Chan de Illusions (11b) has a bit of a tricky section early on that is quite technical with balancy footwork but very fun. I wish to do one more route and tackle Mujer, Peligro y Placerh (11a) - an exposed climb that starts just to the right of an obvious tufa stalactite. It is a very enjoyable climb, but run out in a couple of sections making it quite a scary route to lead.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Multi-pitch
The next day we ventured out to see if we could knock off three multi-pitch climbs. Unfortunately, we had quite a bit of trouble finding the first routes which were supposed to be side by side, and which we had expected to be easy to find as they are area classics. In the end, we only found one route and figured it was probably one of the first ones we were looking for. The first pitch of Mas Tarde (10b/c) scrambles a little up out of the trees to a belay station. The second and third pitches are stunning with great views and good solid climbing, finishing on a gorgeous ledge with views out over the entire valley.
Guao / Guano / Espina ('Poison Oak'/ 'Guano' (bat shit)/ 'Cactus Thorns') - (10b/c) is a similar climb very close by with a very difficult to find start that scrambles up through rock and dirt to a belay station among the trees. The climb itself is not really as enjoyable as Mas Tarde, but in part this may be due to the fact that it is still not as well cleaned.
With all of the searching we do not have time to attempt Huevos Verde con Jamon (11c), but decide to find it so that we know where it is. On a climb a few metres to its right, Alberto is pumping himself through Papito (8a). Alberto is currently Cuba's strongest climber - the few other stronger climbers that preceeded him having left the country when the opportunity arose.
Guao / Guano / Espina ('Poison Oak'/ 'Guano' (bat shit)/ 'Cactus Thorns') - (10b/c) is a similar climb very close by with a very difficult to find start that scrambles up through rock and dirt to a belay station among the trees. The climb itself is not really as enjoyable as Mas Tarde, but in part this may be due to the fact that it is still not as well cleaned.
With all of the searching we do not have time to attempt Huevos Verde con Jamon (11c), but decide to find it so that we know where it is. On a climb a few metres to its right, Alberto is pumping himself through Papito (8a). Alberto is currently Cuba's strongest climber - the few other stronger climbers that preceeded him having left the country when the opportunity arose.
Cueva Larga & Ana Banana
First day of climbing started out a couple of climbs in Cueva Larga.
This is a cave with roughly parallel walls about 3 or 4 metres apart that rise 30m to the sky visible above. It is generally shaded and cool on a hot day, and it is packed with climbs ranging from 10a to 12a.
I started out on Chipojito (10a) and Chipojo(10a), moving on to Papi (11a) - a variation on the end of Chipojo (and probably a little soft for the grade). All these the climbs are straight up (90 degrees), and well featured, with small stalagtites and roughly contoured formations - generally it takes more effort to search out the best hold option than to actually hold onto it.
Heading out from the cave and following the cliff wall for a hundred metres to the left (facing cave entrance), we encounter the classic Ana Banana (11b). This is a fantastic climb with a huge variety of climbing over the course of the continuously overhanging 30m that it covers. This was a nice climb to do at this stage since it had begun to rain. I was essentially dry on lead all the way up until the last 5 metres or so when the rain was refreshing and not too much of a hindrance - the holds at the time being slick, but sharp.
Just to the right an enjoyable layback crack called Pikin (11a) was a little easier.
In the same area, another fun climb was Bititi (10d). We then ventured onto Tiburon Siguoto (11b), which we had a much harder time than expected. It seems much harder than it looks - I struggled through it, but with difficulty.
Setting up a top rope for the climb next to it - Tacto Rectal (12a), we worked our way up this one, but having to make multiple attempts at two very difficult cruxes. The top is very fun and balancy, but making it over the primary crux at the slight overhang made us suspicious about the grade - there appears to be a small flake of cleanly broken rock where a crucial hand-hold may have appeared. As it is, it is doable, but this move feels like a very hard 12b move - but maybe its just us...
This is a cave with roughly parallel walls about 3 or 4 metres apart that rise 30m to the sky visible above. It is generally shaded and cool on a hot day, and it is packed with climbs ranging from 10a to 12a.
I started out on Chipojito (10a) and Chipojo(10a), moving on to Papi (11a) - a variation on the end of Chipojo (and probably a little soft for the grade). All these the climbs are straight up (90 degrees), and well featured, with small stalagtites and roughly contoured formations - generally it takes more effort to search out the best hold option than to actually hold onto it.
Heading out from the cave and following the cliff wall for a hundred metres to the left (facing cave entrance), we encounter the classic Ana Banana (11b). This is a fantastic climb with a huge variety of climbing over the course of the continuously overhanging 30m that it covers. This was a nice climb to do at this stage since it had begun to rain. I was essentially dry on lead all the way up until the last 5 metres or so when the rain was refreshing and not too much of a hindrance - the holds at the time being slick, but sharp.
Just to the right an enjoyable layback crack called Pikin (11a) was a little easier.
In the same area, another fun climb was Bititi (10d). We then ventured onto Tiburon Siguoto (11b), which we had a much harder time than expected. It seems much harder than it looks - I struggled through it, but with difficulty.
Setting up a top rope for the climb next to it - Tacto Rectal (12a), we worked our way up this one, but having to make multiple attempts at two very difficult cruxes. The top is very fun and balancy, but making it over the primary crux at the slight overhang made us suspicious about the grade - there appears to be a small flake of cleanly broken rock where a crucial hand-hold may have appeared. As it is, it is doable, but this move feels like a very hard 12b move - but maybe its just us...
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