I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but winter break was from the 14th of July through the 29th, so I'm about two months behind the times here. Oh well, better late than never.
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| Uritorco, the highest point in the Sierras Chicas as seen from La Tortuga |
We were in Capilla del Monte a total of eight days and the weather was absolutely perfect: daytime highs close to 70° F, nighttime lows in the 30s and low humidity. Six days were spent climbing. Five days we climbed in the area known as "Los Mogotes", situated around a canyon on the Rio Dolores, just outside of town. The remaining day Martín and I went to a trad area (mostly crack climbing, almost no bolts) known as Los Paredones, in a another canyon on the same river, further down stream. Our climbing trip was pretty much a family affair: for the most part we did routes that everyone could try. That was OK with me, because I didn't feel ready yet to try harder, scarier onsights. So I took the opportunity to relax and try some new, but mostly easy stuff.
The first day we were thinking about going to a big rock called "T. Rex" because it's simple to get to, good for kids and all around "tranqui" as the locales would say. However we found ourselves face to face with this:
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| T-Rex is the big boulder behind the No Trespassing sign |
Rather than push our luck by climbing right behind a No Trespassing sign, we decided to look for a place that didn't pose an outright conflict. After talking to the guy who works in the canyon, and checking with our climbing guide, we settled on a large slab, called "La Tortuga", that sits high up the steep slope on the opposite side of the river, directly in front of the parking area.
Getting to the base of La Tortuga required a bit of steep hiking up one side of a rib of rock and then some easy scrambling down the other side, in order to avoid a short and exposed (if apparently easy) "death" traverse. We didn´t want any of the kids (or adults) plunging to their death off of that. At the base of the huge slab we were presented with three moderate slab routes: one 5.7 and two 5.8s, each about 30 meters long.
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| Analía and Martin looking cool in shades at the base of la Tortuga |
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| Rafael climbing the 5.7 |
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| Rafi on the center 5.8. The other 5.8 climbs the face to the right |
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| Hi Ceci |
The second day of the trip, we went to one of the hallmark walls in Capilla del Monte, the area known as "Las Placas de Arriba" . This beautiful, 95 foot vertical face is home to one of the original routes put up in Los Mogotes, the sustained 11c/d face known as "Idas y Vueltas". Gaby had sent this thing on top rope, first try, back in 1995. Ever since then, I had always hoped to redpoint the route, but that hasn't happened yet. Even though there where moments, over the past 17 years, when I was strong enough for the redpoint, I was never in Capilla del Monte at those times. Well, the redpoint wasn't about to take place on this trip, either.
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| Two kids from Bariloche working the route "Idas y Vueltas". |
Instead we did three much easier routes. The first was the easiest route in the area, a 5.7 that Cecilia would redpoint a few days later.
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| Cecilia redpointing the 5.7 at Placas de Arribas |
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| Go Ceci |
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| Ceci gets the redpoint ... nice job! |
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| Rafi climbs the 5.7 |
After the 5.7 we did a tricky 10a/b on the steeper part of the wall, just to the right. This second route took me two tries to get the redpoint. For our last route of the day, Martin and I climbed a creepy (but quality) 10c with a scary, insecure clip at the second to last bolt. When I tried the route on lead, I could see a thin bulge above the fourth bolt followed by a sketchy clip on small holds. Since I still wasn't ready to risk a long fall on my newly revised hip and since I wasn't strong enough to do an insecure, runout 10c with confidence, I backed down on lead and climbed around via an easier route, to set up a top rope. However, on top rope I managed to send the thing first try.
