Sunday, March 31, 2013

The Boulder in the Bosque

Tim climbing Techo Clásico (soft V4) in the late 90's
If you don't know how to get there, the Boulder in the Bosque is not the easiest place to find. In spite of that, it was one of the first areas on La Barrosa where I began to climb. Somehow I discovered it early on, prowling around in the woods, back in 1996, only days after my arrival in Balcarce. Right away I wanted to climb there. To me there's still something magical about this beautiful block, tucked away in a hidden flat, on the densely forested flanks of the sierra. It seems to represent all the unknown possibilities of climbing that I discovered in Balcarce. A place that had remained hidden away from sight, until I had the luck to stumble upon it. I even have a recurring dream about this, where I discover new and remarkable boulders, close by, yet hidden away.

Not counting all variations, the Boulder in the Bosque is now home to about fifteen boulder problems,  ranging from V0 to V6 (there are also a couple more V3/V4 problems on a small block behind), which makes it home, I guess, to what might be called "moderate" bouldering. But I am happy to see that just now, one of the strongest  boulderers in Argentina, a kid named Nico, is working a diifcult section of the rock, trying to produce what could be La Barrosa's hardest boulder problem. I think it would be fitting if this boulder wound up with a new generation test-piece and kudos to Nico for having the vision to find yet another hidden gem.

On Friday, March 29th, with almost perfect weather, Martín and I headed out for an afternoon of climbing on the Boulder in the Bosque. The hike in is a short, 15 minute jaunt through the woods. Just enough to get warmed up. However, If you don't know how to get there, finding the boulder in the dense forest growth can be a problem.

Martín hiking in to the Boulder in the Bosque 
Two sides of the boulder provide excellent, moderate level problems. The easier side has a V0, a V1. a V2, four V3's and a (soft) V4 endurance traverse (which can be done in either direction).  Since we're old, fat guys, we spent most of the day climbing here.

Martín warms up on the V0.
The start of the V1 has a big move.

Tim climbs V1  

We both sent the V2, which is sort of a classic for the grade, and counts as yet problem I've climbed recently, that I haven't done for years. Here is a series of photos of the V2 taken in the late 90's, before crash pads were used on La Barrosa. . 

The boulder starts with a cool sit-start move
Then there's a big move to jugs.
After fighting a bit to get your feet over the bulge, there's another big move.

The crux reach after the roof is also a big move
After the V2, Martin and I both sent V3's which we had never before done. Actually, it seems this maybe the first V3 Martín has ever sent. 

Martín climbs his first ever V3
The big opening moves on this V3 had always thwarted me until today.
Tim sends another post revision V3
The back side of the boulder is a beautiful roofy section that hosts a V2, a V3, a V4, a couple of V5s and a V6 (not counting the much harder project that Nico is working on). I didn't get any good pictures, but here are a couple of videos to see how it is.  The first one (a big production) shows Mariano on the remarkable Techo Clásico (soft V4) and the other video shows Mariano sending the stout V6 problem put up by Facundo Lorenzo. 

Mariano climbs Techo Clásico



Mariano climbs the V6







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