A brief history of bouldering on La Barrosa, Part 2

The following blog post is the second part of the brief history of bouldering on La Barossa. For the first part see the previous post

Sebastián Montes climbing El Proa (V6)

German climber Martin Schupp sends Opere Doctor (V7)

Although I'm not exactly sure of the date, I think it was 2005, when La Morsa brought Facundo Lorenzo to La Barrosa. Facundo was one of the founding fathers of modern-day bouldering in Argentina and the first true aficionado of the sport to come to our sierra. His interest in the area brought a whole new level of difficulty. Diego "Sisi", Sergio "Narigon" Centeno, Horacio Gratton and other strong boulderes came to La Barrosa with Facundo over a several year period, climbing everything in sight: old, new, easy, hard. Their efforts left us with numerous new boulder problems, including Stepping Out (V5) and El Huevo Full (V8; FA: Facundo Lorenzo and Horacio Gratton) at El Huevo, El Techo Clásico Nuevo (V5) and El Proa (V6; FA Facundo Lorenzo) at El Boulder en El Bosque, Mariano Cortó El Arbol (V5) and El V6 de La Cueva at La Cueva, Opere Doctor (V7; FA Lorenzo) at La Media Tierra and Hombre Sin Pendulo (V8, FA: Facundo) at Coloso. Above all, it was Sisi who would give La Barrosa it's first true testpieces, putting up three crown jewels of La Barrosa: Aracnofobia (V9/V10) at Aracnofobia as well as The Thing (V9) and El Búlder de Sisi (V11) at La Cueva.

Facundo Lorenzo sends The Thing (V9)

The winter of 2009 gave Argentina the epidemic of Influenza A (H1N1), and the government decided to shut down the province for the entire month of July. Lucky for us in Balcarce, the weather turned out to be ideal for bouldering: cold, sunny and dry. Rumors that the border crossing to Brasil was restricted had motivated Andrés "La Renga" Puertas and Fernando Cicconi to check out the little-known boulders situated on La Barrosa. Cicconi and the sierra's almost untapped potential of difficult bouldering, turned out to be the perfect match. More than any other person before, Cicconi would climb everything and everywhere on La Barrosa. After his initial exploration in the winter of the Influenza A, he returned frequently to Balcarce, accompanied by Rogelio Amil, Federico Allami, Lucas Chiesay and other friends, to climb the boulders in the sierra. The long list of new difficult boulders put up during this period includes Ayayay (V8 unrepeated; FA: Cicconi) en La Media Tierra, Nahuel y Camila (V7; FA Ciccone) and Por La Birra de Anoche (V8, FA Fede Allami) at Coloso, Culito Reggaeton (V9; FA: Allami and Ciccone) at El Panel, The stout handcrack: El V3 del Fer (V9, FA: Ciccone) at the boulders near Las Vias del Bosque, Gordou (V8 unrepeated, FA Ciccone) at Aracnofobia, A Partir de Ahora (V8; FA: Roge Amil) and Los Tres Mosqueteros (V8; FA: Lucas Chiesay, Roge Amil and Ciccone) in the Matrix, and last but not least, the testpieces: Reanimator (V11, FA: Ciccone) and Morocho el 37 (V12; FA Ciccone). This last problem was an unfinished project of Sisi's from several years earlier and was certainly the hardest boulder on La Barrosa upon its completion. Unfortunately for Sisi, his attempts to climb the problem were complicated by a particularly wet winter. Every time he and Facundo came to Balcare it rained.

Fernando Cicconi on one of the early repeats of Aracnofobia (V9/V10)

No history of bouldering on La Barrosa would be complete without mentioning the Platenses. On various occasions climbers who train at El Rocodromo, including David Saikin, Nahuel Spinedi and Marcelo Chiaradía have visited La Barrosa, repeating many of the hardest test pieces as well as establishing one of La Barossa's proudest boulders: the unrepeated endurance highball: Asperix + Govelix (V9; FA David Saikin) at Techo Grande. Saikin also cracked the code in La Terraza, putting up the elegant Climbing Nerd (V7). Three other recent boulders worth mentioning are the long standing and seldom-repeated face problem Hanuman (V7; FA: Ramon Trachsel, Bob Bartl and Martin Schupp) put up by three visiting Europeans as well as the highball problems Asperix + Rosquelix (V8) at Techo Grande and En el Proximo Sale (V8) at La Terazza, these last two put up by Balcarceño Mariano Maceri.

David Saikan gets the third ascent of Morocho el 37 (V12)

The current dai-sensei of boulder at La Barrosa is Nicolas Pacheco, who has recently put up about a half-a-dozen new double digit problems. including Huevo Frito (V10), a beautiful extension of El Huevo Full, Techo Electrico (V11) and Doctor Cachetes (V11) in La Cabezona, as well as the long-standing problem Pensamientos Marcianos (V11/V12) alongside Aracnofobia. Nicholas has several extremely difficult unclimbed problems waiting in the wings and we wish him the best of luck in bringing ever-greater difficulty to the world-class bouldering that we already have on La Barrosa.

Nicolas Pacheco putting up Doctor Cachetes (V11), one of his many difficult problems.

To date there are more than 400 established boulder problems on La Barrosa. The diverse variety of problems and the wide range of difficulty includes something for just about every level of climber. Although many problems are roofs, there are also execellent faces, aretes, bulges and even some cracks. There is also a massive untapped potential for the adventurous boulderer who is willing to head out into the unknown to look for something new. For the novice, outdoor bouldering may not be the best way to begin the sport of climbing, but it can be a fun, adventurous and social way to pursue the sport, if an individual has already developed some basic climbing skills. Climbing in a group with several crash pads makes the activity considerably safer. Until you are familiar with the bouldering areas on La Barrosa, it's a bit tricky to find your way around, so it helps to go with someone who already knows where things are at. The Bosque is a labyrinth, and the boulders are hidden way on steep hillsides in dense green. The more open areas, for example near the big cross on the north summit, have expansive views, looking out beyond to the surrounding sierras and countryside, but even in these areas it's nice to know where the established bouldering is. La Barrosa has a gentle, yet remarkable type of beauty, characteristic to the sierras of Balcarce. The stone is first rate. It's been waiting here since long before man walked the face of the earth, so if you're lucky enough to be out on one of those cool, sunny days when a dry breeze blows in from the southwest, take your time and you´ll have a chance to experience bouldering as good as it gets.

Swiss climber Ramon Trachsel sends El Hombre Sin Pendulo (V8)

At this point, access to the sierra is not big problem, but please treat the area and its owners with the utmost respect. Do not leave trash (including wads of toilet paper or cigarette butts), do not light fires and don't damage fences. When parking behind the sierra to access the south end of the sierra, do not block the gate that gives acces to the farmlands. Instead, park on the side of the road under the trees, leavening room so that farm machinery and trucks can pass. Similar consideration if you are accessing the Bosque from Calle 79. There is no camping allowed in the sierra proper, although camping is available at Club Teléfono's on Calle 32, just past Calle 71.

Nahuel Spinedi  working Reanimator (V11)

After so many years with just Gaby and me, there is now a small group of regular climbers in Balcarce. We are an informal conglomeration called CELB (Centro Escalada La Barrosa). Regular members include Mariano Maceri, Cristian "Segu" Segura, Luciana Cordoba, Juan "Jam Ming" Aleto, Marian Vago, Matías Jacobo Mollano Di Marco, Federico Aguilá, Guido Pienovi, Clara Toledo Rios, Diego "Tower" de la Torre. Martín "El Loco" Chiaradía, Analía Ardanaz, Rafael Chiaradía and Cecilia Jane Bratten. Mariano maintains an informative web page at www.celb.com.ar with lots of information about bouldering in the sierra and the exploits of the group.

Federico Aguilá finishing up the difficult opening moves of El Huevo Full (V8).