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).

A brief history of bouldering on La Barrosa, Part 1

Andrés "La Renga" Puertas starting out El V3 de La Morsa (V5)

My next two blog posts are an English version of an article I wrote for the magazine Vertical Argentina, about bouldering on La Barrosa. I decided to split the article into two blog posts because I wanted to include a lot of pictures and this makes loading the post heavy going. This also means there´s nothing to be found about the exploits of an old, fat guy climbing with a revised hip surgery, at least for now. However, in case anyone's interested, I will say that, one year and three months post-op, my revision surgery is working just fine and my climbing continues to advance. More on that latter. For now here's Part 1 of A Brief History of Bouldering in Balcarce.

Visiting German climber Bob Bartl sends El V6 de La Media Tierra (V6)

 
The Tandil system is a low range of hills in the Argentine Pampa that begins near the town of Olavaría, in the center of Buenos Aires Province, and follows the National Route 226 south-easterly for about 200 kilometers to the sea. These hills are ancient. They are believed to have been formed about 450 million years ago, long before an enormous land mass, known as Gondwana, split into the modern day continents of South America, Africa and Antarctica. Rocks found here have been dated at more than 2 billion years old, reaching back towards the origins of the earth.
    The sierras of Balcarce form the southeastern-most arch of the Tandil system. Generally speaking, this part of the Tandil system consists of steep-sided, flat-topped, table-like formations, rising up maybe 200 meters above the surrounding farmlands. The rock is typically quartz arenite and although the cliffs are not tall, the stone presents excellent possibilities for short climbing routes and bouldering.
    The town of Balcarce has a population of about 45,000 and lies in the heart of the Sierras of Balcarce. When my wife Gaby Cendoya and I came to live here in 1996, I wasn't sure how good the climbing would be. We were lucky I guess. Bordering the town on the southern corner is a sierra called La Barrosa and it wouldn't take long for me to realize that hidden away on this small sierra was the best bouldering I've ever seen.

Juan Aleto and Cristian "Segu" Segura bouldering in the Matrix.

In 1996, the sport of bouldering was, for all practical purposes, almost non-existent in Argentina. Gaby and I found almost no evidence of previous climbing on La Barrosa and, on the weekends, when we went out to the sierra, we rarely saw any other people at all. Our approach to bouldering was old fashioned. When I began climbing, in 1979, in the USA, the local area where I practiced had some pretty good, moderate bouldering. At that time there were no bolted sport routes, no climbing gyms, and many of the local leads were quite dangerous, so bouldering was a way to train for lead climbing that, for me, was funner and more adventurous than top-roping. There were no crash pads, no sticky rubber and I didn't grade difficulty. Fun, adventure, training and not getting hurt were more important than the pure pursuit of difficulty. I would typically climb circuits of boulders without much difficulty (up to about V4), trying to do as many different boulders as I could in a day. It was this eye that Gaby and I began to develop the untouched bouldering on La Barrosa. I could see the potential for harder problems, but it be a few years before stronger Argentine climbers, with a more futuristic vision, would bring modern day difficulty to the area and make it truly world class.

Federico Allami and Fernando Cicconi working Proyecto Mañana. If this unsent project could be
linked up with an already completed highball finish, it would produce one of La Barrosa's proudest boulders.

La Barrosa is shaped like an inverted Y and runs almost straight north-south. Gaby and I began to climb the most easily accessible boulders and the developed areas grew up around our initial efforts .The bouldering sectors near the cross on the northern summit can be easily accessed from the base of the sierra above the corner of Calle 55 and Calle 40. These sectors include El Huevo, Los Boulders de Siempre, Techos de Mierda, Techo Grande, Media Tierra, Coloso and El Panel. The sectors in the wooded area (known as the Bosque) on the southern half of the west flank of the sierra can be accessed from the gate at the entrance of the property of the Fangio Foundation. These sectors include Aracnofobia, La Terraza, El Boulder en el Bosque, La Cabezona and the boulders near Las Vias del Bosque. Finally, the sectors near the southern end of the west flank can be accessed from a dirt road that passes around the south end of the sierra. These sectors include La Cueva, La Zona de Hanuman, La Costa Mosquito and La Matrix.

Gaby climbing on La Costa Mosquito

All and all Gaby and I put up about 150 boulder problems in the early years of development. Some of my favorites include Pinch Overhang (V2) and Golem Arete (V3) in the Media Tierra, Techo Traverse (V3) at Techo Grande, Scrunch Girl (V4) and Not for My Body (V3) in Los Boulders de Siempre, Go Left (V3) and Hook Roof (V2) at Techos de Mierda, El Huevo (V4) and Knee Bar Crack (V2) at EL Huevo, Bat Undercling (V2) at Aracnofobia. Techo Clásico (V3/V4) at Boulder en El Bosque and Dengue Sit-start (V3) at Costa Mosquito.

Tim on the opening moves of Hook Roof  (V2) in 2005

In 2001, just about the time the Argentina was hit by a severe economic crisis, my wife Gaby became pregnant with our daughter and I was kind of desperate to find someone to climb with. There were still, basically, no climbers in Balcarce, but our neighbor's 18 year-old son, Mariano Maceri seemed pretty athletic, so I thought I'd take him out and see if I could get him hooked on the sport. His first time out top-roping I could see he had the necessary drive and determination, even if he lacked the skills. Later we would spend countless weekends together in the sierra, bouldering the old-school way: topping out the boulders without crash pads. Now that a dozen years have passed, I'm happy to say that, not only have we gotten hold of a bunch of crash pads, but more importantly Mariano has become an important figure on the local climbing scene. He has far surpassed my bouldering abilities in both strength and skill and recently sent his first V9.

Mariano Maceri climbing in La Cabezona

By the year 2003 the younger climbers from Mar del Plata had learned to boulder with a vengeance and they were ready to come to Balcarce and climb some of the vast, untapped potential of problems on La Barrosa. Mar del Platense Esteban "La Morsa" Degregori organized the initial outings. A host of strong local climbers including La Morsa, Rubén "Michi" Molina, Juancho Torres and Charly Contartese came to La Barrosa on various occasions to enjoy the sierra and put up new boulder problems. Besides opening up an array of interesting new moderate boulder problems they also brought a whole new level of difficulty to the sierra. Some of their stronger efforts include El V6 de La Media Tierra (V6; FA: La Morsa) and Golem (V4) in the Media Tierra, Asperix (V6; FA Michi) followed by Aspirix Sit- start (V7, FA Charly Contartese) at Techo Grande, Dos Huevos (V5) a longer version of El Huevo, El V3 de La Morsa (V5; flashed by La Morsa and Michi)) at La Cueva, and the Right-Hand Arete at La Costa Mosquito (originally V6, now harder because of a broken hold, FA: Juancho Torres).

Ruben "Michi" Molina flashing El Huevo (V4) in 2004

End of Part 1