Every time something epically awesome happens in my life I have a really hard time formulating thoughts into cohesive words to portray to those around me my experiences. Alas, here's my stab at describing my time at El Potrero Chico (EPC).
The climbing
The climbing at EPC was nothing like I had ever experienced before. There were HUNDREDS of AMAZING bolted routes (multi-pitch, single pitch, and a handful of trad routes as well) within such a small expanse of land (within one canyon) that made for mostly easy approaches (there were not so easy approaches/descents...that involved scary scree fields...) and ease in finding routes when the one you want is taken.
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| Entrance of the park |
The limestone is SUPER SHARP and sticky. The stickiness was great for our feet since a lot of the climbing we experienced at EPC involved smearing on nothing or high steps on tiny chips. Even when our shoes would get wet from stepping in a puddle (we ran into rain 4 out of the 5 days we were there...womp...but totally made the best of every day) or when our only option was to stand on something that was still wet, we generally stuck! Took a couple days for my mind to get used to that, and it definitely took a toll on my calves and toes. For our hands, the sharpness meant high friction (yay!) and pain (not so yay...). We climbed 5 days in a row (which I've never done outdoors before; our mindset was "well, we should climb today because what if tomorrow's rain is worse!?), and it took a serious toll on our hands. I left Mexico with my calluses torn off and no more fingerprints! Our lifesavers of the trip were definitely liquid bandage, goat tape, and Climb On!. One of my favorite things was definitely the fact that many of their routes were marked by either paint or name plates so the chance of you jumping on a 5.12 when you thought you were going to be on a 5.10 isn't so high =P #outdoorclimbingproblems
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| Name plates! Treasure of the Sierra Madre was our first multipitch route of the trip, and a pretty good climb. |
As we were warned, there were PLENTY loose rocks on the routes. On one of our climbs we definitely experienced raining pebbles at a belay station from a party ahead of us. When we were on Treasure of the Sierra Madre, we heard a climber a few routes over from us yell and scream "ROCK!" A few seconds later we heard a HUGE thud since the boulder (huge rock) she had her foot on tumbled from beneath her and to the ground. That climb is most probably 2 grades harder now. Hah.
We knew we were going to the desert, but we were still astounded at the amount of palm trees and cacti strewn all over the rock face. You could be approaching a belay station (photo of MB below) and find a random palm tree hundreds of feet up in the air. How did they even get there?!
In terms of cacti, we definitely had to be really careful climbing around them and trying really hard not to fall ON them. I definitely got pricked a few times (even through my pants!), and there were definitely plenty "no fall zones" you had to be careful about (when you as the climber are thinking "sh*t...def can't fall here 'cuz my ass is gonna fall directly on that cactus" and your belayer is thinking "sh*t i hope she doesnt fall here that's gonna suck." haha). MB definitely had her fair share of cactus fights since she rappelled into a few of them (since the rope would get stuck in them). I slipped on one of my rappels (the rap rings I was on were offset from the next rap rings since the route veered right), and even though I did a stellar "ninja run" across the wall and tried my best to spot a clear landing, I stopped with a huge cactus right in between my legs...perilously close to my lady bits. YIPES!
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| Cactus butt! |
Another cool thing about the rock quality are the random fossils you find! Imagine climbing and then all of a sudden seeing hella fossils in the rock you're holding. That's bananas!
Multi-pitch sport. Oh how I love thee, multi-pitch sport climbing! As this trip was my first experience with multi-pitch anything, I was pretty anxious (and excited). Though I'm not that afraid of heights, everyone's stories made me nervous about the exposure. Once there, though, I felt so at ease! Our first multi-pitch was Treasure of the Sierra Madre which involved me leading the 3rd pitch at 5.10c, and though it was a pretty sustained and heady lead, I pushed through it with a calm demeanor and enjoyed it. One of my favorite climbs was Ramsey's Shenanigans in which we summited a spire. I led the last pitch, and as it was my first time experiencing a spire, it was crazy fun! The higher I went, the less rock there was, the more air there was...I just kept thinking "THIS IS AWESOME! Holy crap this is amazing! Holy sh*t!" Heh.
The culture
San Nicolas Hidalgo is a cute and quaint town with plenty nice people. We went into town twice on our trip to restock on groceries and nom on the cheapest and wonderfully-tasting tamales, and everyone we ran into was super nice and helpful.
Sundays at EPC are apparently locals day (and for many visiting climbers, rest day...we later found out why). It was really cool to meet and see local climbers and climbing schools around the crags, but given that it had rained the Sunday we were there, there were pretty much only two dry areas to climb. This essentially meant everybody and their moms tried to jump on the same climbs. Inside the canyon and just outside the entrance to EPC, it was a full-blown party! Imagine, if you will: a Mexican festival/tailgating party with local music blasting from parked cars; happy, drunken debauchery everywhere you look; teenagers racing ATVs up and down the canyon; old school Volkswagen Beetles doing donuts in the scree; families casually riding horses up and down the canyon...as well as racing them between lines of parked cars and cheering spectators. It was an absolute culture shock and entertaining experience to me given then my mindset when climbing outdoors is so serene, tranquil, and peaceful! Though this by no means encapsulates the grandiosity and essence of the Sunday culture at EPC, click here for a video taken by a friend to give a glimpse of these local Sunday fun days.
We stayed at La Posada, and it was great! We opted for the 3 of us to share a room (because I'm not so much a camper, and when I'm on a climbing trip I'd rather get a really good night's rest on a bed with a roof over my head). It was cozy but good. Room was clean with a heater, bathroom, and shower in the room. Unfortunately, something was up with their water heater so my first hot shower in Mexico was night 6...the night before our departure. Hah. Oh well. They also have a laundry service which was CLUTCH. We didn't expect cold nor rain going to EPC, so we each only packed 1 pair of pants...which we ended up wearing almost every day. Thank goodness for their laundry service!
Most dinners we ate in the restaurant at La Posada. Food was great, portions were hearty, and it was cheap!). The staff (both in the restaurant and in general) were fantastic and super helpful. Breakfasts were had in the communal kitchen which was stocked with everything you need to make a decent meal (minus microwaves and ovens), but my favorite thing about the communal kitchen was that it made a wonderful venue to make new friends. We met climbers from all over the place! From Oregon to Colorado to Germany to Australia. Hopefully at some point we'll get to climb with one another again.
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| Communal kitchen at La Posada. Counter had plenty stovetops, and refrigerators were behind where I was standing to take the photo. |
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| La Posada communal kitchen...with the canyon as a backdrop. How could you NOT be inspired to climb every day waking up to this? |
Downfalls
With every trip there are, of course, downfalls. One of the main things was the rain. We woke up excited every morning to look out the window and feel our hearts drop as we stared out into a huge cloud and the ground sopping wet. Despite that, we pushed through and made the best of every day...finding routes that were dry enough to climb and pushing past water-filled pockets and seeping limestone (though...one of the routes we did was seeping right at the first clip which made for a scary lead...)
Another thing that I think I'd like to change for my next trip is definitely climbing in 2s. Multi-pitch climbing in 3s takes forever, and I found that I would lose my momentum as I dilly dallied on a hanging belay waiting for everyone else. Don't get me wrong, it was great company to climb in 3s, but given that I like the mileage, I'd love to push just a little faster.
Quotes of the trip
"The cactus is on!"
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"5.Don't Fall"
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MB approaching belay station: "Can I puke now?"
KT belaying: "Can you clip in first?"
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MB freaking out approaching a belay station: "Can I borrow someone's God?"
All in all
Traveling to EPC was an amazing experience. One of the things I love about sport multi-pitch is my ability to push grades AND get in awesome mileage (versus trad multi-pitch since I'm still pretty scared of trad...though...this may change. Given that I live in DC, I'm trying to work on my trad climbing/leading [may do my first lead this week!], and our outdoor sport climbing scene is sparse). I felt strong physically and mentally, and I can't wait to go back and explore other sport multipitch sites for more!
For an awesome climbing mantra shirt ("B*tches climb pitches"), check out Climb On Apparel.
For more photos, click here. Enjoy!
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| Two Pump Chump. Pitch 1. 5.11a. |
