Mexico - El Gigante

Mexico - El Gigante
(2nd of April, 2008. Photo: Nicolas Kalisz and Martina Čufar)
800 meters high wall of El Gigante is hidden in the wild canyon of the Candameña River in
The Basasiechi National Park, more known to tourists for its two highest waterfalls in The
Central America, The Basasiechi Fall, 246m and Piedra Volada, 453 meters (that doesn't have
any water in this time of the year).
Basasiechi Falls, 246m.
I got interested for the wall only after receiving e-mail from Nicolas Kalisz in august, asking
me if I was motivated to be his ropepatner in the route Logical Progression.. I didn’t think
twice before answering yes, especially because I knew that the route was well bolted. My
main motivation for the “Mexican project” was in the first place gathering new experiences
on big walls and exploring new “climbing” country.
Some basic information about the route and the wall
El Gigante, rising from 1500 to 2300 meters above the sea level
Approach to El Gigante isn’t that easy and close than, let’s say the one to El Capitan in
Yosemite. You have to walk approximately 5 hours to reach the base camp. The time can get
considerably longer with all the equipment needed for its ascent on the shoulders. The
remoteness from the civilization and no cell phone signal makes it serious and even more
admirable project.
The wall is oriented north-west, which means you can climb most of the day (until 4pm in
March)) in the shade, which is welcome to save some water and skin on the fingertips (the
rock is quite abrasive).
The route »Logical progression« (900m, 27 pitches, 7c+ max, 7a obligatory) was equipped
and climbed in 2002 by Bert Van Lint (Belgium), Lucas Laeer (Mexico) and Peter Baumeister
(Germany). Special about the route is the fact that it was bolted from the top (there’s another
approach leading its top over the high plateau. Three hour ride with good 4x4 pick up and
another good hour of hiking is needed), what raised quite some polemics in the climbing
community, for not being ethical. But the fact is that it’s really well bolted, probably better
than it would be from the bottom. The bolts are where one needs them the most, but still far
enough one from another, to provide you sometimes with a little dose of adrenalin.
Traveling and first contact with Mexico
Basasiechi
After three days of traveling, three flights (one of them missed), two taxis and 6and a half
hour ride in a weary bus, we were finally at our final destination. Basasiechi is a small
countryside city or better, a big village in the middle of nowhere. The life here is slow and
relaxed. No cell phone signal and internet. In fact there is one in school, which was closed at
that time and another in the hotel we were staying in, but nobody remembered the password to
get online. It’s a great opportunity to disconnect for a while from the e-lifestyle.
Resting is important part of the work☺
It took me some days to get accustomed to the time difference and also to the altitude, which
is not negligible – 2050m. But before touching the rock, I experienced a shocking surprise.
Unpacking my bags, I realized both of my harnesses were missing. It seemed impossible that I
forgot them at home (which was proofed later on by calling my mum), since I remembered
vividly packing them both together. Without a harness, some hundreds of kilometers away
from a climbing shop could have meant the end of El Gigante project already at the very
beginning. For the first climbing days in sport climbing areas around Basasiechi this wouldn’t
have been such a problem, since Nicolas’ shoulder was still to painful to climb, so I would
have taken his harness and he could have belayed me with an improvised one. This was
impossible in a multipitch route.
But the problem was solved already the first day. While walking to the cliff we met two
Mexican climbers, Pollo and Atziri. They had a solution for me. His friend Mario was just
going back home, so he could have lend me his harness for three weeks. We immediately
turned around, caught him just before leaving, explained the situation and got the positive
answer. Great!!!! But I still don’t know where my harnesses are; probably they got lost during
security checks at the airports.
After three climbing days at the areas of Rancho San Lorenzo and Basasiechi, I felt ready for
the five day lasting El Gigante adventure.
After a successful climbing day in San Lorenzo in the company of Nicolas, Pollo and Atziri.
We also did some bouldering.
El Gigante
Nicolas' injured shoulder made the entire situation different. I firstly imagined myself more
like a side player. It was Nicolas’ “Mexican project” and I was excited to be a part of it. I
haven’t even taken a closer look at the topo of the route. Nicolas studied everything and I
relied on him to get me out of the wall in case I am not able to climb something.
Now it was only me that was able to climb. He was ready and motivated to go on the wall
even though he would only be jumaring behind me. His shoulder namely allowed only moves
up and down (ok for jumaring), any lateral move was impossible.
When I finally took a look at the topo and saw the grades of the pitches, I realized it won’t be
a piece of cake to do the route in three days as planned. But the fact that there were only two
places on the wall (after pitch n° 8 and n° 18) big enough for two persons to bivouac, allowed
no other option. Long approach, remoteness of the place, no cell phone signal to call for help
in case something went wrong, made our project quite a serious challenge. Despite the fact
that the route is entirely bolted, I consider this route more alpinist than sport climbing domain.
Topo of the route by Arnaud Petit
All the logistics were much easier because we had really good information from Arnaud Petit,
concerning access, climate, rock quality and type of climbing.
After preparing all the necessary gear, food, clothing…for 5 days (3climbing and 2 trekking)
and leaving a message at the hotel, that in case we are not back in six days they should call for
help, Atziri and Pollo (many thanks!!!) took us to our starting point, the village of Huajumar
(12km away). On the topo it was written that the access took 5 hours. Under the weight of my
haulbag (in Slovenian we call them “a pig”) I was sitting and resting already after 10 minutes
of walk. I rather didn’t think about the following hours.
Well loaded
When Nicolas took one of the ropes I was carrying it went a bit easier. But after 2 hours there
came my nightmare; a steep and gravely descent from the plateau to the bottom of
Candameña River (800m of height difference). My legs became soft like a pudding and I was
getting slower and slower. But the effort was soon paid off – taking a bath in the river made
me almost as new!
After about 7 hours of hiking (and resting) we were finally at the base camp under the
imposing wall of El Gigante. We didn’t find the source of water we were told about, so we
took as risk and drunk and filled our water reservoirs for three days on the wall with the water
from the river. The stomach didn’t complain the next morning, so we were quite confident
about it.
View on the Candameña River canyon
First climbing day began with the battle with the dense bushes, thorns and a king of nettles
that were closing our way up to the beginning of the route. (Afterwards we found the right
access, marked with cairns). Not to mention my sore legs from the day before. I was happy
that I wouldn’t have to walk for the next three days!
First eight pitches in the difficulties between 6b and 6c, weren’t that easy as one might
assume from the grade. The route has as long as I know no more then 10 repetitions, therefore
not only there’s no chalk on the holds, but especially in the lower, less steep part, there’s also
lots of dust and different vegetation on the wall. Like a vertical botanic garden. Nice to see,
but not that pleasant to climb.
Vertical botanic garden:☺
First pitches went by quite fast
We made our progress rather fast. As fast of course as hauling after every pitch allows.
Leading every single pitch means also a lot of supplementary work, especially if you want to
progress fast, which is crucial if you have limited places to bivouac and not very rich food and
water supplies. I practically didn't have any rest for the whole day. After climbing a pitch
(with a light backpack and additional static rope), I fixed the rope for Nicolas, who jumared
up with one “pig” and in the meanwhile I was hauling the other. Exchange of the gear, a sip of
water, a bit of energy bar and “hop” in the next pitch. We achieved our first bivouac, The
Tower of Power early enough to have time to do also the following 7c pitch and fixing the
rope. Therefore we saved some time and energy for the next day.
Preparation for the last pitch of the first day
Second climbing day: After my first night ever spent on the wall without the comfort of the
porta ledge, I woke up all strange, tired and not really optimistic for the continuation. More
then 10 pitches were separating us from the next bivi. Luckily one was done the previous day.
The next was a 7c+. It’s hard for me to climb such difficulties early in the morning, without a
proper warming up. I fell on the crux of the pitch, with flushpumped forearms. I did the
moves after shaking out the lactic acid. Then I was in front of the dilemma what to do. I
would go down and try to do the entire pitch once again, but on the other hand I knew that I
have eight more pitches in front of me, from which one 7c, two 7b's, 7a+ and 7a, and that I
risk that the night would catch us before coming to the bivi ledge. Nicolas had to say me some
harsh words to make me wiser and continue. It showed up later that it was the right decision;
we were at the ledge at the sunset.
Even though the haulbag was getting lighter it didn’t seem so to me that way. It was more
exhausting for me to haul then to climb. Nicolas told me his recipe: “You should get a bit
angry and aggressive, and then it goes easier.” Also this didn’t work for me. I found my own
solution. I renamed a haulbag from “a pig” to “my big friend”.
The pitches of the second day were extremely nice, varied and colorful. From arêtes,
dihedrals, steep walls, technical slabs to “Yosemite” crack (luckily bolted☺). After onsighting
all of them (also one 7c), I forgot the morning fall.
In a bit overgrown, but really nice 7a+ crack (fist)
Colorful pitch n° 18, 7b.
The valley floor is already far away
The »Critter bivi legde« was almost like a hotel, comparing to our last bivouac. The architect
that has conceived it was thinking also about the decoration. There were some small palm
trees on the balcony☺. There was also the notebook with impressions from other “Logical
Progression” climbers. The last ones were there in November 2006 (Arnaud Petit, Stephanie
odet, Sylvain Miller and Fred Jentet).
Critter bivi: Decorated balcony and an “altitude” cook.
Third climbing day: A morning routine: waking up at 6, confrontation with tiredness,
burning and swollen fingers in the breakfast in a “camel and hamster style”, which means,
drink and eat as much as possible, because there won’t be much time to do it while climbing.
While packing all the things back to “my big friend” and preparing the necessary gear for
climbing, I warmed up and forgot the pains. The fact that that day I wouldn’t have to haul
made me really happy. We would pick them up while rappelling. So we only took a small
backpack with the necessary thing for one day. But the relentless difficulty of the following
pitches took care that we were still tired enough. 3x 7b, 2x 7b+, 1x7c+ and the last two 6a,
that were leading to the very top of the wall.
7b for the beginning of the last climbing day
I was really surprised that everything was going smoothly, even the 7c+. I felt just once that
day, due to a broken hold in the last 7b+. I could say I was lucky that I broke just one hold
during the whole climb. The rock isn’t always of perfect quality, but you slowly get the
felling, intuition what holds and what not.
Already in the morning we set up a time limit, 3pm. At that time we would stop progressing
and start rappelling, so the night wouldn’t catch us. That’s why I renounced climbing the very
last 6a pitch.
The nicest pitch, n° 25, 7b, that I was forced to do three times!
20 rappels or so were waiting for us. The beginning was very unpromising. The ropes got
stuck twice at the end of the pitch n° 25, 7b. That was the pitch for which I said that it was
the nicest pitch of the whole route. Maybe that was the reason for stuck ropes, so I could do it
twice more☺. Or maybe it was the punishment, because I haven’t done the formality to climb
the 6a to the very top of El Gigante. Who knows.
So despite all we were rappelling the last 200m in the dark. There is where I have to thank to
Nicolas’ mountain guide experiences. He found all the anchors, was swinging back and forth
to catch them, swearing a little bit over stuck ropes, but successfully lead us back to the
ground.
But the story was not yet over. The next day I had to put “my big friend” on the shoulders
again and confront with the nightmarish steep slope leading to the top of the plateau. I had a
big crisis, so I began to count my steps. Every 200 I leaned on the rock to get my friend’s
weight off my back and shoulders, every 1000 I put it down for some minutes. I was dreaming
about a long shower and a huge juicy salad. But also the instant soup waiting for me on the
top of the plateau (Nicolas was a bit faster then me) tasted as good as never before. Two more
hours of hiking over more gentle terrain, finding a ride back from Huajumar and the El
Gigante adventure was finally over. I was very tired afterwards, but full of unforgettable
impressions.
Right now I am unusually lazy, I don’t fell like going anywhere, lying and writing seems the
right thing to do. That’s why the story is that long☺
Hoping that somebody would stop, but it wasn’t the case. Finally we had to pay for a ride from Huajumar
to Basasiechi.
Some practical information
How to come to Basasiechi? The best way is to take a flight to Chihuahua form where you
can continue or by bus (6h, 240 pesos) that goes to Basasiechi 2 or 3 times a day. You can
also go with the famous Copper Canyon Railway, but from Junta on you will still have to find
a car or bus to get to the final destination. The most convenient is of course to rent a car in
Chihuahua (30-40 USD/day), which facilitate also your staying in Basasiechi and enables you
to choose your climbing destination more freely.
In Chihuahua you should also procure yourself with the local currency, since there are no
ATMs in Basasiechi and paying with the credit card impossible. 1 USD is about 10 pesos.
We were told to buy also all food in Chihuahua, but it’s not necessary. In the local shop you
find all the basic food, like pasta, oatmeal, tuna, some fruits and vegetables. You really might
miss European style bread, but it can be very well substituted wit tortillas (made from wheat
or blue corn).
If you plan to use your own stove, don’t forget to bring the gas with you, because you can’t
get it here.
Staying there: You can get a room for 10-15 USD/night/person (Hotel Eben Ezer tel:
016354573004), rent a chalet for about 50 USD/night (El Rincon, 016255821943) or camp
(also for free).
Climbing possibilities: You can also stay at Rancho San Lorenzo (chalets and camping) that
is 15km away from Basasiechi, but closer to the same named climbing area (you can find a
guidebook on www.xpmexico.com ). The rocks are on the privet property so you have to pay
25 pesos for every climbing day unless you are a guest at Rancho.
If the routes in San Lorenzo are mostly overgraded, those in the area under the parking of
Basasiechi falls are their contrast. All of them demand a powerful, bouldery climbing on the
pockets, 7b being the easiest. There are also some nice boulders in that area.
Besides in El Gigante, you can find two multipitch routes also on the wall of Basasiechi falls.
The most famous one is Subiendo el Arcoiris, 320m, 8a max, 7a obl). You can find the topos
on the website of Aranud Petit http://www.vagabondsdelaverticale.fr/voyagesexpeditions/mexique-el-gigante-logical-progression.html
The best period: Like almost for all climbing destination autumn and spring are the most
convenient seasons to climb here. In winter you can find snow, summer time is the most rainy
season.