Once again we arrived in Rio in the late morning on a Saturday and were picked up by Didi and Igor. Though our original plan was to start our road trip the following morning, we ended up pushing this out by a day due to the fact that our first climbing objective, Pedra Azul, was closed to climbing on Mondays. Consequently, we had an extra day in Rio and ended up ticking off another classic line inside the city: Paredao Paraiso Perdido on Pico da Tijuca, a 4-5 pitcher rated Brazilian V.
Good climbing and a good appetizer for some more significant runouts in the near future. We were pretty jet lagged but finished early enough to get some lunch with the crew. Their assurances that leaving our gear in a parked car in Rio was in fact OK surprised us and once again underlined the fact that the nutters really did transform our Portland into a shit hole.
Photos
Welcome back to Rio de Janeiro (May 2026).Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Same beach we had frequented in 2019 (May 2026).Shirley at Ipanema beach during our first evening in Rio. Trying to shake off the jet lag (May 2026).The sights of Ipanema Beach (May 2026).Heineken man (May 2026).Ipanema Beach (May 2026).Heading back to score some caipirinhas (May 2026).Randomness from the Ipanema neighborhood (May 2026).Another highlight of Rio: açaí smoothies (May 2026).Pico da Tijuca trailhead in Rio the following morning (May 2026).Shirley on the approach hike to the base of Paredao Paraiso Perdido route on Pico da Tijuca (May 2026).Highly jet lagged but getting closer (May 2026).Starting up the first pitch of Paredao Paraiso Perdido. Did I mention the jet lag (May 2026)?Higher on pitch 1. Runout but not too hard (May 2026).Shirley starting up pitch 1 of Paredao Paraiso Perdido (May 2026).Higher on pitch 1 which we actually combined with pitch 2 (May 2026).Views from our first belay on Paredao Paraiso Perdido (May 2026).Shirley on pitches 1 and 2 (May 2026).Nearing the first belay (May 2026).Starting pitch 3 (our 2) of Paredao Paraiso Perdido. Probably the funnest climbing of the route, especially with a bit of trad thrown in (May 2026).Pitch 3 of Paredao Paraiso Perdido (May 2026).Views from the route (May 2026).Pitch 3 (May 2026).And on more of Shirley on pitch 3 (May 2026).Arriving at the third belay (May 2026).Starting the lead of pitch 4 of Paredao Paraiso Perdido (May 2026).Higher on pitch 4 (May 2026).Fixed gear on this classic route (May 2026).Shirley on pitch 4 of Paredao Paraiso Perdido (May 2026).Unfortunately, the haze never fully cleared that day (May 2026).More views (May 2026).Nearing the fourth belay (May 2026).Rio hiding in the haze (May 2026).Shirley staring the pitch 5 traverse and the crux of the route (May 2026).Shirley in the crux moves of pitch 5 and Adilio in the finishing moves of pitch 4 (May 2026).The city of Rio de Janeiro down below in the haze (May 2026).At the crux of Paredao Paraiso Perdido (May 2026).Shirley arriving at the fifth belay (May 2026).Pitch 6 which is basically a walk (May 2026).Shirley on the overgrown climbers’ trail that eventually joins up with the tourist trial just below the summit of Pico da Tijuca (May 2026).Pedra da Gavea in the background. We climbed its classic traverse route seven years ago (May 2026).A closer look (May 2026).A little closer of a look (May 2026).Pedra da Gavea. The classic Passagem dos Olhos route traverses the formation at its eye level from right to left (May 2026).Shirley near the summit of Pico da Tijuca (May 2026).Shirley on the summit of Pico da Tijuca with Pedra da Gavea in the background (May 2026).Reunited with our friends atop Pico da Tijuca. Shirley, Adilio, Isabela, and Didi (May 2026).Hiking off the summit of Pico da Tijuca (May 2026).Hiking off the summit. Photo by Didi (May 2026).Back at the trailhead (May 2026).One of the favelas in Rio (May 2026).Looking for a lunch place in Rio after our climb (May 2026).Rio randomness as we search for a place to have lunch (May 2026).Almost like Portland but – you know – without the bums and tweakers (May 2026).Exploring the Ipanema neighborhood around our hotel (May 2026).Our second and final evening in Rio. Let the caipirinhas flow (May 2026).Passion fruit caipirinhas. Yeah, not the most masculine of drinks but pretty tasty and acceptable under certain circumstances (May 2026).
