Go back to Central Mexico Quickie.
Go back to Aculco The Town.
Crack of dawn, 10am start the following day and we were in Aculco (the climbing area) 20 minutes later. A 10 minute hike takes you to the bottom of the gorge where a high density of quality crack climbs await. Though it’s not basalt it very much looks like a basalt crack climbing area (eg. Smith’s Lower Gorge). Carlos would suggest a route and we’d climb it. The grades were pretty stiff (think Tieton vs. Vantage) and we did a handful of 9s and 10-s. One of our chosen routes involved a 10 foot section of unprotected, mossy and shitty rock in order to access the quality splitter above. After palming my way up a couple moves, I finally reached a positive pocket and pulled. To my surprise the pocket, along with about 10lbs of shitty rock, came out and I went down. My only cam blew out the rock and I tumbled down onto a ledge and then the momentum carried me off the ledge and to the ground. Sounds dramatic but I was really no more than a handful of feet up and so was unhurt. One more route and we were tossing down some cold beers in a mini super right at the edge of the gorge. Afterwards, we followed Carlos to Bernal (he had a guiding gig there the following day) where we had dinner together and consumed many margaritas. Climbing talk is always funnest with a few drinks.
Photos
Go to Filo Noroccidental.
Go back to Central Mexico Quickie.