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| Our camp spot in front of Froilan's house at La Ola |
I dream of climbing harder. I'm not sure that's healthy. The adventure, the experience, friends, nature, the challenge, climbing without getting hurt (a good definition of success?): these are the kinds of things that matter. Yet I have this ongoing competition with myself. Can I climb better than I did before? For the most part, I've gone beyond the need to compete with others. I just want to beat myself.
I'm not very good at training. I'd rather go climbing. But if I hope to improve through climbing I need the freedom and opportunity to climb for an extended period. I also need a companion to share the rope. This summer looked like a chance. Joe Cupps was coming back and we were looking at a wide open window, starting just after Christmas and lasting into February. There had been other times in my life when extended summer vacations had served as as a way to get fit and climb harder. Could this happen again?
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| Joe Cupps and our camp spot in La Ola |
I wanted to climb in the Sierras of Córdoba, at least for part of the summer, OK, so it's not Patagonia, Still, there is an amazing amount of good granite and it's not touristy. I also felt Joe would find it a uniquely Argentine experience. As it turned out, by the end of January, after more than three weeks of climbing in the Sierras, we would only encounter a handful of locals.
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| Horses, cows (and goats and sheep) are the kinds of mamals typically observed in the Sierras of Córdoba |
Our first open window came after Christmas and before New Years. Christmas with the Cendoyas is a tradition I didn't plan on breaking and I felt it would be nice to get back with my wife, daughter and mother-in-law for New Year's Eve. That gave us about five days.
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| Santa selfie from Christmas with the Cendoyas. |
We decided to head to La Ola. Even though the rock is good granite, there is basically no crack climbing there. The routes are mainly bolted slabs, steep faces and overhangs. In some cases, the routes tend more towards adventure climbing, rather than pure sport, with potential groundfall or injury being a concern from time to time.
After making the 150 mile drive from my mother-in-law's house to La Ola, we warmed up climbing a half-dozen 30-meter-long 5.8 slabs.
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| Joe styles up a 5.8 slab |
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| Higher up the same climb. |
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| Another 5.8 slab route just to the left |
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| I can climb 5.8 slab as well |
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| Joe styles yet another 5.8 slab |
In summer, the sun is hot in the Sierras and on most days it's best to climb in the shade. In the afternoon there are a number of shady walls in La Ola but in the morning, the only convenient shelter is on a short, steep wall called "El Ultimo Sol del Marzo".
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| Joe climbs a steep, athletic 5.9 on El Ultimo Sol del Marzo. |
All amd all there are about 18 routes on El Ultimo Sol, ranging in difficulty from 5.9 to 5.12b. Most mornings in La Ola we'd do two or three routes there.
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| Joe sends a tricky 10a during the morning sesh at El Ultimo Sol |
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| There are two nice 10b roofs at El Ultimo Sol. In this photo Joe follows one of them |
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| Joe fights to finish up a 10b roof at El Ultimo Sol |
Some afternoons we'd climb at Torres Gemelas. This 35 meter high granite dome has about a dozen routes, ranging from 5.9 to 5.11d. There are several really good 5.10as.
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| The first half of this route on Torres Gemelas has some of the coolest 10a face climbing ever |
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| This 30 meter long 10a on Torres Gemelas has finishes with some exciting crack moves |
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| Cupps styling 10a on Torres Gemelas |
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| Joe climbs a new route to the the right of the 10a |
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| Joe follows a 10d route on Torres Gemelas |
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| Higher up on the same route |
There are a couple of nice, short 5.10s on a smaller wall beside a little lake, just below Torres Gemelas. We did these routes a couple of times over the summer.
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| There are two good 5.10s on this wall |
The regular camp spot at La Ola is in front of the house of a local couple whose names are Froilan and Delma. It's a pretty spot, close to an assortment of climbing walls, albiet rather too close to the highway.
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| The camp spot in La Ola is pretty |
Froilan and Delma are characteristic of the traditional inhabitants of the Sierras of Córdoba. They live in a cinderblock and stone house built against a rock wall, over looking a small pond in front of the camping area. They charged us a couple of dollars a day to camp and sold us fresh-baked bread. I've known them for almost 20 years. from mutliple trips to La Ola.
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| Delma, Joe and Froilan. |
After four days climbing in the Ola, we headed back to Villa Del Dique to spend New Year's eve with Gaby, Ceci, Gaby's mom Pina, and a few other family members. After that we decided to head back to La Ola for another five day stretch.
Once again we climbed on El Ultimo Sol during the morning session.
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| Tim climbs a stout 5.9 on El Ultimo Sol |
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| Joe climbs 10a on El Ultimo Sol |
On the second day the weather was breezy and sunny and unseasonably cool. We decided to head for a remote area called El Corral. I had never been there before because in summer it gets sun all day and it's typically too hot for climbing.
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| Joe Cupps pauses at the entrance to El Corral |
We started off climbing two challenging 10as. Both routes were exciting and adventurous.
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| Joe raps down after leading a challenging 10a in El Corral |
After that we tried a nearby route, rated 6a+ in the guidebook. The route looked a bit worrisome because the traverse to the second bolt involved potential ground fall. I gave it a go and had to climb up and down a few times to send the opening moves: a tricky 10c mantle, right on a bolt. Although I wasn't sure of this at the moment, the way I finished this move put me too high for the best traverse option. I was looking at an off balance move with no handholds and a weird cross-over with the feet. I started into the move a couple of times and started to sketch. I looked down at the 30 foot groundfall and thought about the consequences of breaking my artificial hips in the middle of nowhere. I decided I wasn't solid enough to give the move a go. At this point, another 6a+ route branched off to the right, with an easily accesible bolt. The only problem was someone had decided to steal the hanger. I figured that by threading a wired stopper on the bolt, I could protect a thin move to a big hold, Above that, the route overhung a bit, but it looked to have more big holds. After moving past the thin move to the jug, with the hangerless bolt at my chest, I cranked up hard to reach what looked to be another big hold. It turned out to be an insecure sloper. At this point, because of the overhanging aspect, if I were to fall I would arc out from the rock and surely yard the stopper off the bolt, thus decking from 35 feet up. I decided I had enough. I reversed the move, took off the wired stopper and downclimbed to the ground. Then Joe gave the route a go. After struggling past the first move, he discovered the traverse could be done more easily if started from a lower point. However, the groundfall potential was still there.and Joe couldn't make himself commit. We both decided we'd had enough that day and headed back to camp. Maybe some other day.
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| In front of Mogote de las Estrellas at the base of La Ola |
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| Joe climbing one of the half dozen slab climbs we did on the base of La Ola |
After five days in La Ola we were back in Villa del Dique with family. Where to go next? It had been 14 years since I'd climbed in Los Gigantes and I really wanted to go back. This was the first place I'd ever climbed in Argentina and it has always seemed magical to me. Although Los Gigantes is probably about 20 miles from La Ola, as the crow flies, by car it's more like 70 miles, with the last 20 mile stretch traversing a rough dirt road. The routes in Los Gigantes tend to be longer than those in La Ola (we did a 50 and even a 60-meter pitch in Gigantes) and there are several excellent muli-pitch climbs. It's the same wonderfull Sierras-of-Córdoba granite and we were both ready for more of that.
We bought food for seven nights and headed back to the Sierra Grande.
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| At the base of Mogote Zariaga en Los Gigantes |
We decided to camp at the base, at a small post called La Rotunda, which meant we had to hike in about an hour and a half or more, each day, to reach the climbs.
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| Cupps racking up to climb the 50-meter-long Cristales Voladores |
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| Starting up Cristales Voladores |
I didn't take very many pictures of Los Gigantes. With two people it's kind of hard to get good shots and most of the time we were just too busy either hiking or climbing.
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| Cerro de La Cruz in Los Gigantes |
We did two excellent multipitch climbs on Cerro de la Cruz: a five pitch 10c called "La Laja de Peterek" (finishing with a 10a pitch called "Trombosis") and the four pitch 10a, "El Espolón". Both times we climbed to the big cross (la cruz) at the top of the formation, then scrambled down the climber's trail back to the base, instead of rappelling.
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| Looking up at La Laja de Peterek, Diedro Grande and El Espolón on Cerro de la Cruz |
In the above photo, our line on Peterek went through the small, triangular roof in the left middle area of the picture, headed up through the higher roof left of the big dihedral, then followed the short leaning flake just above, before angling up the higher face up and right. Our line on Espolón climbed the steep slab just right of the triangular roof (a challenging 40-meter-long 10a slab), then traversed the steep dihedral wall to climb a hand crack up the pillar to the right.
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| Our first pitch on La Laja de Peterek |
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| Gaby follows me on the strenuous 10c layback and undercling pitch of Peterek, back in the 1990s |
On the last full day in Los Gigantes, we decided to make the steep hike up to Refugio. I wanted to try out Mogote del Ocaso, a small crag I'd never climbed on before.
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| Joe on the hike in to Refugio |
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| The area around Refugio rises above 8,000 feet and has some of the cleanest one pitch routes |
We did four routes there: a 5.9, two 10as and a 10c.
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| Joe climbs strong on a stout 10a |
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| Joe climbs an easy, fun 10a |
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| Joe follows a 10c on Mogote del Ocaso |
After a week in Los Gigantes, we met back up with Gaby and Ceci in the city of Córdoba, at Gaby's sister's house. Where would we go next? We could try a totally new area, like Arenales in the province of Mendoza, but I was hoping to go back to La Ola where we could try some harder stuff that we'd been putting off so far. Our hardest climb to date was the short, technical "Placa del Sol", a nice 5.11a, but there are many nice 5.11s (and a few challenging 5.10s) that we hadn't tried yet. Joe agreed and we decided to head back to La Ola for five more days.
We returned to Torres Gemelas one afternoon and tried the three routes in the photo below. I couldn't send the left hand 11a clean (is it a bit harder than 11a?), in spite of two different attempts on lead. This is a route I had onsighted years ago, but a small hold I used on the crux had broken off. In the end, I pulled on the draw and continued to the top. I felt solid leading the stout 10a (with some groundfall potential) on the far right hand side of the buttress. Because of its intinidating nature, it was only the second time I've ever done this route. However, I was happy I tried the runout 10c/d, called "Pan Casero", on top rope. This route, visible in the middle part of the face in the picture below, is another route I'd onsighted back in the day, but that didn't keep me from feeling pretty sketched this time around.
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| There are three challenging routes on Torres Gemelas that finish where you can see Joe at the belay |
Another afternoon destination at La Ola was "La Ballena", a remote wall about an hour hike from our camp spot. After doing most of the easier routes on an earlier excursions, we headed back a second time to try something harder .
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| Joe hydrates at the base of La Ballena |
We warmed up on the strange and elegant 5.9, "For Behind" and followed that up with a repeat of the 5.8 face, "No Hay Como Tomar Mate Solo". Next we tried an 11a route called "Cazen a Willy". Even though I'd onsighted this route more than a decade ago, on later attempts over the years, my hip problems prevented me from performing the crux mantle. I was interested to see if I could do it now.
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| Evening light at La Ballena |
I hiked the route, up to the crux (no pictures) but I was unable to find the right way to manage the tricky mantle onto a slanty dike, even after several attempts. Frustrated, I pulled on the sling and cruised to the top. Joe took his turn, on top rope, Then I tried the route a second time, also on top rope. Afetr a few more tries at the crux, I found out that by crimping a small hold with my left hand, instead of trying to push down, mantle-style, I could find the balance I needed to step my left foot onto the dike and do the move cleanly. It's funny how these tiny changes in position can make the difference between success and failure. It may sound absurd to a nonclimber, but there I was, in the middle of nowhere, filled with the glow of success, simply because I could stand up on a slanty dike. Now I just need to go back and get the send on lead.
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| Hiking back to camp from La Ballena as the sun goes down |
During the morning sesssions at El Ultimo Sol we tried another pair of 5.11s that I hadn't tried for years. One, not shown in the guidebook, is the route between "Encuentro cercano con tres tipos" and "Foot massage". After taking a screamer getting up to the small roof, I managed to figure out the crux on lead, but by then, the sun was in full force. Another morning we tried "Largato infranganti". After I worked out the crux sequence cleanly (I was almost surprised I could figure out the moves), Joe managed to flash this 11b on top rope. Way to go Joe! Once again the sun came into play and there was no chance to red point.
One afternoon we went to a small dome on the way to El Paraiso where we racked up five or six easier climbs (5.9s and 5.10s) .
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| A short 5.9 face on an unidentified dome on the way to El Paraiso. |
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| Joe high steps a roof on the unidentfied dome. |
On our last afternoon we climbed two challenging routes above our camp spot: a steep and intimidating 5.10c which I managed to retro-flash and a very technical 5.11 slab where Joe figured out the crux move.
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| Joe raps off a steep 10c above our camp spot |
The next morning was January 31st and we headed back to Córdoba, pumped up by our latest round of climbing. All and all we had climbed more than 80 different routes on the trip, including a number of 5.11s and a couple of challenging mutlipitch routes. I was excited to climb some more with Joe, if possible. That would all change when we got back to Córdoba.
Gaby has a brother-in-law in Córdoba who is a doctor and, earlier in the summer, she had decided to do some neurological tests because she was having some problems with dizzy spells. Her brother-in-law called the night before we got back to give Gaby the results. She had a rather large brain tumor, a meningioma about the size of a large egg, growing on top of her frontal lobes. The tumor was apparently benign, but it was so big it was causing edema in the surrounding parts of the brain. It needed to be surgically removed as soon as possible. The news was devsastating. Later I would learn that this type of brain tumor is one of the most treatable, but at the time I didin't know what to think. Summer climbing was over.
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| Gaby and I spent a weekend at La Cumbrecita just before the surgery |
After three weeks of preparation, Gaby had surgery on February 20th, with Dr. Enrique Herrera. She was 12 hours in the operating room. The procedure was a complete success. The first four days after surgery were a bit rough, but all-in-all, Gaby recovered remarkably well. On the morning of the fifth day, her doctor told her she was ready to leave the hospital.
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| Gaby, in our private hospital room five days after surgery |
It would be more than two months before I would climb again, but the good news is Gaby has regained her desire to go climbing with me. Could it be that the brain tumor had effected her desire to climb? That doesn't matter now. I'm happy to have my partner back.
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| Gaby, her siblings and her mom, at her niece's wedding a couple of weeks after brain surgery |
