Cajón del Maipo

Got back last night from five nights in Cajón del Maipo, a valley south-east of Santiago. After spending a night at my uncle Alfredo's apartment in Santiago, we were aiming for an early getaway last Wednesday morning. Unfortunately a deluxe breakfast with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and espresso got in the way. Eventually we made it out around noon.

Working the espresso maker.

My future as a barrista is poor.

We spent the first two days at a sport-climbing area called Las Palestras del Manzano. We had somewhat mediocre information on how to actually get there, but drove our car to the end of what we hoped was the right laneway and started racking up. A few minutes later, a lovely Señora Rita came down asking if we were there to climb. Looks like we made it to the right place! We left our car on her property and headed up to start our climbing in South America.

La Señora Rita.

We made it up to the cliffs and didn't delay getting on some nice warmup climbs.

Who needs bolts?

Yeah Ross!

Ross rappelling in the evening.

After sleeping the night by the cliff, we did a few more climbs in the morning until the sun was too much and we headed back down to Rita. We got in the car and starting driving further up the valley towards Baños Morales (with a quick stop for empanadas and gas in San Jose). Driving up and up the mountains started getting bigger, and soon it was just us and the mining trucks on the road. Getting towards the end of the valley we came upon the house of a family with a small goat herd, and they advised us of some good camping possibilities down another road.

The trusty Toyota Tercel.

The next morning we climbed a couple anonymous cracks nearby our campsite to get our trad muscles warmed up and then drove back down the valley a bit to an area called Hitchcock that had some more routes. We did an amazing three pitch sport climb (Psicosis, 5.7/5.10a/5.10b). Really fun climbing, somewhat spaced out bolts to keep things spicy, and incredible views.

Me leading second pitch of Psicosis. (Photo from Ross)

Happy boys at the top of the climb. (Photo from Ross)

After this climb we headed back to our earlier camping spot to spend another night. The next day we went back down the valley to Torrecillas, another sport-climbing location with longer routes. It was a good hike up there, and although our topo of the climbing routes was pretty much useless, we started up some bolts to see what we would find. Our first mystery climb turned out well: a tough slab to start, but then great second and third pitches. A sizable roof on the fourth pitch was enough to send us back down though.

Hiking up to Torrecillas. (Photo from Ross)

Torrecillas in the distance. The larger parts of the cliff are about 150m to 200m long.

Following second pitch of Mystery Climb #1.

Ross leading another fun mystery climb. Check out that crazy rock!

Lots of good climbing and beautiful sights in Cajón del Maipo. We're now heading to the beach for christmas and more time relaxing with family. Next week we head to the south of Chile!

Santiago de Chile

Hello! Welcome!

Santiago from my uncle's house. The buildings in the midground are often invisible because of the smog.

I arrived in Santiago last Thursday afternoon, and after waiting in line at 'inmigraciones' for about an hour I made it out of the airport. My uncle Richard was there to pick me up, and, after we realized he had left the lights on and we got a friendly taxi driver to jump-start the car we were on our way into the city! Although the airport had been fairly heavily damaged during the earthquake last February, signs of that were already pretty hard to see.

My uncle's house is up on a hill near the city, and has a pretty incredible view.

Nighttime!

Looking towards the Andes.

On Saturday, I got a tour of some of the city, including seeing where my dad grew up and the school he went to. After driving around at high speeds for a while (my uncle's preferred method of tourism) we went to a fútbol game that my cousins and some of their friends were playing in. It was the second last game of the season, and a must-win if they wanted to finish first in the league.

Discussing strategies. But mostly complaining about the referee.

Mulister--my cousins' team--opened the scoring off a free kick in the first half. After this they just settled into a defensive routine, breaking up the other team's plays but not mounting much of an attack of their own. The other team eventually scored two goals, and although Mulister managed to tie it near the end, it wasn't enough to take first place. An incredible amount of the game is 'discussion' with the ref (ie. complaining to him that the other guy should get a yellow card). Although they were successful in getting the other team to get a red card, I feel like they might have been better focusing on scoring a goal.

1-0 Mulister! Caught them looking...

Moving on... On Monday morning I picked up Ross at the bus station. We've spent the last couple days walking around downtown Santiago, indulging in a delicious Café con Piernas, and skipping around between different family members for meals and accommodations. This morning we head to Cajón del Maipo for five days of climbing and hiking! See you later!