We did manage to snatch a gorgeous one-day weather window in Cajón del Maipo, but I’ll leave that for a more comprehensive round up as we’re planning to revisit on our way back north. Meanwhile, here’s a teaser…
The following “big rain” day represented a “stick or twist” decision, especially for Jesse and Molly, who were into the last week of their trip. Stay put and aim to explore the high altitude trad venue of Alfalfal, up a side-valley from Cajón del Maipo, or head south in the hope of finding Valle de los Cóndores sufficiently warm and snow-free to get some climbing done. Much soul-searching resulted in a dash south – at least we’d be putting the downpour day to good use, and the forecast looked warmer and drier.
Camping Tricahue, near Armerillo, represented the perfect journey-breaker / launch pad, a “last homely house” an hour’s drive before Valle de los Cóndores. It’s a really enchanting spot, with tremendously welcoming hosts, good facilities, and homemade pizza and local artisanal beer on offer. The latter came in handy to lift spirits as the rain thundered down on the covered bar / eating area on the night we arrived…
… as did the cessation of the deluge and the appearance of a rainbow!
Next morning was scorchio, as promised, but we decided to hold back our final push to allow some of the fresh snow to melt, and the crag to dry. Instead we pootled just 4km back down the road to the very convenient roadside cragging – very roadside!
The climbing is surprisingly high quality, and the road is hardly used, so it was a better experience than might be expected. Most importantly, the rock was dry apart from occasional bits of seepage, despite the deluge. Dinamita Show, 11a, in particular was excellent.
Between routes we were entertained by the squawks and bursts of colour of the neighbourhood parrots.
Our hosts at the campsite warned us to expect heavy snow and potential disappointment, but we set off for Valle de los Cóndores (at just short of 2,000m) with a sense of optimism, somewhat encouraged by forecasts offering highs of between 7C and 13C (with lows only a bit below freezing). Spirits rose as the road climbed through breathtaking scenery, without a hint of the white stuff, but then dipped as the valley opened up over the final couple of kilometres to reveal a setting fit for a ski resort.
The road (over towards the Argentina border) was closed just beyond, and we were thankful that at least we’d got here, and also the truck thermometer was showing a toasty 15C. Best go and check out the climbing.
The nearest two sectors to the parking are Gran Pared and Pared Talca, just 5-10mins walk away, on two sides of an island of rock (NE and NW facing respectively) beneath the road level. Snow at the base, but scorchio in the sun and almost completely dry bar the occasional seep. We were going to go climbing in Valle de los Cóndores after all!
Mirror-smooth volcanic rock, formed into columns giving cracks and corners, with the occasional positive hold to break up the slipperiness.
Immediately beneath the Gran Pared, the Zona de Acampada was looking a tad frosty!
There’s a mix of sport and trad lines, with the former in the majority. We opened our account with Don Toco, a bit of a sandbag at 5b, but that’s a familiar refrain by now.
Managed to push in ahead of the queue of local climbers waiting at the base…
Any concerns about it being too chilly were now completely overturned, and one of the attractions of Esto no se Hace, 6b+, was that it was getting a bit of shade! Brilliant, steep climbing with a bit of dampness in the crack at a couple spots. Shirts-off in the snow at 2,000m!
The following day was Helen’s birthday, and we headed back to the Pared Talca for Enchapa la Pachala, 5c. A great way to kick off her new year.
We popped back around the corner to the Gran Pared for an attempt at the stupendous crack/corner line of Diedro Lais, 6c, that had caught my eye on our first recce.
Gave it a decent go, but shut down by a couple of particularly thin sections.
For the afternoon we thought we’d try and explore some of the more distant sectors on the other side of the river, Escuela and Cocina. In normal conditions, apparently, you just wander across the meadow for about a kilometre, boulder-hopping across a couple of streams. It was all a bit more alpine on our visit, and we ended up deciding against the river crossing or the long trudge to the bridge – either was going to result in much sogginess for, by late afternoon, not much climbing.
We did manage a more successful recce of the El Salto sector, including finding the top of the perilous looking Via Ferrata descent: 35.957559° S 70.570670° W
This is a somewhat rickety and quite vertigenois arrangement, but there’s a two bolt belay for a rap descent instead…
Fab views of the El Salto falls (the Via Ferrata is to the right of the waterfall, more or less where the crag goes into shade) …
… and the Cascada Invertida:
From here you can also gaze down at the “poster child” La Cárcel sector, with its characteristic “Devil’s Tower” Basalt columns, topped by an outrageous roof, made famous by Adam Ondra.
Here’s a view from further down the valley. Sadly we couldn’t fathom how on earth you actually get there, and reports on the Internet shed little light apart from this enigmatic post on Mountain Project: “Hard to get to, even harder to get out, welcome to La Cárcel. Basalt pillars are its jailbars…”
With some reconnaissance under our belts, and a provisional plan for El Salto the following day, we called an early Birthday Beer o’clock and drove the van a couple of kilometres back down the valley for some Condor watching.
Then settled in for a Birthday dinner: chilli in Chile, no cake, but we did have the last of the chocolate and almond mini Magnums – the staple pudding of our Chile Capers tour.
Next morning we were rapping into the Salto sector, doing our best to stay out of the waterfall…
Just to the left of the Via Ferrata, La Insolente, 6a, provides a good first taste of the sector. You can just about make out Molly on the right of the photo below:
Quite steep at the start…
With a YECTOYD under my belt, I left Jesse and Molly to explore the rest of the sector and made my way as quickly as possible up the Via Ferrata – emerging sodden but refreshed at the top! They later reported a dry ascent by topping out on one of the other routes. Meanwhile, with the rest of Chile to explore, Helen and I headed back to the truck to get some miles on our route south. Next stop: The Chilean Lake District!
