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Friday, 9 November 2007

I LOVE CRACK!


Crack climbing that is!

This is what I did today!!! :) :) :)

I finally got to do some real climbing after a long break. Today, Laird (my Canadian mate) and I went rock climbing at El Peñol, a massive piece of granite rock, judding out of the countryside, 2 hours East of Medellin.


We started off with a long 30m climb, graded at 5.8 and called the Kurakata. The climb was a good warm up, and it was also Laird's first outdoor climbing experience and kodus to him as he top it!

This photo is taken for a climb called Alcatraz, rated at 5.10B and is 25m high. It is my first proper crack climb, as you can see from the photo, the jagged age goes all the way up. In fact, the whole route is 80 metres, requiring 3 multipitch climb. It would have been so cool to do the whole thing!


Just Check out the view!

El Peñol is situated in a very pretty area, surrounded by lakes and beautiful countryside. Many rich folks from the big city of Medellin have bought holiday houses out here. As you can see their houses, and the occasional speed boats out on the water. I certainly cannot complain about the view, nor the beautiful climb.


And finally, here is our guide: Yon Monsalve. He is a 31 year old Colombian from Medellin and has been climbing for 12 years. He is a great climber, and have set 3 of the 4 routes we climbed today.

He has had first hand experience with Colombian's war with the rebels. He got shot on the back of his shoulder, with the bullet piercing his left shoulder, and busting his jaw. So now he has a slightly crooked jaw. The shot put him in a coma for 2 days. This happened to him at the age of 17, whilst he was in the Colombian army.

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