Geared towards rock climbing – discovering the best crags in Colombia!

The first part of our trip was oriented on discovering some of the best climbing spots in Colombia. I was super excited to finally go to all of those amazing crags I’ve heard so much about from my climbing buddies at Baboons Climbing Wall and at Boquete Rock Climbing School in Panama. The idea was simple - climb hard for the first 2 months, gain more strength, confidence, and stamina and try to top that period off by crushing some high-grades. Then I would be ready to leave the heavy gear behind, climbing only occasionally in Ecuador and Peru. Two months was a lot of time though, there was no need to rush. The real goal was not to fulfill my hunger for high grades, but to take it easy, explore all the spots in Colombia and above all, to share my passion for climbing with Talia.

LA MOJARRA

We kicked off our trip with a visit to La Mojarra. It is an impressive, one and a half kilometer solid sandstone wall with hundreds of routes all along the way. La Mojarra is located in Mesa de Los Santos, a region two hours south of Bucaramanga. The massive rock formation, with an elevation of 1700 meters above sea level, is carved into the ridge of the gorgeous Chicamocha Canyon. It provides climbers with amazing views of the valley from practically any place on the crag. Just imagine: facing the wall, your attention is attracted by the fiery orange, compact, never ending piece of rock; facing away from the wall, you can admire the panoramic view of the deep, evergreen gorge of the Chicamocha River. A very unique place indeed.

Despite the impressive size and spectacular form of the rock formation, there are surprisingly few hostels or campgrounds around. It is because La Mojarra climbing park is on the private land of Refugio de la Roca hostel. If you’re staying there, you can climb for free. If not, you have to get an annual membership, which costs 150 000 COP ($55). No monthly fees, no daily passes, which is probably the hostel’s strategy to keep the monopoly of the customers.

Anyway, it wasn’t a problem for us, because we were accepted as volunteers at Refugio de la Roca for one month. It sounded like a great deal, but it turned out to be… not so much. Firstly, volunteering meant 6 hours of work every day, no days off. In return we got a disputably comfortable bed, one of four in a shared space in a metal shipping container. Food was not included. Eating in the hostel’s restaurant was not an option for our budget, so we had to cook everything on our own. Close to the hostel was only one little depleted store, so to get some decent, fair-price groceries we had to catch the bus to the Los Santos village a few miles away. That added 2 extra hours a day to buy and prepare food to our non-negociable 6-hour volunteer commitment. When we factored in time to do yoga, catch up with friends and family, read, write etc. the time for the actual climbing turned out to be short and precious.

On the bright side, Talia was able to get experience as yoga instructor and I had few customers as a climbing guide. But that was only a fraction of our volunteer responsibilities. Most of the time, we were taking orders at the restaurant, washing dishes, cleaning horse shit, throwing away the trash etc. However, the worst was that we didn’t feel like our work was appreciated. We tried to stay positive, but it was hard, knowing that we were working our asses off, when the actual hostel’s staff was sitting at the bar, smoking huge joints and telling us what to do. As a result, we stayed there only 3 weeks. It wasn’t enough to work on the hard climbing projects, but it was enough to appreciate some of the best climbs in the sector.

To give it justice, Refugio de la Roca is a beautiful hostel. Its organic architecture is well integrated into the natural surroundings of the dry, mountain vegetation. Its little private cabins, overlooking the green valley, are cute and cozy. Common rooms are nice and allow you to rest well. They also have 6 huge, majestic and peaceful dogs, with which we could play for hours. The hostel is really nice, but pretty expensive for the climber’s standards. And unfortunately, volunteering there sucked.

As bad as the volunteering was, the climbing was extraordinary. If you like powerful sport climbing, La Mojarra is a perfect place for you. The rock is solid and has a good grip, so you can push really hard on the crimpy, technical passages. All the routes are well protected. You don’t need to worry about any run-offs. You can just give it all you have from the first try, which makes it a great place for on-sight climbing. Most of the routes are overhanging and have no rests, so it is a useful to be in good shape, if you don’t want to run out of fuel. The only downside is the exposure. In the morning, it is hard to find a piece of rock that is not baking in the sun. You can sleep late with no pangs of conscience.

Apart from climbing and yoga (yoga classes happen only if there is a volunteer teacher, which is rare), there is not much to do around. One hike, one short via ferrata, a farmer’s market on Saturdays, and that’s about it. Better bring some books with you.

To sum up, La Mojarra is a great spot for sport climbing, probably the best in Colombia. However, there is not much to see around, it can get expensive, and we don’t recommend you to volunteer there. If you stay as a guest, have a bit of money to blow, and want to do nothing but climb, it’s the perfect place for you.

SUESCA

Suesca is a completely different story compared to La Mojarra. It is the first crag in Colombia and has a long history of people scrambling up to the top of the rock just for fun. The first climbers arrived in the early 1930s and, using interesting and inventive equipment, or using no equipment at all, started to set the routes.

An hour north of Bogota, Suesca is easily accessible by bus. In and around the village you can find numerous hostels, hotels and campgrounds. The most popular among climbers are Campo Base and El Nomada, but they are not the only ones. If you’re staying for a long time, it is better to ask around and rent a room, which can be really cheap. We met some climbers paying as little as 200.000 COP monthly, which is less than $70. In general, Suesca is super cheap. It is because the village is not purely touristic. There is some farming and a little bit of industry too. As a result, you can get stuff for the same price as the locals. And it can make a big difference.

Talking about the most important thing though – the rock formation is immense. Three or four kilometers long and up to 150 meters tall, it boasts over 400 routes of all levels. Walking along the old abandoned railroad, a great, majestic wall opens to your right side. Going down along the tracks for the first time, you immediately realize endless climbing possibilities. If you’re a trad climber, you’ll find your heaven in Suesca. If you’re a sport climber, you will be more than satisfied. The hard sandstone wall can be a bit slippery, but it is very compact and holds still. And what’s most important, it has it all – from long cracks,to overhangs and roofs, to technical slabs with tiny crimps. There is only one drawback: if you are scared of long drops and run-offs, Suesca will invite you to face your fear. After almost one month of sport climbing in La Mojarra, I didn’t mind taking falls at all. On the contrary, I was enjoying the flying experience. Suesca managed to change my mind from the day one. Three bolts in a 15 meter route means “well-protected” here. There are numerous mixed-style routes too, so you really need to do your homework, know what you are going to climb, and figure out what kind of equipment you’ll need to keep yourself safe. In La Mojarra if you forget your guidebook, nothing really happens. You can simply jump on the routes that look like whatever grade you want to do, and you’ll probably get it right. The wall in Suesca is not as easy to read. To start with, finding routes can be problematic. There is a lot of vegetation growing on the rock formation and underneath it. The wall is covered with hanging moss and web-like green vines, and there is dense shrubbery in the approach area. You need to figure out which little path through the bushes you need to take to get to the sector you want to go to. It is not a rocket science, but it takes a week or two to figure out where the different sectors are. In the first few days, I recommend joining some local climbers. It’ll save you time and help avoid frustration.

My first impression of climbing in Suesca was that it was a bit inconvenient and sometimes scary. However, that opinion quickly faded away and gave place to the feeling of great appreciation for this place and its atmosphere. There are many climbers that have moved to Suesca just to climb, and they are always happy to meet you and to show you around. It makes the experience less touristic and more authentic. The village has a calm and peaceful vibe. It is full of nice and cheap restaurants, bakeries and cafes. What struck us from day one was the uncanny number of street dogs in Suesca. I would go as far as to say that their population exceeds the human population. Even more surprisingly, they are all nice and friendly. One pup called Elvis would always join me during my morning jog, trotting happily by my side. Besides climbing and eating, there is a lot of other interesting stuff to do around Suesca. When your fingers ask you to take a little break from climbing, you can take a hiking or a mountain bike trip in the region. Talia wrote an entry about our biking adventures in Suesca here.

All those little details made me think that even if sport climbing didn’t seem very safe and finding routes seemed less convenient, Suesca felt more hospitable and more inviting than La Mojarra. Another important thing is that only one hour away from Suesca, there are 2 very good sport climbing spots – Zipaquira and Macheta. They are both great destinations for a day trip, and they are both amazing little playgrounds for sport climbers. Even more importantly, the routes there are well-protected, which allows you to push your limits and enjoy falling safely.

ZIPAQUIRA

Zipaquira, also called Zipa, is a little town easily accessible by a bus, both from Suesca and from Bogota. The bus will drop you off next to the only store in Zipa, behind which there is a crag called El Abra. It offers around 50 sport climbing routes, mostly in a 5.9 – 5.11 range.

They are well protected and concentrated in one place, which makes it an ideal location for beginners, as well as for more experienced climbers that want to enjoy on-sighting a large number of the routes. This sector is still under development and the guidebook isn’t published yet. You can find some information online but the best idea is probably to ask some local climbers from Suesca to join you. As far as my experience is concerned, they will be happy to join.

MACHETA

Also easily accessible from Suesca and from Bogota, the Macheta crag offers a number of hard, powerful routes. The grades start from 5.10b’s and gradually increase in difficulty up to some pretty tough 5.13’s.The wall is mostly overhang, which makes it a perfect spot for rainy days. The limestone rock is slightly flaky, but the holds are usually solid and there are several excellent jug-hauls. The routes are well-protected, long, and maintain their difficulty throughout their entire length. Similar to Zipaquira, there is no guidebook for this crag yet, but you can find a list of routes on the www.crag.com.

To sum up, if you’re planning a trip to Colombia, it is definitely worth taking your climbing equipment with you. There is a well-established climbing culture in this country and it’s easy to find avid climbers pretty much anywhere. You can find several indoor walls in every major city, and climbers seems to be even more friendly and easygoing here than anywhere else in the world. Where you decide to go depends on the type of climbing you’re looking for and your budget. Looking to live cheap, set on trad climbing or not afraid of run-offs, Suesca is for you. More into sport climbing, with well-protected routes and okay with spending a bit more for accommodation, La Mojarra is the better choice. We have enjoyed both places a lot. This part of our trip was not only a great climbing experience. We also met some great people and appreciated time spent in the nature. Now, with sore forearms, thicker callouses, and a sense of accomplishment, we’ll leave the heavy climbing gear behind and start a brand-new chapter of our trip. Cheers!