A few days ago I arrived in Bogota, Colombia for a 2 week stay. I’m traveling with 6 other close friends and so far the experience has been incredible. I’ve been shooting a ton of video and photos and thoroughly experiencing the local culture. It’s safe to say I’m in love…and her name is South America. Today we headed out to a local bouldering area and I was blown away. Perfect gray sandstone boulders with extremely unique features scattered the top of one of the mountains overlooking Bogota. The potential is staggering. Due to safety concerns, we were escorted by two armed military officials for the extent of the day. Thanks to the super friendly locals, we were shown all the established boulders and even some projects. In between frequent rain showers I managed to finish one of the better looking lines. Nic Sherman followed immediately after with a second ascent. We’ve decided to name it Safe House (or casa segura, after our Bogota apartment). V11 seems like an appropriate grade, making it one of the harder boulders in the country. For the extent of the trip, I will be continuing to climb outside when possible, and climbing in the local gym to stay in shape for the Colombian National Championships. This is already proving to be one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life, and I can’t wait to share the stories and media upon my return to the USA. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here are some photos from the first few days of travel and climbing:
Airports…
Miami. In the Escalade. Full speed ahead.
The view from our gracious accommodations in Miami
OMG Miami!
Not a child’s toy.
The view from our Bogota apartment.
The sketchiest part of Bogota provides parking for our first outdoor bouldering adventure.
The rock is VERY VERY GOOD!
Big beautiful boulders.
Jonny attempting Safe House V11.
What are the conditions like?
Carlo, why you were escorted by 2 military officials?? they were afraid from you? or protecting you? from kidnapping and stuff like that?
Glad to see everything going well Carlo! That’s great. South America looks Awesome! Good Luck at the Comp! I hope you win first place! I like the new blog site!
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Protection from kidnapping, armed robbery, etc. The climbing area is above a particularly nasty part of Bogota, pretty much the slums, and in the past armed robberies were a common occurrence. In fact, they got so bad that the locals haven’t been to the area in almost 5 years.
Bogota is at around 8,000 ft. above sea level, so it never really gets too warm. But due to the proximity to the equator, it is certainly very humid. V11 feels a lot like V13.
Carlo i’m a local, or was, i’m living in Paris and yes, i was a victim in La Calera in 2004, how’s the area?, if you get to know the locals, talk with Elias Stucky and make a trip to Sutatausa (2h from Bogota), safe, cool and Elias really knows the area and can propose you cool stuff!, also try Canoas and Chuzaca in the south of the city, there’s a lot of potencial and i’m pretty sure you can propose cool stuff there. I’m so glad to see that a pro is visiting and posting about my climbing spots! enjoy Colombia, chill and if you got in contact with the locals, say hi from Carlitos!… cheers!!!!!!