Drilling on the first ascent of Cimarron, one of Viñales’ new multi-pitch routes
“Yarobys Garcia and I were climbing a 2-pitch route on Mogote del Valle in Viñales. The route was near Guajiro Ecológico wall, one of my favorite areas skirting farms with campesinos yelling, “buey” to coax more effort from their oxen. I’ve always loved climbing while listening to the campesinos’ mantra.
“Yaro lead the first, harder pitch, checking in at mid 5.11. As I was coming up to the belay, I noticed to my horror a giant bee hive. Seeing that I was more than a bit nervous, Yaro reassured me with a chuckle that they were not African Killer bees. The hive looked like a 55-gallon drum, just 5 feet to the side of the belay anchor. and the bees were buzzing like a trendy Greenwich Village restaurant.
“I came up to the belay on the side away from the nest, and very cautiously clipped into one of the anchor bolts. I shifted to clip the other anchor bolt, and I was airborne. I jerked to a stop after a fifteen foot fall. The only bolt I had clipped failed under body weight. Yaro and I were hanging off one bolt. Truly a hanging belay, The coffee trees below looked far away.
“Yarobys remained as cool as a Swiss mountain guide. I managed to clip into a bolt nearby. We managed to rig a rappel, lowering from the single anchor point, backed up with the lower bolt.
“Yaro was correct about the bees. They didn’t give chase.
“We headed straight for the closest bar. Thank goodness for Cuban Rum. We drank a bunch of it that evening. Instead of climbing, I went to the beach the next day.”
This is near-miss is one no climber wants to experience. The story is by Mike Bronson, a Denver climber, and certifiable Cubaphile.
Cuba’s oldest routes are two decades old. Some of the earliest and longest routes are only 10 km from Cuba’s north coast. Classic routes on La Costanera that face toward the ocean have had bolts pulled by hand.
The hardware to establish and maintain routes is climbers’ responsibility. We should not expect others to do it for us.
Armando Menocal clipping to stainless bolts on the first ascent (April 1999) of Flyn’ Hyena, the initial route on La Costanera. Also the site of earliest bolt failures, the entire route has been replaced with titanium.
Bolts 4 Climbers is a crowdfunding campaign that has raised thousands of dollars and bought and placed hundreds of titanium bolts. The initiative was launched by Olga Mirkina and Scott Patrick, American climbers who saw the desperate need for the most essential equipment to climb – hardware for anchors and protection – and decided to do something about it.
Olga and Scott teamed up with CubaClimbing which recruits volunteers to bring the bolts, glue, and drills to Cuba (no parcel delivery to Cuba) and organizes anchor replacement projects in Cuba. The project now includes Paul Laperrière of Quebec, and a large contingent of the Cuban climbers, led by Tito Pimente and Aníbal Fernández, and many, many others who donate their time and money.
Tito Pimente rebolting Flyn’ Hyena. Bolts4Climbers buys only titanium bolts for new routes and anchor replacement for Viñales and others places in Cuba
Bolts 4 Climbers is unique in several ways. It is run entirely by volunteers, by and for climbers. Every penny goes to bolts, glue, and drills. No staff or overhead. Also it funds bolts both to up-grade the safety of existing routes and to create new areas. It buys only titanium bolts — to stop the too common cycle of climbers placing bolts that in time corrode and fail; then paying to upgrade to permanent bolts such as titanium. All new areas being explored and climbed by Cubans are with only-titanium bolts except where not possible.
Donations reward your climbing in Cuba and bring you an unmatched sets of thank-you premiums. These are gifts you can’t buy anywhere and frankly are intended to encourage more and bigger donations.
First, donors at the highest level, over $125, receive topos to new climbing areas developed since the CubaClimibng guidebook was published in 2009. It’s now out-of-print and the new guide is a few years away. The only way to climb at the new areas and walls in Cuba is with these topos.
For example, one of Viñales’ most popular walls was developed beginning 2010. In the guidebook, it’s one route, Jungle Warfare. Today renamed Pared de Competición, Comp Wall, it has 38 routes, 15 of which are 5.10 / 6b and below, some multi-pltch and up to 5.13 / 8a and +++ routes. Visitors to Viñales have started and then not left Comp Wall.
Cimarrónes overview
Recently added as a thank-you gift on Bolts4Climbers is Tito Pimente’s topos to Cimarrónes, which revived Viñales’ golden era of long, big wall sport climbs. This amazing route ascends spectacular features, with pitch after classic pitch of moderate climbing. All of the pitches come in at 5.10 except the last that has a couple of bolts of 5.11c.
The set of topos include new areas in other provinces of Cuba. Jibacoa, on Cuba’s north coast near Varadero, Cuba’s most famous beach, will also be the seen of intensive exploration and new routes in 2020.
By time you read this, the topos will include an area developed in 2018 and 19 of over 30 routes near Gibara, a beach resort in eastern Cuba. Topos will include two new walls near Viñales.
For U.S. citizens or residents, Bolts4Climbers offers an indispensable bonus for a $100 donation: An itinerary for climbers that should pass legal muster with the U.S. government. The itinerary is also included with the topos for $125 donations. If getting the itinerary, consider giving another $25 and receive all the topos too.
American climbers can go to Cuba to climb using the category of legal travel intended to provide Support for the Cuban People. Stay and eat in private Cuban homes. Spend your free time where ordinary Cubans go and predominate. Take climbing gear and provide donations to Bolts4Climbers. That basically describes what climbers have been doing in Viñales for the last two decades.
There are still legal pitfalls. As the U.S. government likes to repeat in every relaxation or tightening of the rules, “tourism is not allowed.” Compliance isn’t hard and doesn’t preclude a full slate of climbing – if you know and follow a few simple rules. The Bolts4Climbers itinerary explains how to do it.
Donors of $50 receive an 8 x 10 replica of Aníbal Fernández’ hand-draw, full-color topo of the Boveda de las Españolas at La Costanera, the site of Cuba’s first multi-pitch sport routes – and those first known to be in dire need of replacement. It is an historic souvenir worthy of mounting after your return from climbing one of its famous routes, such as Mucho Pumpito or Flyn’ Hyena.
Sección Oricha, Comp Wall
