Potrero Love Letters Vol. 2 Ilana Jesse, March 1December 14 Rest day two has crept up on us already and with temperatures approaching 34C today, we don’t mind being force-fed a pool lounging day at La Posada. Truth be told, the pool may be our only means to bathe as it appears the water is not functioning in the women’s bathroom. We are basking in the glory of another two days of stellar climbing in the Potrero and have learned a valuable lesson for our two days to come – the word “classic” when used to describe a route tends to equate to exciting bolting. With this valuable lesson learned, we are recharging our cajones on this well-earned rest day. CLIMBING DAY THREE: SPACE BOYZ (5.10d) Base of Space Boyz An El Potrero “classic” that summits the first bolted gendarme in the Potrero. This was the first bolting experience for these guys and they bolted only on weekends over the course of a year. The ratings held very true to the grade and Space Boyz served up the crux smack dab in the middle of the climb on P6, kindly offering a 5 pitch warm up and 5 pitch cool down. Space Boyz (5.10d, 11 pitches, 1,000′) P1/P2 – 5.8/5.9 (linked). Dance up the face of the black and white streaked wall. Balancey moves and technical for the grade. P3/P4 – 5.9+/5.9 (linked). More or less similar climbing to the first two pitches. P5 – 5.10. Gain position to an exposed ledge P6 – 5.10d, exposed moves into a right facing corner. Beautiful position. P7 – 5.10c/d Climb the right facing dihedral or make moves up the face, your choice. We opted for the crack naturally P8 – 5.9 P9/P10 – 5.10a/5.9 (linked) Stem master Jean’s favorite. Exposed and fun moves to negotiate a roof. P11 – 5.9, wild off width with a featured face. Many ways to climb this pitch, pick your adventure but be mindful of loose rock. P3/P4 (5.9+/5.9) – Space Boyz P6 (5.10d) – Space Boyz P6 (5.10d) – Space Boyz Looking Up (P11) – Space Boyz Topped out on Space Boyz – Nice View! CLIMBING DAY FOUR: SNOT GIRLZ’ (5.10d) Another Potrero “classic”. A beautiful line up an obvious crack system. This climb gets right down to business with the party all up in front, P1 was the money pitch and P2 was not exactly a party pooper. Snot Girlz’ gave us brilliant climbing and felt true to its grade, leaving us all smiles. Base of Snot Girlz Route Profile – Snot Girlz Snot Girlz’ (5.10d, 7 pitches, 700′) P1 – 5.10d, starts on a face to the left of the crack and quickly moves into the crack. The mental crux may be more daunting than the physical crux, as you make moves well above 2 body lengths from your last bolt with another body length to go before your next. P2 – 5.10c/d, continue up the crack and enjoy an assortment of holds – side pulls, crimps, slopers, hand jams, pockets, underclings. P3/P4 – 5.10/5.9 (linked), dancing up the rock, move right, left, right, left (in no particular order). P5 – 5.9 (Jean led), amazing position for the grade! An airy traverse up a blocky ledge with a breathtaking view of the Potrero. P6/P7 – 5.9/5.9 (linked), pull moves up a face wandering right and then enter a perfect hand crack leading to summit. The only downfall to this route is its location in relation to the most popular wall in the Potrero – The Mota Wall. There is a fair amount of loose garbage along the rap line and extreme caution must be taken not to dislodge anything with your feet, as it would come tumbling down onto the very popular single pitches and climbers along the base. Read: Extreme Danger! P2 (5.10c) – Snot Girlz We are hopeful that the temperatures start to back off for our final two days of climbing at the Potrero. We discovered yesterday that climbing in the blazing sun is like standing in front of a firing squad with bad aim. It is slow and painful and really sucks the life out of you. With the assumption being that it will be intemperate tomorrow, we are planning an early start right when the roosters start cock a doodle doing. We hope to get on Satori (5.10c, 7 pitches) and perhaps the adjacent line that shares the first two pitches of Satori, Off the Couch (5.10d, 7 pitches). We have yet to settle on any given route for our final day of climbing, but we are sure it will be a “classic” not shy of epic. Until we chat again… Location: El Potrero Chico – Hidalgo, Mexico [google-map-v3 width=”400″ height=”400″ zoom=”12″ maptype=”roadmap” mapalign=”center” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”25.956196°, -100.477580°{}climbing.png{}El Potrero Chico” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”] Uncategorized El Potrero Chicomulti-pitchSport Climbing