PHILOSPOHY
Apart from some sport routes the routes were all climbed in traditional alpine style. There were used almost only friends and slings. Only in the most difficult parts of the climbs and in the worst belay stances bolts were used. We used 8x10 INOX expansion bolts and were most carefull in placing them.
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| Climbing "Eulalia" |
THE ROCK
The plateau on top of the Auyantepui is disseminated with boulders of all sizes. The variety ranges between some small boulders and hundred and fifty meters high rocks. The quartz-sediment stone can be found in different qualities, but fortunately in most cases and especially around Camp el Oso it is perfect. There is only a very small chance of stonefall since the quality of the rock is very good and so there are virtually no lose stones on the climbs. The quality depends mainly on the percentage of quartz contained in the stone. Generally the lighter the color the better it holds. Caution is necessary with the natural anchor points since they tend to hold less than the equivalemnts in limestone.
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| Climbing "Cara de Indio" |
GRADES
The routes were graded with the french system, some have not been repeated and the grades are therefore to be seen as provisional. The grade describes the most difficult part in the pitch, which is usually quite short, apart from the more difficult pitches above 7a, which usually are continuosly hard.
The routes are alpine trad routes, this means that experience in the use of mobile belaying devices is absolutely necessary. In the hardest parts, where no clean belaying was possible the minimum quantity of bolts was used. The same goes for the belaying stances.
Addicionally it was tried to grade the “seriousness” of the routes:
E1 describes short sport climbing routes, fully equipped with bolts.
E2 describes multi-pitch routes, which are easy to belay. In most cases a fall will remain without consequences.
E3 describes a route with alpine character that offers good belaying possibilities, aldough it can be difficult to place them and falls can have serious consequences.
E4 describes a route with alpine character, hard to belay, only for experienced climbers with mental strenght. A fall will have serious consequences.
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| Climbing "Eulalia" |
GEAR
All routes can be climbed with a normal alpine equipment (NAA), this consists of a full set of friends with some of the smaller numbers and a good selection of slings. These are especially usefull on corner pitches and in the easier routes, be sure to bring also some long slings. There is not much use for nails.
