We arrived in Quetzeltenango (also known as Xelaju, or Xela pronounced Shayla) Guatemala late friday, found a cheap and clean enough hostel and crashed. On Saturday we toured the city, second largest in Guatemala, and checked into the apartment we rented for the week. Sunday we woke around 5 caught a bus to the base of the mountain around 7 and started walking the 1st gear road up to the climbing area near La Muela. We started climbing the first route we came too, I thought it was a 5.10 and was very frustrated at how poorly I was climbing, or actually hanging at each draw. Around half-way up the route I noticed two more climbers on the neighboring crag, one local and one obviously not. It turned out that the local was Miguel Arango, the first rock climber in all of Guatemala.
Miguel started climbing at age 12 after reading an Italian book about mountaineering. Since then he has hand bolted about 30 quality but very difficult sport routes in the nearby hills, most in the 5.12 range. During the week he works his six days selling wool yarn to manufacturers and every Sunday he is cranking on his latest testpiece or guiding a newbie Gringo for extra cash. Last night we had Miguel over for beers, wine and crepes to chat about climbing, it was fun hearing stories about the many different trips throughout Latin America pursuing his passion.
I was sick all day Monday and Tuesday so our plan to climb on Tuesday was changed to Wednesday, then finally we made it back up on Thursday. This time we were fortunate to catch rides both up and down the mountain, saving my lungs and especially my knees from the steep cobbled road. We wanted to go surfing in Guatemala while here, but there is a huge competition in El Salvador so all the instructors are headed south to compete, plus the waves are supposed to be HUGE this weekend, probably not the best for rookies. Maybe when we move to Portland I can get a board and stash it at my parents???
Miguel started climbing at age 12 after reading an Italian book about mountaineering. Since then he has hand bolted about 30 quality but very difficult sport routes in the nearby hills, most in the 5.12 range. During the week he works his six days selling wool yarn to manufacturers and every Sunday he is cranking on his latest testpiece or guiding a newbie Gringo for extra cash. Last night we had Miguel over for beers, wine and crepes to chat about climbing, it was fun hearing stories about the many different trips throughout Latin America pursuing his passion.
I was sick all day Monday and Tuesday so our plan to climb on Tuesday was changed to Wednesday, then finally we made it back up on Thursday. This time we were fortunate to catch rides both up and down the mountain, saving my lungs and especially my knees from the steep cobbled road. We wanted to go surfing in Guatemala while here, but there is a huge competition in El Salvador so all the instructors are headed south to compete, plus the waves are supposed to be HUGE this weekend, probably not the best for rookies. Maybe when we move to Portland I can get a board and stash it at my parents???
