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thewyseclimber
Sep 6, 2004, 11:20 PM
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Registered: Mar 3, 2004
Posts: 179
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I'm heading to Peru next summer for a college trip for a few months, and thought about staying a little longer to do some backpacking and maybe climbing. Now I'm no big alpinist, but I'll do my share of top roping and sport climbing. I was just doing a curious search of the routes database, and it occurred to me that there really aren't that many routes listed in many of the south american countries. It would seem to me that with the Andes running the entire length of the continent, and various other small mountainous landforms, that south america would have loads of climbing areas. So my question is this...is climbing just not as big down south, or is the routes database just not as well maintained as other regions of the world? PLus I guess I never really hear all that much about this and this climber sent this and this project in, say, ecuador. Of course, we have the big walls of Patagonia and such, but I just never hear a whole lot about significant climbing other than in these areas. Perhaps politics has more to do with it than in most other areas of the world. Can anybody enlighten me on this topic?
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thewyseclimber
Sep 7, 2004, 1:21 AM
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Registered: Mar 3, 2004
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How many users are actually FROM south america, or climb there regularly? That could also be an issue, I guess. Maybe this site isn't as popular or well-known down there. Any thoughts?
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fargoan
Sep 7, 2004, 2:03 AM
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Registered: May 29, 2003
Posts: 110
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yo,
i spent a few months in south america last fall. there is climbing to be hand, most of it however is traditional climbing and big wall climbing (of which there is much).
there is some bouldering and sport climbing to be had for certain in chile (3 areas, around santiago and way north in the desert), argentina (mar del plata and near cordova), and one in bolivia.
there are guidebooks for each of these to be found in all of these countries as well.
apparently there is quite a climbing scene in peru, as well, although i know nothing about that region in particular (in terms of climbing).
climbing is there, and there are 5.14 climbers around (there is also a huge climbing scene in brazil): gear is harder to come by if you're not from a western country, so you might understand why climbing isn't the biggest pasttime when compared to a less gear-intensive sport like soccer.
my best advice is to look out for a climbing shop somewhere or an indoor gym; those seem to pop up in many of the major cities in s. america. you'll be able to get beta from climbers there.
good luck, have fun! jonathan
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