Speaker A
So this is Mineral del Chico, it's a forest located in the state of Hidalgo.
Explore the origins and unique style of Mexican bouldering in Mineral del Chico, a forested climbing haven with rich history and community impact.
Key Takeaways
- Mineral del Chico is a historic and unique bouldering destination in Mexico with a strong climbing community.
- The climbing style is distinctive due to the rock’s features and overhanging nature, requiring creativity and endurance.
- The area supports eco-tourism and benefits local communities, showing climbing’s positive regional impact.
- Ongoing route development and maintenance are vital, with climbers embracing challenges like natural wear and hold breakage.
- The passion for climbing here is deeply connected to the environment and the legacy of early Mexican climbers.
Summary
- Mineral del Chico is a forest in Hidalgo, Mexico, known as one of the pioneering climbing areas in the country.
- The area offers diverse climbing styles including bouldering, sport climbing, and multi-pitch climbing.
- Climbers have developed over 400 bouldering problems in the forest, continuing a tradition started decades ago.
- The rock type is unique, not granite, sandstone, or limestone, featuring overhanging routes with tricky holds requiring creativity.
- Classic routes like Salamandra (V5) and Rey Pulque (V8) are iconic climbs with challenging moves and history.
- The climbing community has grown from a few friends to a large, engaged group that supports local eco-tourism.
- Cleaning and maintaining boulders is an ongoing effort, with climbers exploring new areas despite challenges like hold breakage.
- The climbing style emphasizes body positioning and creative use of irregular holds rather than straightforward crimping.
- The area’s positive social and economic impact on the local community is significant, fostering sustainable tourism.
- Climbers express a strong passion for the sport and the unique environment, eager to expand and develop new routes.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker B
Behind Pachuca, a couple of hours of Mexico City, outside the National Park of Mineral del Chico.
Speaker A
And this place is really special for climbing because actually here is one of the first places that started the pioneers of climbing in Mexico.
Speaker B
This place has a plenty of potential for bouldering and sport climbing and multi-pitch climbing.
Speaker A
We kind of continue the tradition but with bouldering, we started developing the area.
Speaker A
Mavericks, this line I opened it some years ago, I found it and it's a really nice area, I really like it because you can see the forest, you can feel the forest.
Speaker A
And the first move is a bit hard, not so hard, and then I would say it's constant, it doesn't have like one specific hard crux, but you have to continue struggling all the way to the top.
Speaker A
We saw the potential of the place and so we started cleaning all the boulders.
Speaker A
It's always nice to know, to realize that we're not the first one.
Speaker A
There were some people before like long time ago, in the 1930s, 1940s.
Speaker A
We've been doing 15 and 18 years ago, we started but not really serious.
Speaker A
It was just like a bunch of friends, you know, hanging out, like 10 years ago, I think it started like really more serious.
Speaker A
Let's say, okay, we're gonna...
Speaker B
So I really saw the transition of like just me and my other three friends, also started bouldering.
Speaker B
And it was really crazy to see that change.
Speaker B
Like...
Speaker A
Salamandra, this line has a lot of history because this was one of the first lines that we opened back in 2004, so it's like the V5 reference of Mineral del Chico.
Speaker B
I think.
Speaker B
The style of this line is very typical from Mineral del Chico, it's a little bit tricky.
Speaker B
All the holds are kind of irregular.
Speaker B
You have to know the perfect place for every finger.
Speaker B
Like little things really.
Speaker B
Like just having...
Speaker A
And it has a spicy move at the top, you have to hold a small pocket with the left hand.
Speaker A
And you're already pretty high and the landing is not so good.
Speaker A
Oh, that move is scary.
Speaker A
You just have to trust.
Speaker A
Up to now there are more than 400 problems scattered all around the forest and we continue doing this.
Speaker A
We just love to.
Speaker B
And having that community built up in a good way that really like involves the local people, a camping can have a restaurant, can have like service to the climbers and really make a real eco-tourism in the area.
Speaker B
Something that shocked me, you know.
Speaker B
Like...
Speaker B
It was really like the positive impact that climbing could have in the middle of nowhere, really, no?
Speaker B
From being like three, four people to to really having like a community, like a real community.
Speaker B
This area is unique, that is really what I love about it because the style is unique.
Speaker B
It's not like anything you commonly see.
Speaker B
It's not granite, it's not sandstone, it's not limestone.
Speaker A
Good holds, but it's overhanging and the the rock has a lot of features.
Speaker A
So it's really tricky, it's not so evident like...
Speaker B
Little things make a big difference, grabbing it like this or like this and particularly with your own body.
Speaker B
So it really makes you explore your own dimensions.
Speaker A
Like in other places you see the crimps and you know you have to crimp and there's nothing else.
Speaker A
But here you have so many features, you have to be really creative.
Speaker A
Rey Pulque is one of the most classic lines.
Speaker A
It's a really nice overhang with really special holds, really crazy holds.
Speaker A
And it's an endurance problem.
Speaker A
A really long one.
Speaker B
It's a classic of of of the place, you know.
Speaker B
It's a V8, it's a very, very nice line.
Speaker A
People from all over Mexico come to to do that test their strength in this line.
Speaker A
And yeah, it has some cruxes at the beginning, then in the middle section there's another crux and then the top out you don't want to fall.
Speaker A
We still continue searching for for new areas.
Speaker A
So we thought about cleaning a new line.
Speaker A
We got lost a little bit.
Speaker A
That's the idea if you want to find something new, you have to get lost.
Speaker A
Completely lost.
Speaker A
And then what the boulder we found, actually it was already discovered, I already saw it many like six years ago.
Speaker B
I mean, here just one raining season.
Speaker B
And the boulder gets like dirty again.
Speaker B
So it was, we had to clean it up again.
Speaker B
It has very nice potential.
Speaker B
The rock is a little bit soft.
Speaker A
So we said, let's give it a try.
Speaker A
And the the the last part it's not so so hard, but it's it's high.
Speaker A
And the beginning was the crux.
Speaker A
So we started figuring it out.
Speaker B
Diego got like the good beta for it and then I got it also but then the key hook broke and then it was like, okay, not today.
Speaker A
The first hold broke, but then that was okay because we could do another move.
Speaker A
But then the the heel hook that was key, it broke at the end.
Speaker A
And we were like, oh no, this is going to be harder.
Speaker A
So that's the thing, sometimes you are you are going to be able to climb it, sometimes not, but that's the game, no, just we want to continue.
Speaker A
And it's it's...
Speaker A
Yeah, it's a game, no.
Speaker A
We love it.
Speaker B
So we we want to return, huh?
Speaker B
You know, right now everything is very concentrated.
Speaker B
And but it's time to expand, yeah.
Speaker B
But if the climbing is good.
Topics:Mineral del ChicoMexican boulderingbouldering pioneersclimbing Mexicoeco-tourism climbingunique rock climbingbouldering routesclimbing communitysport climbing Mexicoclimbing history
