El Camino del Viento 5.11a: new route on La Mano de Dios (El Salto), Climbing Mexico.

El Salto, Nuevo León, México.

Mexico Climbing.

Few routes in El Salto reach the summit. We have ‘Guerreras’ (5.11c) and ‘Rezando’ (5.12c), which climb 447 m to the summit of La Gloria; ‘No Way, Sí Wey’ (5.11d), which ascends 180 m on La Pared de Gratitud; and the "North Face of La Mano de Dios" (5.9R), equipped by Mark Grundon and Marcelo González.

That’s why adding another multi-pitch to this list—one that allows experienced climbers, even without a high grade, to climb a wall that reaches the summit in El Salto—makes us really happy.

This is ‘El Camino del Viento,’ a 5-pitch route that climbs 150 m up the south face to the summit of La Mano de Dios. Eric Rudolph and I (Diego Canavati) equipped the route over the course of 5 days, giving it its first ascent on September 30, 2020.

Eric Rudolph en el Cuarto Largo de "El Camino del Viento" 5.11a

Below is the information:

Equipment:

• 13 quick-draws, preferably some alpine.

• 70m rope

• Some Mountain Bites

Getting there:

To get there, drive to ‘La Ranita,’ a pool in the river that crosses the San Isidro Canyon, recognizable by a huge rock painted like a frog. You can park your vehicle there without blocking the road and walk down to cross the river. Once you’ve crossed it, hike up a rocky gully for 40 m until you see the first bolt on your right.

First Pitch - 5.7 (20m)

An adventurous pitch through dense vegetation. Don’t judge the route by this pitch, as it’s the only one that goes through so many plants. It can be done with approach shoes. It’s very short.

Second Pitch - 5.10c (35m)

Here it’s worth putting on your climbing shoes. It starts with a bit of slab that leads to a ledge where the climber is no longer visible. (Note: the third piece of protection is a nut in a crack — please leave it there). Then there’s a spaced traverse where you need to trust your skills to reach more slab. The protection is spaced, but trust your abilities.

Third Pitch - 5.10b (30m)

It starts with a diagonal traverse to the left. Technical climbing with an enjoyable finish that leads you to an orange rock ledge.

Fourth Pitch - 5.11b (30m)

Very technical climbing on orange rock. Trust the holds and your footwork, and stay on the bolt line.

Fifth Pitch - 5.10b (30m)

Back to adventure. Follow the rock that looks solid at the start; there’s a runout, but the section is easy. Then you’ll reach a well-protected chimney that takes you straight to the anchor.

Summit - 5.7 (3m)

Once both climbers are at the anchor of the fifth pitch, you can climb to the summit one at a time, being belayed by your partner. The summit is small, so it’s best for only one climber to go up at a time. There’s no anchor at the top, but there is a fixed piece of protection. To descend, you need to downclimb back to the protection and have your partner keep the rope tight. From there, they can lower you back to the anchor.

La Mano de Dios retrieved from El Salto Climbing Guidebook

Descent

You need to rappel from the fifth to the fourth pitch, and from the fourth to an anchor 5m below the anchors of the third pitch. From there, rappel straight down through two more anchors. The final anchor before the ground can be hard to spot, but it’s located on the vertical wall just past the edge of the last ledge.

El Salto Climbing Guidebook

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