PREPERATION
This is the second year of this event, which was carried out in view of the success and motivation of the first edition, led us to do a now, more impressive version of it. We started to look for the perfect place for this purpose since May 2007. After many miles in the Bolivian territory, we reached Challcupuncu, located 30 kilometers from Curahuara de Carangas. This place had the necessary conditions for bouldering and also offered beauty and peace, at slightly more than 4,000 meters above sea level, in the midst of the impressive Bolivian Altiplano and very close to the Sajama National Park.
As in every big dream , we encountered some difficulties which, added to the lack of available time of the organizers, who all had work commitments, left us without the vital hours for the organization considering the proximity of the date chosen for the event, the distance of the place and the lack of facilities to carry out a big ado, made it hanging to a thin string.
We had two courses, the easy one, moving the date forward or doing it in spite of the short time and scarce money. The Club started moving and we managed to get Tigo Telecommunications and Red Bull sponsorship, thanks to whom we could go ahead, and had only to wait for the participants.
THE DAY OF THE EVENT
For the group of organizers that got there a day before, it as 9:00 AM and no participants in sight. Apparently they had a mishap with the bus on the road and we had no communication with La Paz to find out what was happening. Finally at 10:00 AM we heard the noise of a bus in the distance. The participants arrived after 4 hours, all willing and eager to give their best effort to solve the problems submitted.
The music bass started, and the climbers filled their magnesium bags and got their shoes ready to solve the 20 problems proposed by the organizers. They started solving the problems in different ways and one by one, they were overcome.
Nevertheless injured fingers started to show and the exhaustion due to the demands of each problem grew with the passing of time. It took the participants almost 5 hours to solve the problems, at varied levels, from a 6a to a 7a block.
Since the event was not only for competition, but also to befriend, at the end of the day, we all met, tired but happy, for some tea and cookies, to comment on the problems. We started to relax and share experiences and anecdotes. At 8:00 PM, suddenly far out, we saw the light of a small reflector, slightly illuminating a rock. No one understood what was happening, and a few minutes later, the organizers announced the nocturnal event, a 6a night boulder which became a 6c due to the lack of light.
The idea of the organizers was not only to propose problems with a more complex level, but also to wake up the climbers and make them discover new ways to perform in the rocks. For this reason, the climbers had to use a lot of initiative and news things to solve a problem that was easy in broad daylight. The success of this proposal was patent with the screams of support and backing to the participants and the huge ovation once they finished.
Once the “secret” of the night event was spread around, the organizers still had an Ace under their sleeves. The participants, under the scarce light illuminating the rock, had to solve a Dynamic in the same wall. This was presented as another challenge to the climbers. Who very enthusiastically tried to solve it several times.
The fact of climbing at night, counting with such a large group of people and the endless problems that the new climbing zone presented, left many participants overwhelmed by Vertigio Club´s endeavor.
As if it was not already enough, after some moments of “free time”, dinner was ready, and not a normal camp dinner, many were surprised with a sausage and meat barbecue that broke all the schemes.
To end with a “golden brooch” one of our greatest days, we started the projection of the pictures of the first edition of the event and some climbing movies. It did not seem we were in the middle of nowhere at 4000 masl, but the very cold night with a full moon, became warm and the party unbelievable.
The only thing left to say is that the 2008 Bloqueando was an astounding success.
THANK YOU
This event would not have been posible without the collaboration of:
Matías Gallardo (Tiru), Juan Gabriel Estellano (Juanga), Silvana Lara (Tia), Ariel Conitzer, Juan Carlos Ledezma (Chochan), Ivana Parchuc, Mai Suzuki (Chinita), planetaventura.com, TIGO and RED BULL.
PICTURES: Juan Gabriel Estellano
