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El Potrero Chico, Trip Report Week 1

2023-12-27 - El Potrero Chico, Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

El Potrero Chico is a canyon in Mexico, about an hour north of Monterrey, known for its super long moderate multi-pitch sport climbs on towering limestone cliffs. I first heard of it over ten years ago, and it sounded like my dream climbing spot, but it’s never worked out to plan a trip there with a climbing partner.

For the majority of my climbing life, I’ve climbed with a more experienced partner or group, and let them plan the trips and pick the routes. But last year, I had an accident in Smith Rock that left me bed-bound for eight solid weeks. Afterwards, I was determined to get back to climbing. It’s a story for another time, but over the last year I’ve also been deliberately increasing my independence and agency in my climbing life.

So when the weather started turning and I felt my injury hurting more in the cold, I decided to plan a solo trip to El Potrero Chico. I’ve never done a solo climbing trip before and it’s definitely out of my comfort zone! The trip didn’t feel real in the weeks leading up to it. I waited till the very last week to start packing, ordered some last minute gear (MEC didn’t have any 5mm, 6mm, or 7mm cord! outrageous), arranged a subletter in the same week, and then it all came together in the last few days before my flight.

I’ve got lots of reflections from the last while, but for now I’ll just jot down a day-by-day recounting.

Day -5: Thurs, Dec 14

A little pre-trip colour: On Thursday morning I got a hyaluronic acid injection into my ankle. It sounded like it would be a minor procedure and I didn’t get any aftercare instructions. I could not walk for three days afterwards. I started taking my prescription painkillers from the year before, and suddenly got so nauseous and dizzy on Friday that it took me 2hrs to drive home from an errand that is usually 15 minutes away.

I was in tears, both from the physical pain and from feeling disabled and incapable. But I have amazing and supportive friends, and they swooped in to help pack, clean, and feed me and cheer me up. That weekend I experienced feeling the lowest I’ve felt in my entire disability journey, and also the most supported and nurtured and cared for, more than I could have expected. I was so grateful, and it made me sad to leave Vancouver for so long!

Day 0: Tues, Dec 19

On Tuesday my roommate dropped me off at the airport at 8pm for an 11pm flight (thank you Cole!). AeroMexico online check-in didn’t work for me, maybe because of my Singaporean passport. Checking in at the counter was pretty frustrating. I had already paid for a checked bag online, but my bag exceeded the default weight, and they insisted that I couldn’t increase the weight of the first bag, and I had to pay for a whole second bag. Then they wanted me to try checking in at a booth, all of which were broken. They finally checked me in at 9pm, and then told me I was on standby and that they would issue me a seat at the gate.

At the gate, I had a very anxious half an hour where the staff continuously told me they were about to issue me a seat but then… didn’t. I didn’t understand what standby was, and they refused to explain anything that was happening, and I got pretty frustrated and upset.

Anyway. Eventually it became clear that I was not going to board, and after contravening a couple more CTA regulations, they sent me to an airport lounge for a bright, loud, and uncomfortable few hours until a 7am flight. I pushed some chairs together, napped fitfully, and ate way too much bad snack mix.

Day 1: Weds, Dec 20

The flight from Vancouver to Mexico City left at 7am. I got wheelchair assistance at CDMX and it was the best decision ever. I could have hobbled through the airport, but it was large and crowded and full of lines! There’s a lot of route-finding that I took for granted when I was able-bodied, like the willingness to walk across a large room to read a sign and then come back if it’s the wrong way. So a very friendly gentleman whisked me through the airport, multiple security and customs lines, answered my questions about how to say various things in Spanish, and came back to get me for a last minute gate change.

The flight from Mexico City to Monterrey was uneventful and I also got wheelchair assistance which brought me to the curb.

My driver had sent me a picture of his car, so I found it pretty easily, and then we were off to El Potrero! I learned quite a bit of Spanish from him in the car, including lots of words for darkness, fog, mountains, etc. The highway was a two-lane highway, but people drive mostly on the shoulder, and to pass, you drive into oncoming traffic. People flash their hazard lights to indicate that they are not interested in passing and you should go around them, so sometimes there would be a line of ten cars ahead of us all with their hazards on.

I arrived at La Posada around 9pm and checked in. The room was about the size of a double bed with a foot or two of clearance all around. I unpacked a few things, sat and stared at the walls, and then ventured outside. I made small talk with the first two people I saw, ate dinner at the hostel restaurant, and then retreated back to my room feeling exhausted, self-conscious, and kind of lost. I thought about going home. I took a hot shower and a deep breath, started feeling better, got on Facebook to communicate with a few potential climbing partners, and then fell asleep feeling a little more hopeful.

View from outside La Posada hostel

Day 2: Thurs, Dec 21

This was a work day for me, wrapping up loose ends before the end of the year. I traded messages with a few people on Facebook and lined up climbing plans for the next few days. In the evening I met up with some folks and went to a movie night at Potrero Chico Brewing. They were playing Nightmare Before Christmas. Major nostalgia!

Day 3: Friday, Dec 22

This was a cloudy, sprinkly day that turned out to be a mostly social day. I met my climbing partner for the day, Lior, in the hostel restaurant, and after some chat we decided to skip climbing that day. I’m learning that my nervous system likes to take things slowly, and trusting my gut allows me to find a genuine sense of enthusiasm and agency. Trying to fake enthusiasm makes me tense and dissociated. So no climbing on a rainy day in a new place with a new partner.

In the afternoon Lior told me that he’d found a ride to town, and they came to pick me up. A massive campervan rolled up in front of the gates and I got in and met Alex, Max, and Max’s beautiful big brown dog Jensen. We drove to town and I suggested that we stop at the fabled tamales shop before the grocery store.

The tamales shop was chaos because we got there when someone else was picking up a massive order, it must have been hundreds of tamales. But eventually we got our tamales. We found a patch of green on Google Maps and thought it’d be nice to eat in the park, but it turned out to be a cemetary, so Max set up the table in his campervan and we hung out there for a good chunk of the afternoon. Turned out to be a serendipitous connection; we discovered that Max and I had a big circle of mutual friends in Vancouver, and Alex and I compared notes on psychonautical experiences.

After that we visited the grocery store, and found a chocolate bar that turned out to be a cocoa-flavoured compressed block of sugar.

In the evening I met up with my climbing partner for the next day, Alex. We got tacos, compared notes on climbing, and made a plan for routes to try.

After I got back to the hostel, I was feeling more comfortable and relaxed, and struck up a conversation with some people on the patio. Slade and Pearl had sold their house this year and were full-time vanlifers, travelling across America to find their next place to settle down. Lani and Sam were climbing guides from Index and seasoned EPC climbers. We went into the restaurant and hung out for the rest of the night, and I picked up lots of interesting climbing tips.

Day 4: Saturday, Dec 23

Finally my first climbing day! I’m grateful that I get to take long trips. It would be so much harder to show up for a four day trip ready to rock; I really do like a slow burn. At this point I was feeling comfortable, settled in, confident and ready to climb!

We started at Wonder Wall, one of the nearest walls in the canyon. I led either a 5.8 or 5.9, I don’t remember. At some point I was uncertain of a move and got scared. When I’m above my bolt and think I might fall, there’s a feeling of sudden and abject terror that comes over me. My heart starts pounding and it’s hard to think straight.

I top-roped the next couple climbs. We finished off the day with Ramsey’s Shenanigans, three pitches of 5.9 and 5.10a that takes you about 240ft up. Before coming down, we top-roped the third pitch of the climb next to it, a 5.10d. I hung once at the crux to figure out the sequence, but completed it without too much fuss. So I was feeling pretty good at the end of the day.

We stopped at Taco Loco on the way out of the canyon. The burritos and piratas are made with fresh tortillas and are amazing. The tacos are good too but the tortillas aren’t as fresh!

Day 5: Sunday, Dec 24

I took a rest day because my ankle was hurting and I had an idea that I would climb alternate days. I tried to arrange to borrow a bicycle. The hostel was pretty quiet because the weather was nice and everyone was climbing. Felt lame - literally.

In the evening I met a couple of climbers from Nanaimo, pretty close to home! Alex joined us and we went to the Christmas Eve party at Don Leo’s, a long-running tradition. It was quiet when we got there, but things started picking up after we ate. It was fun and a good place to chat with climbers from all over. I met up with Slade, Pearl, Sam, and Lani again and got to hear a bunch of dramatic alpinist stories.

Day 6: Monday, Dec 25

Second climbing day, with Alex again. I had a plan to overcome my fear of falling, and planned to do some falling practice. We went to Cañon de Los Lobos, which turned out to have lots of huge blocks and ledges, and a pretty tough scramble to approach. I wasn’t enthusiastic about the first couple of climbs we came to, but was willing to do them.

We climbed Anvil (5.8), and then Blacksmith (5.9), which we linked as one long pitch. It had decent exposure and ended at the top of the ridge so you could look over into the other side of the canyon. Alex kept asking me if I liked the routes and pointing out different things to like about them, and I told him that I was happy to climb routes even if they didn’t particularly inspire me, but I was not willing to fake more enthusiasm than I was feeling.

We climbed another 5.9, then moved on to Zombie Wolf (5.8), going up a huge dihedral on the left, and a nice flat vertical face on the right. I thought this would be a safe place for fall practice so I roped up to lead. My plan was to take a fall at each bolt and bounce around on the wall to see how the impact felt on my ankle. When I got up to the third bolt I asked for a take, and then felt nervous so I asked for more take, but instead of taking more Alex said “you’ll be fine” and “just take the fall”.

Debating how much slack should be in the rope really took me out of the climbing headspace. After a bit of back and forth I insisted on a take, then sat back to calm down, and told Alex I might not finish the route. Then I got my head back on straight, said I’d do one more try, and started climbing again. But Alex kept talking and I couldn’t focus on climbing, so I decided to just come down.

After that I belayed Alex up another climb and then we called it a day. I gave Alex some feedback on how I had experienced our interactions while I was climbing. I think the learning experience for me there is to be very clear with my belayer about what I need when I’m climbing: no debate or discussion when I’m on the wall, unless it’s to prevent a safety issue. Give me what I ask for, whether it’s take, slack, keeping me on belay or taking me off.

In the evening I met up with my partner for the next day, Chris. There were a lot of other people around to chat with, so we didn’t really make many plans, but we got a sense of what we wanted to do. I also met some older climbers from Utah and they had lots of orthopedic stories, which left me feeling more hopeful and motivated to cross items off my ankle to-do list.

Day 7: Tuesday, Dec 26

Chris and I had planned a chill climbing day to suss each other out. Alex tagged along and Chris’s friend Eleo joined us too. We started at Wonder Wall with One Dead Teardrop (5.9), which I’d wanted to do on Saturday (but we accidentally did the first pitch of Evil Shenanigans instead). I chose to top-rope it, and took a few airy falls with Chris to build confidence.

I got a chance to watch Chris and Eleo belay, and then we moved to Virgin Canyon, and I top-roped Selam (5.10a) before leading it. My first 5.10 lead in EPC! There were a few moments where I felt scared, but overall it was OK, and it was a super fun climb with easy movement. It was also really long at 130ft.

Next I top-roped Sancho Panza (5.11a), but I don’t remember much about it, except that I hung a couple times at the crux but didn’t get stuck.

After that, Chris and I hiked over to Las Agujas (The Spires) to do the two-pitch route Gettin’ Wood (5.10d, 5.9). I took a fair amount of time on the 5.10d and Chris was cold and hungry on the belay ledge so we decided to bail. Overall pretty happy with the amount of climbing we did in the first day climbing together.

Stopped at Taco Loco again on the way out, and we wound up eating with Nick and Kassi, two Squamish climbers that I’d met earlier. In the morning, when I was in the kitchen, I saw a water bottle with a Climb On sticker and I yelled to the room at large, “Whose Squamish water bottle is this?!” and that’s how I met Nick and Kassi!

My ankle had felt pretty good that morning so I made plans to climb again with Chris the next day.

Things I learned for next time