Cochamo. Bush Wacking and more new routes We arrived in Cochamo, Chile not knowing what to expect and what we found was an incredible rock mecca unlike at where else we have ever been!! The hike into the valley itself was pretty mellow just a bit muddy in some areas...rubber boots would have been great!! It took us four hours and then we came upon the huge 1000 meter granite walls they encircle Cochamo Valley and continue as far as one can see. We were amazed because we really had no idea what to expect! We set up our tent in the grassy meadow and started to look at the walls around us. Crack systems called out from everywhere! We both were attracted to one wall more than the others so we decided to inquire more info on what we soon learned was named the Milton- Adams Wall.

We went to the refuge owned by the American Daniel, and Argentinian Sylvina, to inquire more about the routes and approach to the Milton Adams wall. Daniel had never been up to the base so he was only able to give us a little information. There were only three routes on this gigantic wall! We were amazed! Breaking the trail was going to be full on bamboo wrestling.Daniel lent us a machete and pointed us in the right direction. We were also fortunate to hit the good weather. The season had been pretty wet and not much climbing was getting done. We were excited because we had only 7 days to spend in the valley. At camp we met, Sabastian Baeza,a Chilean climber who was psyched to go with us on this adventure so the three of us organized our gear and packed food for three days. We set out into the jungle the next morning. After 5 hours of intense bush whacking, chopping, root pulling and mud sliding, we opened the trail and arrived at the base of the Milton-Adams wall. This was definitely a demanding approach!! We searched out for a good bivy spot with water close by and set out to look at the route we had been eyeing from the valley floor. We saw the first few pitches and they seemed doable so we planned to come back in the morning. In the morning, we climbed the first pitch; a vegetated finger crack about 5.9 onto a ledge and set up a belay off a bush. The second pitch went around a bulge onto a run out face with absolutely no protection. We decided to bailfrom there because the gear was bad and the next pitches seemed also sketchy. After reorganizing our gear we moved to a different area on the wall; a gully that would lead us onto the same head wall we had been scoping. We quickly learned the rock in Cochamo is not splitter nor gear friendly. We climbed three pitches to the right of the gully and rappelled back to our bivy when darkness set in. We climbed quickly the next morning to our rappel site where we continued straight up to the right of the gully. We climbed 6 pitches before reaching a large ledge and traversing left towards the head wall. We climbed one awesome finger lock crack through a crystal deposit on to what we named the Condor Ledge . While on Condor Ledge a huge condor flew within arms distance checking us out. We then climbed another crack at 5.10 and traversed left again until we were directly under the double cracks before the summit. From the belay we climbed 3/4 of the way up the right side before the flared grainy crack took no more gear even for aiding The rock crumbled with piton or beak placements . We did not want to place bolts on the route so we rapped down from there. The pitch could possibly be freed with a long run-out at 5.12? Maybe next year! We made an anchor by the ledge and started to rap back to the bivy. We were excited about the climb which we named Welcome to the Jungle; 5.12, A2 After resting one day we headed out to Pared Seca, a sport crag close to the camp site. We had been to this area when we first arrived and had seen an excellent sport line. We took the drill over and placed bolts on lead. The route we named" Amigos Siempre" 5.13 The valleys first 5.13! We had an excellent time in Cochamo and we will definitely return next year for more adventure in the jungle!! Thanks to everyone who supports and follows our adventures. Cheers!!! Camilo Lopez & Anna Pfaff

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