Trip Report
Brazil Granite Bouldering By The Ocean
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Monday November 29, 2010 8:56am
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I went to Brazil for six days of surfing and six days of a wedding party for Corey and Marina Rich. I didn't think there would be much if any climbing but I threw in my climbing shoes just in case. Turns out, there was bouldering 30 feet away from the surf break!
The rock was similar to good Joshua Tree rock. A little gritty at times but mostly solid and tacky. I got lucky in that whenever the wind kicked up and made the waves less ride-able... it made bouldering conditions that much better.
The next day I continued down the coast and found a complete deserted beach with even better boulders.
There are a bunch of towns on the coast. But we felt Guarda was one of the best. It had amazing surf that was sheltered from the wind. Great bouldering. Not too many people.
If you are thinking of ever doing a trip to this area, go when we did. Late November/early December. After December 26 and before March the place is a zoo with Argentinian and EU tourists. We pretty much had the place to ourselves.
We stayed at an amazing Pousada (aka Brazilian Bed & Breakfast in Guarda) . Not expensive with views of the beach so you could see when the surf was good or when it was too windy. There is also a slightly more famous surf beach nearby called Praia Do Rosa. It was made popular by a recent Quicksilver surf tour. However, when we checked it out, we found the town not nearly as cool as Guarda Surfing and the surf is much more fickle because it gets much more wind (kite surfers would dig it).
parting shot, they really know how to make beer cuzzies in the tropical climates!
They know how to throw a wedding party in Brazil!!!
Chris McNamara
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About the Author Climbing Magazine once computed that three percent of Chris McNamara’s life on earth had been spent on the face of El Capitan – an accomplishment that left friends and family pondering Chris’s sanity. He has climbed El Capitan more than 70 times and holds nine big wall speed climbing records. In 1998 Chris did the first Girdle Traverse of El Capitan, an epic 75-pitch route that asks the question, “Why?”
Outside Magazine has called Chris one of “the world’s finest aid climbers.” He is the winner of the 1999 Bates Award from the American Alpine Club and founder of the American Safe Climbing Association, a nonprofit group that has replaced more than 5000 dangerous anchor bolts. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and serves on the board of the ASCA and the Rowell Legacy Committee. He has a rarely updated adventure journal, maintains BASEjumpingmovies.com, and also runs a Lake Tahoe home rental business. |
Comments
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skywalker
climber
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Nov 29, 2010 - 09:11am PT
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Hey thanks for posting. I'm off to Panama. Wonder if I should toss my shoes in as well.
S...
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Nov 29, 2010 - 09:13am PT
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Always toss your shoes in.
Thanks Chris!
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Morgan
Trad climber
East Coast
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Nov 29, 2010 - 02:15pm PT
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Obrigado, Chris.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Nov 29, 2010 - 02:16pm PT
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Nice!
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Porkchop_express
Trad climber
Southwest for the winter
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Nov 29, 2010 - 02:35pm PT
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thanks for posting this, Chris. I had been wondering about the climbing opportunities in Brazil.
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Nov 29, 2010 - 02:46pm PT
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FYI, there is something similar on the coast of Colombia. In the enormous Tayrona National Park, there are amazing granite boulders, thousands of them.
I did a bit of bouldering when there. If I were to go back and be serious about it, I would bring more pads, and some gardening tools (clippers, machetes, rakes) cos there is a bit of cleanign to be done. But that said, these boulders are incredible (and not all of them are in the forest-- there is stuff in the water, on the beach, etc, too): big, solid, cool lines, and most landings are soft and flat.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.
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Nov 29, 2010 - 03:26pm PT
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good stuff
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
WA, & NC & Idaho
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Nov 29, 2010 - 08:16pm PT
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Awesome chris,
thanks for sharing, quite the bikini pics, thanks....:)
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2 l l
Sport climber
Rancho Verga, CA
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Nov 29, 2010 - 10:22pm PT
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oh!
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Gym Birdwall
Gym climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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Nov 30, 2010 - 06:50pm PT
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Your life realy sucks, don't it Chris?
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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Nov 30, 2010 - 07:28pm PT
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I have to confess to enlarging one of the photos.
Nice trip, how were the waves?
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Mike.
climber
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Nov 30, 2010 - 09:36pm PT
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Some cool nuggets there, C. Fun report.
I think we need some Brazilian infinity pools up round here, yes.
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this just in
climber
north fork
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Dec 13, 2010 - 07:54am PT
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Hell yeah Chris. Looks relaxing.
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Dec 13, 2010 - 09:03am PT
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Nice, Chris.
Thanks!
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A5talvez
Big Wall climber
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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Hi, I'm a climber of Brazil live in Rio de Janeiro, here bouders, bigwall, sports, beaches and surf and a beautiful place for a safe trip from climbing and surfing.
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J. Werlin
Social climber
Cedaredge, CO
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A bit of paradise, eh? Thanks for the post CMac.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Oct 30, 2011 - 09:03pm PT
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Looks pretty rough.
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