Trip Report
Cumbia Cave: the Land of Giant Tufas
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Wednesday December 4, 2013 11:25am
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The Cumbia Cave is down a bumpy road in Nuevo León, Mexico. It is located in an area called Las Adjuntas, which is where two rivers converge in a beautiful lush canyon famous for it's canyoneering adventure called Matacanes. The Cumbia Cave is on the way to the already popular area El Salto also known for it's amazing tufa climbing.
Nuevo León is loaded with climbing potential. With only a few local climbers bolting and a smaller number of US climbers then pre-drug war days it is overwhelming how much development of amazing climbing there is to be done here now. Another area which has huge potential is called El Diente which is ten minutes down a road from the city of Monterrey. It has everything for a great sport climbing area four stalactite caves, a 1,000 foot El Diente (the tooth), and an amazing two pitch tufa wall two minutes off the road pictured below. It is all on National Park land but unfortunately a mining company now owns the access road to this amazing gem.
We found the Cumbia Cave while driving to another cave full of amazing tufas in the Chipitin waterfall. We decided the drive and hike was a bit to much for that cave though I think somebody could bolt a long adventure route there and it would be amazing. We started bolting the Cumbia Cave last spring and there are currently 15 routes from 11a to 13a.
With the abundance of holds and tufas at the Cumbia Cave we will likely be bolting many more routes. Just looking around a little last weekend I spotted another cave across the canyon. We also bolted an area called the La Cueva del Oso two years ago it is a little more remote and has the white dust of north facing limestone caves.
If anyone is interested in climbing or bolting in the Cumbia Cave this winter feel free to contact me for beta on getting there. There is some beta here:
http://www.elpotrerochicoguides.com/#!cumbia-cave/c1rqz
Beta for La Cueva del Oso here:
http://www.elpotrerochicoguides.com/#!cuevadeloso/c1wet
Donkeys!
The river at the camping for the Cumbia Cave.
Comments
RyanD
climber
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So this is where all the tufas I thought would be in Potrero went.
Interesting about the white dust on N facing caves.
Very nice, thanks.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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What a relief! I wasn't going to click on this because I thought it
was about Giant Tofu! This tufa stuff looks waay yummier.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Looks amazing!
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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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Wow. I'm salivating. My favorite type of climbing by far is climbing on tufas. I've never climbed in Mexico and don't know if I feel safe going there. Sure looks great though. Thanks for sharing.
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CBclimber
Trad climber
Durango, Colorado
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awesome Mark. Can't wait to climb there again!
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labrat
Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
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"A small piece of the amazing tufa wall that is currently off limits despite being in a National Park."
Maybe it should be preserved the way it is?
Yes, I read the part about the mining company not allowing access...
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all in jim
climber
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Thanks for posting. It looks amazing.
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cuvvy
Sport climber
arkansas
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Climbing looks great. But, I want to climb into my 30's so not gonna risk it in that drug violence riddled area.
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KRS-Grun
Trad climber
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Author's Reply
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Jan 6, 2014 - 10:21am PT
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Aaarrrpppaa!!!!
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Oct 26, 2014 - 12:44pm PT
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Very nice!
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KRS-Grun
Trad climber
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Author's Reply
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Oct 27, 2014 - 09:01am PT
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The Cumbia cave is best done as a side trip to El Salto Canyon. El Salto has better accommodations. You can camp or rent a cabin from Dona Kika who is the nicest lady on the planet. The Cumbia Cave is 40 minutes away from El Salto down a bumpy dirt road that needs a car with some clearance. Camping for the Cumbia is at a place called Las Adjuntas where two rivers come together and is where the famous Matacanes Canyoneering adventure finishes. On weekends Lalo is there to serve the Canyoneering people and has been extremely welcoming to climbers as we are there in the off season of canyoneering. He has an outdoor kitchen but things are pretty basic you need to come self sufficient. As far as safety El Salto and Las Adjuntas are up high in the mountains on dead end roads and have a much safer atmosphere then other parts of the region.
As far as route numbers there are 25 routes in the Cumbia and probably 150 something or more in El Salto which has been around since the 90's. Here is a link to Ulric's page with all the El Salto Routes: http://ulricrousseau.blogspot.com/2013/10/el-salto-mexico-climbing.html
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
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Oct 27, 2014 - 03:58pm PT
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Thanks for the destination ideas! Most of the routes are of a difficulty well beyond me, but enough looks interesting to make it a worthy consideration for a week-long vacation.
Digging in more on the security situation:
1: Seems like some discouragement about camping out in the area- is this based on consideration for land use impact, or a security thing?
2: Is it kosher to rent a car in Monterrey and drive on the access roads to get there?
3: If we travel with climbing gear, an iPhone (my only phone, work provided), and wifey brings an SLR camera, are we making ourselves targets for theft? I assume some minimal degree of preventive maintenance is required, like not leaving stuff showing through the windows of the car.
4: If we get lost exploring some place, and pull off on a side road to bivy, how bad of an idea is that really?
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KRS-Grun
Trad climber
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Author's Reply
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Oct 27, 2014 - 07:31pm PT
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No discouragement for camping at the Cumbia just letting people know you have to be pretty self sufficient. There is not much impact because you can camp at a locals land and use his bathrooms.
If you rent a car you need a SUV to get down to the Cumbia as it is a bumpy steep dirt road. El Salto is all paved.
Having cameras does not make you a target. Monterrey is the second wealthiest city in Mexico so lots of people with nice things recreating. Common sense is always needed as anywhere. The only places I've been robbed is Boulder CO and San Francisco.
Depends where you are. If you get lost in La Campana one of the ghettos in Monterrey you are not ok, but most the ghettos are up on hills and easy to distinguish as there is no paint on most houses. Camping on a dirt road in the Park somewhere near the climbing areas is fine.
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What is the crime / safety like there? It seems to be in an area with heavy drug trade.