Lands End, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

OK, we've all seen pictures from Phuket and Krabi in Thailand, the clean rock rising above clear blue water and white beaches. But what's a poor Western hemisphere, Yuppie climber to do if he/she can't handle the long travel days to get to Thailand? Or if pulling 5.11 and 5.12 limestone pockets isn't within their scope? The answer just might be Los Cabos ("the capes" in Spanish) at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula.

DISCLAIMER - This just might be the world's longest trip report with no significant climbing in it. I recently spent a week in Los Cabos with no climbing gear except my shoes. My climbing was limited to bouldering above soft beach landings. I'm no boulderer, but even that was delightful. Even so, the lack of seriously difficult terrain right off the sand suggests that a pure boulderer might get frustrated after a day or so.

Logistics

You can refer to any good Baja travel guide (e.g. Frommers) and/or do a website search on "Cabo San Lucas" for general info on the Cabo area. The climbing that I'm talking about is at Lands End, where the Pacific meets the Sea Of Cortez (aka Gulf of California to us gringos). Lands End is just outside the town of Cabo San Lucas, and culminates in a 40 foot arch that is to Los Cabos what the white church steeple is to Stowe Vermont: it's on all the postcards. And the websites.

Background Literature

The 1994 Paul Piana article in Climbing (Issue #142, pp. 34-37) was tempting but it really is not specific enough to be much help once you arrive in Los Cabos. His comment that the bolts are badly corroded was the first hint I had about this. My advice re: bolts is not to expect any, and to be leery of any you do find. I saw a couple bolted anchors but based on what I heard re: corrosion, I would avoid them. There also was a nice photo of Heidi B. (now Mrs. Piana) in John Barstow's 1994 High Exposure calendar, climbing a really well-bolted, wind-sculpted fin of rock here, but I never found this route.

Based on what little I read before the trip, I expected at least some bolted routes. I saw none, despite serious searching. OK, I saw two bolts on what might have been a route at one time, but intermediate (and much needed) bolts were gone. Bottom line, Cabo is NOT a sport area. That was my biggest misconception.

Rock and Routes

The rock is really neat. It is similar to Joshua Tree, a very coarse deteriorating granite. It has been sculpted by erosion into wonderful, surrealistic shapes (can you say "chicken heads"?), but also sports wonderful cracks on most formations. It is strong but a bit crumbly on the surface until you brush the loose, sandy grains off. As with Josh rock, it provides excellent friction for smears. Some of the walls feature lots of heucos, but Piana says this rock tends to be the weakest. I didn't get high enough to confirm this, but almost everything I pulled on at bouldering level was extremely solid. The locals also believe the rock is too weak to climb on, at least based on the comments of our water taxi driver. While I believe him when he tells me where the fish are biting, I frankly don't put much stock in his opinion when it comes to the climbing.

Moderate routes are easy to find, right down to what looked like a 5.1 groove up a low angle slab. The cracks are harder to judge but I was guessing that anything less than vertical would go at 5.8 - 5.10. This alone makes this area more appealing to me than Thailand. The smooth surface of the rock hinted that cruxes could easily be the blank stretches between obvious climbable features.

El Arco

Season

Winter would be the best time to go but prices are highest then, and you'll be competing with the golfers, whale watchers, and snowbirds for hotel rooms and airline tickets. It was in the 90's every day I was there in mid August (overnight lows were in the 70's) but even so I could boulder comfortably in the shade thanks to a sea breeze. The rocks face every direction so this is possible early and late in the day. You're at a fairly low latitude, so wear sunscreen, duh. It almost never rains there so don't worry about that.

Suggested Gear
Bring lots of runners for tying off horns etc. Also bring at least 50' of tan 1" webbing and a bunch of rings for the inevitable rap slings you'll be leaving. Hardware needs looked to be (i.e. this is what I'd bring if I went back) a full set of cams to at least 4", TriCams up to maybe a #3, and a full set of Stoppers. Most cracks are flared so my beloved hexes would probably stay home. I rarely leave home without my brass micronuts, but I doubt they would be much use in Cabo, as the likelihood of shearing off the top layer of crystals tells me that a typical micro would rip out in the event of a fall. BRING TAPE! Lots of it. The most appealing lines I saw followed cracks, and without tape gloves you'd be bleeding in a few moves. I actually had to tape the working surfaces of my fingers for a few bouldering problems. I couldn't buy cloth sport tape in Cabo San Lucas so I settled for first aid tape, which cut through easily and had to be reapplied for each new problem I worked on.

Access

The rocks themselves are on public land (all beaches in Mexico are "Federal Property") so climbing is 100% legal. You can easily walk to the rocks at Lands End from the swank Solmar hotel, but there is a guarded gate before the parking lot and hotel. If you look like a gringo tourist, just smile and wave to the guard and he will most likely let you right in; that's what we did. If that doesn't work tell him you're going in to check into a fishing trip (Solmar runs its own charter fleet). I did however get the impression that I'd get a harsh stare at the very least if I walked through the lobby with climbing gear, even though Piana says this is what they did. Finally, a tourist couple we met in town said the staff at the Solmar is downright unfriendly. And they were guests there at the time!

If you get hassled or simply prefer the scenic approach, a water taxi from anywhere in town to the rocks and Lovers Beach is only $2 per person. If you do start at Lovers Beach by all means cross the sand to the Pacific side and walk to the right; this is where much of the most attractive terrain is, including a large tower at the water's edge that could support dozens of (possibly two pitch) routes. From here it's about 15 minutes easy scrambling to the Solmar.

Personally I would forget about swimming to get to any of the pillars. Obvious concerns with slippery rocks at water level, the surf and tides, and drowning under the weight of the gear, aside, I learned the hard way that wet fingertips are much more easily sliced by sharp crystals. If you want to be crafty, ask a water taxi driver to serve as your belay ledge as you start the route. And presumably to pick you up afterwards, but these guys work hard for what money they earn and you'll have to make it worth his time. No doubt it would be really cool to hire a water taxi for a full day and climb the offshore rocks from the boat.

The biggest rocks (120' tall) that sit out from the arch have some amazing lines on them, but these also catch big waves off the Pacific. The big stacks also host some serious sea bird perching on the upper ledges.

Guides

I heard there is one climber in Los Cabos who is available as a guide. I don't have his name but if you want to pursue this, contact Vicki at the Bungalows Breakfast Inn (phone 52-114-35035 or e-mail at bungalow@cabonet.net.mx). She is active in the local adventure scene, specifically scuba diving, and might be able to find this out for you. PS, I can recommend the Bungalows as an alternative to the big expensive hotels that are rapidly being built everywhere in Los Cabos.

Bottom line

Los Cabos is a rapidly growing tourist center, and Lands End is a wonderfully scenic area with tons of climbing potential, but which should be approached strictly as an undeveloped trad area (the occasional old bolt notwithstanding). I would personally be leery of new routeing in a place with no other climbers, rock of uncertain integrity, and virtually no rescue infrastructure. But with a second team of competent climbers nearby, hey, it would be a blast. Just bring lots of tape, and hiking shoes for the inevitable rest days - the mountains next to the airport (ask for a seat on the right side of the plane on the way down) rise 5-7000' and are rugged and beautiful. See Sierra de la Laguna: A Hiking Visit To a High-Mountain Ancient Lake Bed for a hint.

Oh yea, and Spanish is easier to comprehend than Thai.

See also:

The Blankest Moment Of My Life by Evan Bigall