I am now going to try to make the next few posts related to the crags that I and any gringo might as well visit on a climbing trip to Chile. Hopefully it's a productive read to those who love to combine international travel with rock climbing! :)
I spent the last 2 weeks of my 5 month long trip in the North Country, most notably Socaire Creek and Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Socaire Creek is located about an hour southeast of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile's #1 tourist destination. It's a moderately sized, high-altitude (3600 meters) canyon full of traditional and bolted rock climbs.
Highlights of my trip included:
Spending four hours in hardcore "wtf!" limbo before having a serious vomiting session upon arrival, due to overgreased local food and the altitude
Drinking mate, eating fresh camp-made bread, and chewing on coca leaves to get psyched as shit every day
Running out of breath after 3 moves on 5.10 routes
Sending every route that I tried, even though none were harder than 5.12a. (only sport)
Drinking tea made from the local bushy plantlife with friends from Switzerland, Punta Arenas, and Santiago
The routes are great lines on rock that is a mix of sandstone and limestone. The setting is great, on top of the canyon at night you are treated to the greatest sunsets ever and a vista filled with the salar and volcanoes in both Chile and Bolivia. Chile's Atacama Desert has to be one of the most unique and beautiful places in the world, and to be able to spend time rock climbing in the world's driest desert is a treat within itself. I think the hardest route here is 5.12c/d, once you get used to the altitude I believe a sport climber of this grade can probably have his way and be done with the place after a week or so. However, the canyon is full of classic trad climbs that get them laid back Chileans psyched as hell.
