Climbing at Quetzaltenango (aka Xela), Guatemala

These crags are in the Cerro Quenado to the SE of town. We spent a lot of time searching for access and topo info, and then even more time searching for the crags, so here´s what to do if you´re interested.  

Access: take a taxi (50Q each way - the driver will come back and pick you up if asked) from the main square in Xela to Baues (3-4 km), turn right up a cobbled road to La Muela (2 km, steep), and then Chicua (1km, flat). Crag visible on the skyline above and right. You can get a bus to Baues (ask for the Almolonga or Zunil bus) - only 2Q but you´ll have to walk the rest.

 

Main Crag (above Chicua)

Visible from the road. Head up paths through various weird, makeshift shrines of all manner of Christian denomination (very busy on Wednesdays and Sundays) for 20 mins, steeply uphill. 

About 15-20 routes. The face climbs are bolted, and most are hard (5.11-12), with the first bolts missing, and start in horrible pits strewn with garbage and poo.

There are some excellent-looking cracks, but you´ll need chunky trad gear - hexes and big cams.

Also, there are some nice easier routes at the left-hand end, including a superb bolted arete with 2 finishes (about 5.8 on the right, too windy on the left, at least when we were there!).

Plenty of new route possibilities on blank faces, if you have the requisite bolt-kit and steel fingers

Summit Crags (above La Muela)

We went here on our first day, by mistake. From the edge of La Muela, a track leads up to the skyline crags via a football pitch.  30 mins, steep.


Basically, you´re exploring. There are some interesting pinnacles and unprotected faces (bolts needed), and a few cracks around to the right.


The main pinaccle has a few iron spikes on top, so has obviously been climbed. Accessing the summit via a scramble behind this pinnacle, then a pitch of Diff, then more scrambling, makes for a good adventure. Good views.