VIDEO - Petzl RocTrip Mexico 2010

Never before has a Petzl RocTrip mixed together so much climbing and local culture in one simmering pot. We spiced it up with a few special ingredients: passion, fun, and shared experiences. The Petzl RocTrip 2010 in Mexico welcomed people from all corners of the world to the unique climbing destinations of El Chonta et Las Peñas de Jilotepec, with a stop at the Aztec pyramids of Teotihuacán.

Watch the Petzl RocTrip Mexico movie

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A few words from Alejandro Rivera of Alta Vertical
and organizer of this year's RocTrip:
Dave Graham - Photo John Evans
El Chonta is cave near the town of Taxco, an old colonial town built on hills covered by thick vegetation with underground rivers and caves. One of these caves captured our attention: overhanging 50m-long routes in the middle of the jungle. There are even multi-pitch routes that navigate through human-sized stalactites and other crazy formations.

Jilotepec is a completely different climbing area. Here, it's cold and instead of big holds and stalactites, climbers crimp and pinch on the conglomerate knobs of the Godzilla's Egg formation.
It was a great opportunity to see some major first ascents such as "Initiativa Mexico" (8a/8a+), "El Mexican" (8c) and "El Pendulo" (8b+) in El Chonta, in addition to the two Ultimate Routes, "Las Chicas Sùperpoderosas" (8c+) and "Cruz Diablo" (8c+) at Jilotepec.

There were numerous presentations by athletes (Dave Graham, Nina Caprez, Liv Sansoz, Joe Kinder), slideshows, and traditional pre-Hispanic dance shows. We were even offered a special gift from the local Jilotepec population: sugar candy skulls (a Mexican tradition for the "Día de los Muertos," November 2). Each one had the name of the Petzl Team climbers written on them. Mexicans believe that death is a friend and not a terrifying end.

At any rate, it's impossible to describe everything that happened with words, photos and videos - so you'll just have to plan a visit to Mexico to see for yourself!