Once there was a sleeping giant in the Mexican desert.
First ascended by barnstorming climbers but long forgotten, it hulked above the cactus-choked chaparral, towering so high that if you stood atop it, you’d often see above the clouds.
Getting to it, legend held, involved undertaking a series of supernatural travails that could be as difficult to prepare for as to complete. Confounding light shows seemed to materialize in the sky from nowhere. On the ground, lantern-carrying shadowy figures with giant heads skulked in the mist.
This was La Popa, home to El Gavilan, one of the hardest multi-pitch routes in Mexico — and one of its most mysterious.
Jeff Jackson, Ben Fink, and Rick Watson first faced off with the route, returning to relative civilization in 1999 with tall tales and survival stories.
For a long time, few dared to challenge the desert that guarded it, with its menacing phantasms.
Then Canadian climber and guide Bronwyn Hodgins caught wind of it. Always up for an adventure, Hodgins immediately singled it out and resolved to visit. But she also spotted a task more straightforward than prior penitents described: rebolt what had become a deplorably janky sport climb.
