Last November, my team and I had the opportunity to explore some virgin rock in Mexico. Our destination was Canyon Tajo in Baja California. Only a 2.5hours drive from San Diego got us to the incredible massive rock formation called "el gran trono blanco" the great white throne! 1600 feet of beautiful desert granite in a remote and less traveled area. There are no guidebooks and only a little bit of information about this place online. So our mission was to climb a great line… Something that calls us, something that you look at and say: YES! This needs o be climbed. And so we hiked down the incredible steep south gully – stopping every 5 minutes to look up and find a line. Kind of overwhelming cause there are so many. After a good 1 and a half down the gully and a couple of discussions about the perfect line I decided to give it a try on this beautiful giant flake that snaked up the Southwest side of Trono blanco. It was not too easy to get to the start of the feature but once there we could all see that this was worth it. Our intuition was right. We found a line and after the first 2 pitches it became evident that we are now on terrain that has been climbed before. "Mexican Shoestring" is how I named a variation start to the existing route "millennia" that has been established by John Smallwood in 1999. It is not easy to find the area of gran Trono blanco when driving in from the dirt roads… So our beta included: "make a left turn by the shoestring that is hanging of the tree" well!! Where is that damn shoestring? It caused us some trouble and so the whole shoestring became a metaphor for route finding on our entire trip. Here you can see the red line signaling a new climbed line that eventually leads into John Smallwood's fantastic climb! @shepherdimages great times.

Last November, my team and I had the opportunity to explore some virgin rock in Mexico. Our destination was Canyon Tajo in Baja California. Only a 2.5hours drive from San Diego got us to the incredible massive rock formation called "el gran trono blanco" the great white throne! 1600 feet of beautiful desert granite in a remote and less traveled area. There are no guidebooks and only a little bit of information about this place online. So our mission was to climb a great line... Something that calls us, something that you look at and say: YES! This needs o be climbed. And so we hiked down the incredible steep south gully - stopping every 5 minutes to look up and find a line. Kind of overwhelming cause there are so many. After a good 1 and a half down the gully and a couple of discussions about the perfect line I decided to give it a try on this beautiful giant flake that snaked up the Southwest side of Trono blanco. It was not too easy to get to the start of the feature but once there we could all see that this was worth it. Our intuition was right. We found a line and after the first 2 pitches it became evident that we are now on terrain that has been climbed before. "Mexican Shoestring" is how I named a variation start to the existing route "millennia" that has been established by John Smallwood in 1999. It is not easy to find the area of gran Trono blanco when driving in from the dirt roads... So our beta included: "make a left turn by the shoestring that is hanging of the tree" well!! Where is that damn shoestring? It caused us some trouble and so the whole shoestring became a metaphor for route finding on our entire trip. Here you can see the red line signaling a new climbed line that eventually leads into John Smallwood's fantastic climb! @shepherdimages great times.

Make sure you are in good hands when climbing with your partner! Belaying is an essential skill and it takes practice and experience to master. Often enough I observe inefficiencies with fellow climbers. Habits that are not necessarily life threatening but could become so much quicker as opposed to proper techniques. If you are not sure or want to expand your knowledge and become more safe and efficient, consult with your local guides and proof that you got your stuff together! @chillino_rock_climbing

Make sure you are in good hands when climbing with your partner! Belaying is an essential skill and it takes practice and experience to master. Often enough I observe inefficiencies with fellow climbers. Habits that are not necessarily life threatening but could become so much quicker as opposed to proper techniques. If you are not sure or want to expand your knowledge and become more safe and efficient, consult with your local guides and proof that you got your stuff together! @chillino_rock_climbing

Sea of granite! Yosemite valley Half Dome. If you decide not to free climb this route you will end up on the "Robbins traverse". A bolt ladder where you have to pull yourself up from bolt to bolt. By doing this you avoid climbing four more pitches up and down on loose rock or climbing a 5.10d(R) into a 5.12b traverse. Going for a quick ascent on this one there was no doubt to take the bolt ladder. Here, Mike Donaldson following up to the belay ledge ready to bust out 14 or so more pitches.#yosemite #halfdome #robbinstraverse #tradclimbing #rockclimbing #climbing #rock #thevalley #crackclimbing #longdays #halfdomeinaday #multipitchclimbing #klettern #grimper #escalade #chillino #guiding

Sea of granite! Yosemite valley Half Dome. If you decide not to free climb this route you will end up on the "Robbins traverse". A bolt ladder where you have to pull yourself up from bolt to bolt. By doing this you avoid climbing four more pitches up and down on loose rock or climbing a 5.10d(R) into a 5.12b traverse. Going for a quick ascent on this one there was no doubt to take the bolt ladder. Here, Mike Donaldson following up to the belay ledge ready to bust out 14 or so more pitches.#yosemite #halfdome #robbinstraverse #tradclimbing #rockclimbing #climbing #rock #thevalley #crackclimbing #longdays #halfdomeinaday #multipitchclimbing #klettern #grimper #escalade #chillino #guiding

"The Arsonist (5.11+)" in Tuolumne Meadows. This route goes up the north side of the infamous "Fairview Dome" in the high country of Yosemite National Park. Put up in 2012 by Bob Jensen and Erik Anderson. This 6 pitch route got all the qualities of a great, hard and sustained trad route! Mostly slab climbing with occasional cracks and corner systems. Here, starting pitch 2 one year later after the first ascent – teaming up with @erikandersondobro to snag ascent number 2,3 or 4. I hope this route gets more attention in the future as it truly has classic status. #tuolumnemeadows #rockclimbing #yosemite #grimper #nationalpark #thearsonist #slabclimbing #multipitch

"The Arsonist (5.11+)" in Tuolumne Meadows. This route goes up the north side of the infamous "Fairview Dome" in the high country of Yosemite National Park. Put up in 2012 by Bob Jensen and Erik Anderson. This 6 pitch route got all the qualities of a great, hard and sustained trad route! Mostly slab climbing with occasional cracks and corner systems. Here, starting pitch 2 one year later after the first ascent - teaming up with @erikandersondobro to snag ascent number 2,3 or 4. I hope this route gets more attention in the future as it truly has classic status. #tuolumnemeadows #rockclimbing #yosemite #grimper #nationalpark #thearsonist #slabclimbing #multipitch