Will the wolf survive?

Stäff before...


and on top of his first multipitch climb, "Will the wolf survive" in "Los Lobos Canyon". 4 pitches, 5.8, 5.9, 5.9, 5.10, sitting on razorblade ridge, 50 cm broad. Sweet!!


Preparing to rappel...


Note the helmet... Safety first!!

The gate troll

The gate troll has never been seen outside his rolling home. He is lying on his bed all day long, collecting money from trespassers through a little window next to his pillow, and closing the gate afterwards with a rope connected to his bed. Modern technology is nothing new for him either: There is a mirror, impeding any intent of sneaking around the trolls home, without him having to move a finger... The area around the trolls trailor smells like urin, so we assume he doesn't even get up to do his business... what a life!

We found another dangerous species on the rocks... While I was giving a belay, Alexa, a girl from New York, almost put her hand on a king snake that was taking a sun bath on a small ledge. It attacked, fell down right next to me and tried to escape... I took the picture while it slid into its hideout. Everybody here told us it was a coral snake, the most dangerous species here in Mexico, and we should have killed it, haha!! Later we found out that it wasn't, we would have been really lucky to find a coral snake, because they are quite shy...


This encounter on the mini super wall was the most frightening one, after loads of geckos and millipedes, a squirrel, and the nasty 15 cm long centipede next to a bolt on jungle wall.

Diet

My daily portion of vitamins...

I already told you that I'm going to live healthy, but this is just too much! Where is my Schweinsbroan mid Knedl, Weisswiaschd and Weissbier? Please, if you've got any leftovers, send them to Homero's Ranch, Hidalgo, Nuevo León!! I'm desperate!! My body mass index is dropping, I need a pig!!

Thesis

I hate MS Word... I just hate it!! How did you guys manage to format your thesis, I was trying to create the table of contents for ages, the different fonts and all that shit, man, it sucks!! Congratulations to all who managed that!! Yes, right, I finally started to work on my thesis, only the format so far, but I hope I can get it on soon... ;)

Climbing is awesome, I'm happy that I didn't step on any of those nice animals yet, like rock rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, the hundred leg thing... not very nice to get bitten or stung by any of them!

All right, I'm off to the Tuesday market now, as I said, loads of veggi food, cada frijolito un sonido, jejeje! Greez to everybody!

El Potrero Chico

When I got on the bus to Monterrey I realized that this would be the first trip that I do all alone… poor Steiff!! Colima, London, South Africa… I always had someone to travel or stay with. Here goes the adventure! After 16 hours on the bus I arrived at the town of Hidalgo, half an hour north of Monterrey. The guy behind the ticket desk had probably had sex that morning, because he was happy to give me the 50 percent student discount without possessing a national ID, which saved me 20 Euros! (do the maths yourself…)


Hidalgo is a tiny shithole with less than nothing to do. Market days are Tuesday and Friday, you can get nice fruits and vegetables there, rice and beans… all a man’s heart is beating for… There are also some fancy restaurants, but not a single bar or club… But, who would like to go out in town when having these fuckin’ huge limestone walls with approx. 600 routes and an incredible view just in their face, anyways? It’s actually really nice to hang out with the others after coming back from climbing, relax and have some beers…


The Potrero Chico is a climber’s paradise, just a 30 minute walk from the center of Hidalgo. There are some ranches and hostels with campgrounds and stuff, a shop, café and restaurant. In winter everything is packed with climbers, right now there are only a couple of people and some shops already shut down until season starts again in October. This lowers the prices dramatically, but it’s still not cheap. I pay around seven Euros per night for a room with shared kitchen, but I’m the only one in there anyway…


Most of the people here are from the States, Canada or Mexico City, so I already start to talk a weird mix of different Spanish and English accents... During the three days here I was always able to find somebody to do some easy climbing with me, although most of the guys are very experienced. I love the mentality of the climbers here, and their easy and simple lifestyle. They are totally open minded, friendly and happy to share anything. All they need is a rock, something to sleep on and beans... I learn a lot about life here, and the art to reläx... Let’s see how things go on…

I went climbing with Carlos, Cecile and Marta this morning, but at noon the sun came out and fucked us, there was just no way to go on at that wall. So we decided to drive to the city, get some chicken and green stuff, beer and wood and did an awesome barbecue just next to a pool with ice cold mountain spring water... Sweet!!

Semana Santa in Manzanillo

During Semana Santa I stayed in Manzanillo, and obviously half Mexico had the same idea... The beaches were packed and in the end the sea turned green because of all the kids taking a tinkle... Very nice!!

The days we were hanging out on the beach or just slept...




...and the nights partying in the city...


...at a private party of a friend of some guys I met on the beach, and later on to the crowded main boulevard... (4th/5th of April)

This nice evining I spent drinking and playing music on the street, until some other random guys picked us up to go on partying at their place. I took a bus back home at 1 pm the next day... As I always say, Mexicans are very amicable people!

Sillon 67 and Mexican wedding

This Wednesday (28th of March) we've been to Bara libre at the infamous club "Sillon 67", everybody who's been to Colima knows it :P 100 Pesos entry for free drinks until midnight.



Con mis preciosas Jocelyn y Paola...


Santi, Alex and some Canadian exchange students...

The day after we went to the Don Comalon in Comala, a place where you buy your drinks and get the botanas for free, with Marriachi music and all those things... (29th of March)



Then it was time for my first Mexican wedding... there are actually some differences, especially in the church, and the kind of music they play at the party. But obviously, they also celebrate loud and with loads of drinks... (31st of March)