Rock Climbing in Costa Rica does exist and the whitewater is plentiful

Although not well known for its rock climbing, while traveling around the Turrialba area we were able to find one area developed for climbers. A private owner of land has a rock that is about 350-400 vertical feet in height and has developed over 20 singlepitch sport climbs ranging from 5.6-5.12 in difficulty. Not expecting to climb but only there simply to scout the area out. The owner a passionate climber happened to be there with gear and invited us to do a little climbing. We took him up on this opportunity and climbed a few routes which were well bolted and very clean. It was a great opportunity to become familiar with the area and although the climbing was great the area surrounding the climb was simply magical. To access the climbsite you crossed a crystal clear river with a 10-12 ft high canyon. The site was beautiful.

The property owner had developed a very basic lodge for camping and he also had plenty of space for tents. Off to one side of the campground a natural cool spring pool was avaialbe for soaking your muscles after a long day of climbing, mountain biking, running, or exploring the canyon. This area was a great climb site, but an even better training camp for endurance and adventure athletes. As we walked away from this place I had mentioned to Massie, our friend who brought us here, "this would be a great place for us to host an adventure racing camp out of."






While to find the rock climbing in Costa Rica takes quite a bit off local beta the whitewater is not only well known but world renown. After completing our time in Turrialba having had the opportunity to paddle the Pacure River twice, visit a world renown international tropical tree and plant research institute, a coffe making plant, a rare climbing area, and a canyon; we were on our way to Fortuna for some more adventure with Desafio Adventure, who had originally invited us down to experience their trips and adventures and discuss the possibility of working together.

Day 1 in Fortuna found us on the Rio Toro River a Class III-IV River run the Toro had over 40 rapids in its action packed 8 miles. This river unlike the Pacure is narower and reminded me of a large creek in some ways. The rapids are long and quite continuous. Desafio Adventures started their company running this river. They were the first commercial company to consistently run this river and have been doing it for some time now. In relation to the Pacure River which is filled with companies the Toro has limited companies consistently offering trips on this river and until a few years ago Desafio nearly had the river to themselves. The guides at Desafio were well trained some had experience guiding in the US, while other had trained in an intense raft guide school that was recognized by the country of Costa Rica and taught by Daniel Arguedas one of Costa Rica's first official rafting guides.

The river itself was action packed with lots of bending rapids that caused high water flows to crash into the canyon walls. The diffiulty of the rapids for the most part was class III with a few exceptions of class IV but the length of the rapids, tightness of the canyon, and the lack of slower water in between rapids made for an action packed trip.

One last thing the first day in Fortuna ended with Bungeeeee!