Cuba!!! Gear donations

[eatsleepclimb]

Hey Folks,

 

i'm headed for the holidays for about 15 days to Cuba to do some sweet sweet climbing on overhanging limestone in 75 degree weather (www.cubaclimbing.com). ANYONE is welcome to join the trip as I am going solo but i doubt that that will happen on such short notice.

 

I am soliciting gear donations for the young folks of cuba that have very little in the way of resources for acquiring gear for themselves even if it was available. Below is the standard gear reply e-mail that i've been given from Armando who is running down all the time to climb there, publishing the new forthcoming guide and the author of a recent article on the area in the canadian magazine gripped.

 

It's great to take gear. Always need more basics, eg, shoes, harnesses, ropes, chaulk, pads, packs, and Cubans, like the rest of us, really love the accessories of climbing: PrAna shorts, Metolius/BD Ts, climbing magazines, posters. Biggest need is bolts and cams; both needed to put up routes. Must be stainless steel or titanium. At least 3" x 3/8".

 

 

Anyone who donates will be treated to a rum and cigar party/slidshow at my place in Wallingford to see the folks whom the gear went to. Contact me soon since i'm leaving on Monday to fly out, but will be gone to BC on Saturday to spend the weekend in Squamish.

 

Matt

2064370016

matthew.schutz@dnv.com

 

Edited December 17, 2008 by eatsleepclimb

[Tennessee]

I just returned from a trip to Cuba as well. Wonderful place, great climbing, really friendly people and authentic, one-of-a-kind culture. I'd highly recommend going. There's so much more potential for climbing, they've only started to scratch the surface.

 

A few things I wished I'd known before going:

-bring Canadian cash or Euros. There is a whopping 10% tax lopped off US dollars when changing money.

-bring mosquito repellent (cigars also work of course, but we wished we'd had it)

 

Also make sure you find Oscar Jaime Rodriguez's casa in Vinales, I'm sure you've already read about him. If you ask the jinateros when you get off the bus they ALL will say that he is full, but find him anyway. He's like 300 yards from where the bus drops you off. It's best to try to make reservations with him by calling him from Havana. His number is wrong in the 2004 Lonely Planet, but correct in anything printed after 2007.

 

Make sure you give all your climbing gear to Jairobi. He's the president of the climbing club in Vinales. There's a bunch of kids who will tag along with you to climb and many people give their gear to these kids. Often they'll just sell it for money and move on to the next climbers. Jairobi divys the gear up fairly among the climbers. These kids aren't bad, they're really cool kids and they will show you around, they just aren't as responsible with the free gear as Jairobi is.

 

Hope that helps. Have fun. And definitely make time to climb Mucho Pumpito! It's the wildest climb I've ever done. It overhangs 40 feet in two pitches, and it's only 10b!