Clemens Pischel and I traveled to the Cascada de Basaseachic (Basaseachic Falls) in the beginning of January 2014. Once there, we were absolutely overwhelmed by the fantastic rock walls, forming a natural amphitheater around the 246m waterfall, with almost endless potential for first ascents. [Several long, hard routes exist on the Cascade Wall, with at least three to the left of the falls and a couple of others to the right, as well as shorter sport routes at the base. Search the AAJ website more info.]

The ridge to the southeast (right) of the falls rises from the valley floor and diagonals up and left to a small high point above the top of the waterfall. We spent some effort establishing a long free route ground-up on this ridge (up to 5.11b, with a number of easy pitches). We completed the fully bolted line on January 12: Arista de Cascada (16 pitches, 5.11b). Two shorter, bolted routes (about 100m in length), established by Alex Catlin and partners, begin to the left of the start of our route and intersect the ridge we climbed. See Oriol Anglada’s Mexican Rock Climbing Guidebook for more info.

Kai Maluck, Germany