Season Summary
Colombia, Sierra Nevada Del Cocuy & Cordillera Central
The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy saw three new rock routes of moderate length and difficulty, all climbed in January 2015. The first was established on the slabby, high-altitude south face of Güicán Peak (4,890m) by Angélica Gutierrez and Luis Pardo: the South Face Direct (200m, 5.9). The second route was climbed by Rafael Naranjo, Juan Camilo Ramirez, and Alexander Torres. It weaves up the broken-looking Cardenillo Wall (4,680m) and tops out on the ridgeline: Matto Tracción (250m, 5.10c). At the far southern end of the range, on Campanillas Negro (4,875m), Ruben Arguello, Ricardo Cardozo, and Ricardo Rubio climbed a variation to the upper part of the route Gárgolas (5.10d, Cárdenas-Pardo, 2011), which they called El Mojón (5.10d).
Two new routes were established on volcanoes in the Cordillera Central. In January 2015, Sebastián Lopez and Eduardo Lascano climbed Laberintos (D 65°), a circuitous route up the steep icefall of the Pijao Glacier on the northeast side of Nevado del Tolima (5,250m). In February, the team of Heber Achicué, Alejandro Sánchez, Carlos Higuera, David Martínez, and José Cano climbed a new route to the south summit (5,085m) of Volcán Nevado del Huila (5,364m). This is the highest volcano in Colombia, and the new route, Achicué (AD 60°), weaves through the lower rock bands on the southeast side to gain a glacier and the south summit.
From information by Luis Pardo, Colombia