New Routing in Mexico with Sally Lisle
We’re kicking off 2021 as we mean to go on with Sally Lisle sharing another inspiring Alpine Story as part of our Winter Series. Sally is a Mountaineering Instructor, based in North Wales and loves how the outdoors brings out the best in people.
However, this Alpine Story came with a disclaimer that it was actually based in Mexico, and there was no snow in sight! However, Sally shared how many of the skills and tactics of leading and planning an expedition here were indeed transferrable from her alpine mountaineering.
Sally and her crack team head out to Mexico but not before having to learn some new vital skills - things pretty key to an expedition where the aim is to bolt a new route such as bolting and new routing! With her usual boundless enthusiasm Sally set out to learn as much as she could from Jedi’s such as Scott Titt and Matt Jones. This process was just as important to Sally as the actual trip.
After 18 months of planning and talking to anyone they could think of remotely connected to Mexico, Sally and her team mates Kai and Will arrived in the deepest darkest jungle of Mexico. After a bit of cruising around and discussions with the local climbing community (something Sally highly recommends) they found their wall - a sweeping 350m steep face.
With access to the top via an easy ridge the challenge was on!! After picking up bush wacking essentials such as machetes (!) the team endured some epic early starts and late finishes before a last minute pre airport departure free ascent. The result was Eterna Optimista.
Follow Sally’s story in the video below and join us in learning more about new routing and placing bolts. Enjoy!
Sally has also written 2 articles for us about actual alpine mountaineering in Switzerland - check them out here: