Sept 2013: Climbing Rio

My location: Rio’s iconic Pão de Açúcar, an island-rock jutting out at the mouth of Guanabara Bay.

My mission: To summit the 1,299-foot-tall peak. The previous weekend I had hiked neighboring Morro da Urca, but summiting Pão de Açúcar (“Sugarloaf”) is a technical climb.

My guide: Felipe, a young journalist with an extra harness.

We took a route called Costão (which translates as “shore”), which starts with a long 4th class scramble, which steepens to 5th class scrambling, which turns vertical with a 30-foot section rated 5.6/5.7. An unmarked trail begins where a paved trail ends, which entices a number of unprepared hikers to check out the climb. When an older hiker started following us toward the steeper section of granite scrambling, Felipe picked up the pace so we’d lose him. “I don’t want to be responsible for his life,” Felipe said.

At the vertical section we each slid into our climbing harnesses. Felipe led, clipping three carabiners into bolts as he ascended. At the top, he put me on belay. I followed. About five feet from the top, the handholds seemed to disappear.

“This is where my European friend refused to go further,” Felipe said, chuckling. “I had to pull him up.” I swung my left foot onto a toe-hold the size of a quarter, leaned in and reached high for the next hand-hold.

“Nice,” said Felipe. “Now you know why some people die climbing up.”

But what a reward for those who live! After hiking another 20 minutes we hopped over a guardrail. We were suddenly surrounded by tourists who’d paid $40 apiece to take the tram up (the tram is free for everyone going down).