“Anyone who hasn’t been in the Chilean forest doesn’t know this planet. I have come out of that landscape, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go singing through the world.” This quote by Pablo Neruda was on the first page of the first book I opened in Chile. And snuggled up listening to the rain beating down on my tent, it perfectly captured the emotions that I felt about this place.

First glimpse of the granite peaks as you hike into the valley. Cochamó is a climbers paradise, hidden away in Patagonia, in the Lake district region of Southern Chile. It is completely cut off from the outside world, requiring a 13 km hike through muddy forest to reach the main valley. There is no phone signal, no roads, no infrastructure, no houses, no traffic. Just nature in its purest form. A place that makes time stand still. This valley is home to one of the last three untouched temperate rainforests on Earth, and I've never known forests quite like these. The trees rise impossibly tall, so many different shades of green, and the whole landscape seems to breathe - slow, rhythmic, and endlessly alive. The cool, damp climate feels soothing and gentle, a softness to the air. The sunlight trickles through leaves, a luminous green that sings with life and energy. A soft carpet of warmth and pulsing light on the forest floor. The mist hangs in the upper valleys in the early morning, veils of cloud rising occasionally to reveal the granite faces below, clinging to the trees like the wisps of forgotten dreams.

The valleys are full of water; rivers, waterfalls, small lagoons hidden in the rocks. Then out of this luscious landscape rise those great granite walls, valley after valley after valley. Magnificent, imposing, alluring. Calling to the hearts of climbers to come and touch them if they dare. 

For me Cochamó is the most incredible place I’ve ever been to. Being completely immersed in nature — living outside all day, every day, totally removed from modern society, made this one of the happiest and most peaceful periods of my life. I found everything I needed here. Waking up to the sound of rushing water and bird song, then rolling out of my sleeping bag and jumping into a freezing cold river to start the day. Pushing myself mentally and physically on some of the most beautiful rock in the world with a wonderful community of humans, going to bed exhausted and waking up excited everyday. This place made me feel so alive.

There is an abundance of outstanding climbing routes in Cochamó and countless others still waiting to be explored. The granite here is exceptional: long, clean cracks of every size interspersed with delicate, technical slabs. The routes range from 200 to 1,600 metres, some of them fun and relaxed half day hits, others complex and demanding, but each one deeply rewarding in its own way. These climbs can’t fail to make you woop with joy, or laugh out loud at just how perfect they are; lines in the rock that seem designed purely to be climbed.
Condors glide on the thermals below you. If there is a god of climbers she had a wild time making this place.

Most climbers make their base camp at la Junta and undertake mini multi day expeditions into the surrounding valleys and amphitheaters to bivy and explore the seemingly endless granite domes and peaks in the area. This was definitely a trip to build the leg muscles and the cardio fitness for. The approaches can be almost as challenging as the routes themselves, especially when carrying such heavy packs, with a standard approach being 3 hours into the valley and another hour on top of that to the base of the wall. The trails range from being well trodden hiking paths to scrambling up vertiginous jungle. But each venture usually starts by taking the zipline cart across the river which must be one of the best morning commutes ever.

I can genuinely say that every route I did here was brilliant, but some of my favorites and most memorable are; ‘Al centro y al dentro’ 5.11c, 12 pitches of world class climbing putting the full spectrum of granite skills and techniques to the test. ‘Positive effect’ 5.12b, 19 pitches, including some unforgettable stemming dihedral corners. ‘Doña Devora Dedos’ 5.12b, 9 pitches, with a perfect 50m fingertip splitter and ‘ El Monstro’ 5.10d, 1635m, 29 pitches of pure patagonian wilderness, including a 2 day approach and a very snowy summit.

Aside from the long approaches, one of the most challenging aspects for me was managing food supplies! Carrying in all your food for 5 weeks and trying to make it last, whilst also consuming enough calories was a new logistical challenge. Food fantasies became a common theme and chocolate biscuits became the greatest trading currency in our community; you could get almost anything you wanted if you had a good supply of biscuits! Since we had 60 kilos each we employed the help of local horses and their guides to bring our kit up to the base camp, for which I was eternally grateful.  Although I did commit to carrying 120 eggs by hand (on a 13 km trek through the rainforest) and miraculously most of them survived! 

Part of what made Cochamó so special was the amazing people I got to share it with. Sometimes up on those big walls I reflected how funny it was that I completely 100% trusted these friends, some of whom I had only known for a few months, but I did. And that is the beauty of climbing. We put our lives in each other’s hands over and over again. The bond you get from that is stronger and more intense than in other parts of life. Two souls joined together, physically by the rope, and emotionally by the shared love of this crazy, wonderful, all consuming sport we call rock climbing. Cochamó brought together everything I value most about climbing; wilderness, adventure and community. It will always have a very special place in my heart and it is somewhere I long to return to in the not too distant future.