ACA Canyoneering Rendezvous in Monterrey, Mexico

Down in Mexico, an international assemblage of canyoneers did some great canyons, downed a FEW cervezas, and had a great time. Wow, a really great time. The Rendezvous was sponsored by the American Canyoneering Association - Mexico with help from Rich Carlson of the American Canyoneering Academy, and included canyoneers from the USA, Mexico, Belgium, Spain and Italy. Here's a little report. Great thanks to Chuy and Rich for organizing this fun-fest, to our local hosts for, uh, hosting us and providing tranportation, and thanks to John Hart for a good selection of photos (as noted, but usually the good ones).

Group Photo, base of Chipitin Falls. Photo: John Hart. This is about a quarter of the total Rendezvous.

The Rendezvous was held in the mountains above Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico's third largest city. The Rendezvous centered on a group of canyons near the suburb of Santiago, accessed via old logging roads and the village of Portrero Redondo. Quite a drive it was, up there. The mountains are amazing - giant limestone mountains covered with jungle. The canyons are amazing too - lots of clear, clean water, deep pools, fantastic waterfalls and fabulous caves.

In addition to doing canyons, we also did some hanging out at the Hotel Hacienda Cola de Caballo, and headed to downtown Santiago for a "formal session". Can't say I took a lot of pictures once the partying began, but here's a few assorted pics from hangin' around the hotel.

Many of us stayed at the Hotel Hacienda Cola de Caballo, located just a hop skip and a jump from Horsetail Falls, and not too far from the road up to Portrero Redondo. The little restaurant there was situated on the edge of a nice cliff.

Karl and Charly early in the morning…

Chuy arranged several sponsors. The most delightful being – the tourism bureau of the state of Nuevo-Leon, which provided much needed help with transportation. Other sponsors included Red Bull and Tecate.

…and a more likely suspect, Karl from Seattle…

One of the treats at the Hacienda was the Bungee Mexico "tower" run by our host, Chuy. While many resisted, the father-son tag-team of Craig and Leroy Anderson from Salt Lake City got the ball rolling.

First up was son Craig, here being explained the nuances of head-first diving by Richard, one of our host canyon guides.

And there he goes…

And, he’s off. This is the highest Bungee Jump in Mexico, being 220 feet above the ground below. The actual bungee jump is around 100 feet.

Next up – Leroy…

…and down he goes… — Who’s Next?

Mr. Steve Ramras was the next victim, who volunteered to do it, but not to pay for it. A kitty was quickly assembled…

Again, set up and sent off by our canyon guide friend Richard.

Ram at the edge… The great disadvantage of the bungee was hanging by your ankles for a minute or so while the retrieval system was deployed. The only problem – yeah, right.

And down he goes…

Last up, the Marquessa of Canyoneering herself, Randi Poeri…

Inevitably, someone locked their keys in the car, thankfully with the back vents open. For me, a photo-op for the many uses of the Happy Hooker

…and a dramatic re-enactment of the conclusive stroke!

This was our big night to head down to the city of Santiago townhall, have a nice dinner and show presentations of canyoning in Norway and other exotic places. Chris Brennan, aka Obe Wan Canyonobee, cleans up well, don’t ya think?

Chuy arranged for us to use this nice auditorium at the town hall.

After a nice dinner downtown, we got together and had a formal "meeting". Well, the late hour did not encourage going into things at length, and the night was mostly Koen's, presenting some info about the EFC (who sent him to the Rendezvous, after all), and showing slides from the Seven Plummets project, including descending the highest waterfall in Europe, into one of Norway's fjords.

On the following days of our stay, we enjoyed descents of beautiful Chipitin Canyon and Matacanes Canyon. Check 'em out.