This place holds everyone that has been here before me. I can feel it. It feels like it holds everyone that is to come after me too. And, while I may occupy this space for a sliver of time, I am just a blink of an eye to Las Animas. My time here will fold over like the waves of tufas around me, absorbing more than one moment can hold. At most, I am a nameless thread in the loom of Las Animas.

Most routes follow the Las Animas theme—Muchos Conjuros, Ojo de la Mente, Purgatorio—all leading up to the towering classic: Infierno del Dante (5.13c/8a+). It’s notoriously run-out, spanning 100+ ft of rolled tufas, biting crimps, and near-frictionless slopers to the chains.

The sustained route combines a compression boulder at the start, a precision deadpoint mid-wall, and a comp-style boulder on flowstone at the chains. You need power as much as endurance—quick in places, measured in others. I’m convinced you need Las Animas’ permission to send.

I first tried it in Feb 2023—pulled the moves quickly but burned out after the second crux. To climb 30 ft of 5.12+ after two boulders, I needed to train my bigger muscle groups. Over a year, I logged 120+ barbell sessions—bench, row, pull, deadlift—so I could pull at required rate on redpoint.

I treated the deadpoint as a “starting gun,” speeding through sustained 5.12+—climb fast between rests. Yet, mental pressure stayed: I “needed” it. Turns out, if you need it, you can’t have it.

Balancing desire and detachment is the real crux. I learned to let go of need-to-send, climbed a warmup, then sent Dante with calm flow—no thoughts, just the rock.

Throughout projecting, the local community holds the spirit of El Salto. I helped replace anchors on Unga Bunga (5.11+) with Joel and the American State Climbing Association—small acts to sustain the crag.