Alessio Romeo Photography

On December 3, we started the descent towards the Arbol de Navidad. This natural highlight of the mexican State of Chiapas is a geological structure made by a karstic spring at 170 m of altitude in the wall of Sumidero’s Canyon. It took about 4 hours to overcome a height difference of only 90 mt because of the work of securing the wall.
The day 4 we arrived to overcome a height difference of other 150 m. About 8 hours of work due to the long sections leaning full of vegetation prickly and stinging and the huge stones to throw down for our safety.
On day 5, it was possible to start the arming of the wall from the early hours thanks to the bivouac that I made on a small ledge. At around 5 PM, after about 10 hours of work without stopping we arrived at the cave.
The surprise to find a place tight and uncomfortable for a bivouac has further motivated the group to reach the river.
The next day the cave was reached by the river to accommodate the nails unsafe and to check the conditions by organizing the work for the day 7.
In total: 30 hours of arming, 800 m of rope, 77 steel nails.
The material dropped will be used for future inspections of the cave and of the concreted structure of the Arbol de Navidad.
The wall was also rich in vegetation including cacti like agaves and other species such as Comocladia Guatemalensis called Cincos Negritos, one of the most poisonous plants in the World, which caused burns with severe itching to all those who worked in the wall and videographers placed on the opposite wall of the canyon. On the way back we could not do anything but use tablets and cortisone creams.
Sumidero Canyon is a narrow and deep canyon surrounded by a national park located just north of the city of Chiapa de Corzo in the Mexican state of Chiapas.The canyon/park is the second most important tourist site in Chiapas, drawing mostly Mexican and internationals visitors who see the canyon by boats
Following the work for the restoration of flow to the cave upon the Arbol de Navidad, we decided to bring a gift to the sons of Lucas, Mexican La Venta associate who died recently, in the occasion of the birthday of Gianni, the eldest son of 5 year.

We thank those who helped us: Amphibious, Chelab, De Walt, Dolomite, Ferrino, Filoni, Hennessy Hammock, Intermatica, Lyo, Montura, Raumer, SAE, Scurion, Tecnosoluzioni.