The Hardest Multi-Pitch in Mexico Was Just Established by Undercover Locals

For 10 years, pro climbers from around the world have vied for the first free ascent of El Chamán Loco (also known as La Sombra del Chamán), rumored to be Mexico’s hardest multi-pitch climb. But it was Álvaro Basich, a local from Guadalajara, who first sent the 14-pitch 5.14b in a ground-up push with support from Damién Zepeda last December.

Mexican developers Alejandro Patiño and Paco Medina spotted the line over two decades ago when developing some of the first routes in El Salto, a collection of steep, tufa-laden limestone crags in the verdant mountains surrounding La Ciénega de Gonzalez. The team bolted several routes on La Pared del Chamán, a 400-meter wall of blue-and-gold streaked limestone, in 2001. Alex Honnold and Chris Weidner free climbed the hardest of these newly bolted lines, the 16-pitch Samadhi (5.13-) in 2009.

Though Samadhi is a proud line, it avoids the wall’s steepest section—a series of 40-degree overhangs—by branching right before the first roof. It wasn’t until 2015 that the Italian climbers Marco Maggioni, Paolo Marazzi, and Simone Pedeferri completed a direct 400-meter route that tackled these final cruxes head on. The team spent six days on the wall, freeing all but four of the pitches (up to 5.13c). Since that attempt, the route has been legendary in Mexico, with few attempts to free it at all.

In February 2025, during several trips up the wall, American Anna Hazelnutt and Canadian Connor Runge sent each pitch on the route, scoring first and second ascents on the crux pitch, Belly of the Beast (5.14b). But Runge suffered a knee injury shortly thereafter, preventing the pair from returning for a continuous free ascent.

Enter Guadalajara-native climbers Álvaro Basich and Damién Zepeda. In December of 2025, Basich freed each pitch in a three-day, ground-up push. Zepeda sent all but the two crux 5.14s. (He flashed each remaining pitch except for a 5.12d, on which he broke a hold and sent second go.)

Basich’s partner, Mango, first encouraged the two to try the route in early 2025, when Zepeda was 16 years old. Mango had seen Zepeda’s quick progress in the sport: he sent his first 8a (5.13b) at 14 and his first 8a+ (5.13c) before his fifteenth birthday. His introduction to climbing had been unwilling—his mom, a climber herself, put him on a gym climbing team when he was 12 to stymie his video game habit. But after his first outdoor climbing trip to El Diente, a small sport climbing area just north of Guadalajara, Zepeda was hooked. Zepeda quickly outpaced his belayers—friends of his mom’s—during his first trip to El Salto in 2024. In his search for a better suited partner, Zepeda met Basich, a strong climber who lived in El Salto and worked at one of the small town’s few restaurants. Basich recognized Zepeda’s potential and offered to be his mentor through training advice, beta, and supportive belays.

When Mango suggested that the two try El Salto’s undone king line, Zepeda had little multi-pitch experience but plenty of ambition. On a three-pitch outing at La Boca, Basich taught Zepeda basic multi-pitch systems and how to haul a bag of gear.

Most climbers would rest in the days leading up to a difficult climb like El Chamán Loco, but Zepeda hates to sit still. When I met him in the grassy backyard of El Salto’s Hanuman Cafe, he sprung from his seat at every opportunity to show me pictures of the route on his phone or emphasize a point. Unsurprisingly, he climbed for three days straight before starting up El Chamán Loco. It was a tough moment to realize he’s a mortal: “[The day] I started the route, I was horribly tired in my arms.”

Unlike others who have tried El Chamán Loco, Basich and Zepeda didn’t project any of the individual pitches before starting up the route in December. The 14-pitch climb encompasses the full spectrum of El Salto styles: The opening pitches offer technical vertical climbing, with dime-edge feet and cryptic sequences on crimps. These are followed by two pitches, including the first 5.14b crux, of 40-degree overhangs requiring explosive strength and endurance. The top of the route offers an El Salto special: pitch-long tufas, demanding pinch strength, endurance, and body tension.

Zepeda says he had a great time on El Chamán Loco, but he doesn’t plan to bring the portaledge back out anytime soon. With the help of his mentor Basich, he’s excited to keep pushing his climbing, but notes that he can feel himself growing up, introducing a change to his perspective and his physical ability. “I’m not climbing my strongest right now, but my body decides. Of course, I’m still going to keep climbing.”

[Earlier this week, Matt Segal made the second free ascent and first one-day ascent of El Chamán Loco.—Ed.]

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