El Potrero Chico, México Climbing Retreat

The majority of climbers come to our retreats alone - somewhere around 90%.  If you are hesitating to join because you would be coming solo, please know that we expect a majority of our participants to be joining by themselves.

We generally have a wide range of ages at our retreats. The average tends to fall  between the ages of 28 to 45. But we have had quite a few climbers in their 60's join as well. It really is up to the attitude and physical ability of the participant.

You do not need to be an experienced climber to attend but we recommend some climbing experience before signing up. We recommend that everyone attending is able to top rope a 5.9 in a climbing gym without taking or falling. We are aware that climbing 5.9 in a climbing gym is much different than climbing a 5.9 outside, but having the ability to climb 5.9 in a climbing gym will set you up to have a great time in Mexico. Even if you're not quite there, with multiple groups, we can really accommodate a wide range of abilities.

Yes, we have two types of payment plans available. 

Payment Plan 1 (Two Payments):  This plan requires a 50% deposit, of which 10% of the total cost of the trip is non-refundable. Apply the discount code "retreatdeposit" at checkout. Full payment will be required October 15th. 

Payment Plan 2 (Monthly Payments): 

This option is only available if the retreat is 5 or more months away. This plan requires a 10% deposit, of which 10% of the total cost of the trip is non-refundable. Apply the discount code "paymentplan" at checkout to take advantage of this option. We will split the remaining payment into subsequent monthly payments. Full payment will be required November 15th. We charge $50 to utilize this option as it requires much more work for our team to manage. 

We have a very strict cancellation policy. Please review it before committing to this retreat. We HIGHLY recommend purchasing trip protection as we will not modify our cancellation policy under any circumstances.

Unfamiliar with trip protection? Here is a great article by Forbes that summarizes the most comprehensive trip protection.  

If the trip fills, we'll have 20-22 climbers and 6 guides. Our daily groups will consist of 4-5 climbers per guide, letting us have our ropes on 2-3 routes at a time. Our multi-pitch groups will be 2 climbers per guide. Our trips are also mostly women. Men are perfectly welcome, but they tend to be outnumbered.

The food we'll be eating is, for the most part, traditional Mexican food. Since we will not be cooking meals for the group, so we only have as much control over what goes into your food as you would going to any restaurant. That said, we've had participants with gluten-free and vegan diets on this trip before and they did just fine. Gluten-free bread and other options are provided at breakfast and lunch, and are usually available at dinner.

Probably. Lead climbing is certainly not a requirement for anybody on the trip, but we're happy to let you lead as long as you have prior experience as a leader and can pass a belay test similar to those found in most gyms (minus the falling). We will be picky about the routes we allow people to lead as the bolt spacing is spread out on low angle terrain. 

Our main goal is to keep everyone safe, so on our first day out together we’ll just want to see that everyone is able to manage the rope, communicate, lead and belay safely before being cleared to do it throughout the week. If you don’t plan on leading, we’ll just want to go through a belay test to make sure you’re good to go belaying those who are. For those aspiring to lead, we will try our best to coach you through the process  throughout the week with the aim of you learning to do so safely.