AMISTAD CON EL DIABLO. NARANJO DE BULNES EAST FACE

The Amistad con el Diablo in the Naranjo de Bulnes (Picu Urrillu) is one of the most  famous routes in the East Face of this mountain. It consists of a straight ascent through the large central slab of this wall. Highly recommended. It is a climb of manageable grade but the possibilities to place protection in the easy sections are rare, except for the few permanent anchors already installed, for this reason it's better to be able to climb comfortably in this level. There are some bolts in the cruxes of the hardest pitch. It's easy to find your way if you pay attention, but you need to be careful if you don't want to get misled. The route has been totally restored* with stainless steel bolts, so if you come upon some buril, it means you're going the wrong way.

Amistad con el Diablo in the Naranjo de Bulnes (Picu Urriellu). Route Description:

The Amistad con el Diablo is located in the central part of the Naranjo de Bulnes's East Face (Picu Urriellu). Characteristic white patches will guide you along the route.

• You can connect the first and the second pitches by simul climbing a bit (about 70 m), and then the third with the fourth (about 50 m).
• The fifth pitch leaves straight ahead, then goes with a tendency towards the right side. The first bolt can be seen from the belay station if you keep an eye out for it.
• The sixth pitch bypasses a little roof by the left side until reaching an equipped rock tunnel that you can spot from the belay station. Then it goes on almost straight ahead until a large cave-ledge. About 10 m further up, there's another ledge with a substantial rock tunnel where the Amistad con el Diablo ends and meets the Cepeda.
• The seventh pitch goes from this ledge up to the "rompetobillos" (ankle breaker) belay station (the last pitch). Exactly  60 m.
• One more explosive pitch (el rompetobillos) will lead us to the hole coming out on the south amphitheatre. This pitch is easy to protect, but as it starts from a ledge we'll need to keep focused while belaying.
• From here we can scramble up by a small couloir in the centre of the south amphitheatre, or climb one more pitch of about 50 m (IV+) by the spur until reaching the east summit, from which we need to continue walking on the arête up to the main summit.
• We get back down using the rappels that have been set up in the South Face. Traditionally, people used to rappel down the Directa de los Martínez, but two parallel lines have recently been installed to avoid gatherings as well as disturbing people climbing the Directa de los Martínez (see descent description).

*Restoring consists in updating the out-dated anchors of a route. Replacing the spits/burils with stainless steel bolts, checking the pitons, changing the cordelettes and cleaning the choss. No new anchor is added, only the ageing ones are replaced.

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