Venezuelan Climbs

By Stephen Platt

I lived in Venezuela with my family for five years. Venezuela is geographically varied and, although climbing wasn't that developed in 1970, there were plenty of opportunities to explore and climb new routes. This journal describes some of these climbing areas. The Avila is the 9000-foot mountain range between Caracas and the Caribbean coast. Although close to the capital and with plenty of hiking trails, parts of the mountains are wild and challenging and home to diverse wildlife, including howler monkeys, snakes, jaguars, and many species of exotic birds. The Gran Savanna is a region in southeastern Venezuela that extends into Brazil and Guyana. It is one of the most ancient and unusual landscapes in the world, featuring jungles and savannahs that host a diverse array of plant species, a rich fauna, and the isolated mesas locally known as tepuis. These 5,000-foot sandstone table-top mountains, most of which had never been climbed, provided the climbing. Pico Bolivar in Merida rises to nearly 5,000 metres. The Cordillera is part of the Andes mountain chain, but the glaciers that covered the mountains in the 1970s have since all disappeared. San Juan de los Morros is the gateway to the Llanos, the great plains north of the Rio Orinoco. The Morros are limestone pillars, the largest of which has a lighthouse built by the dictator Juan Vincente G mez in 1929. The Cueva del Guach ro is one of the wonders of the world. The 10 km cave contains the dazzling formations of crystal-lined passages. The journal describes climbing on between 1970 and 1975.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1912460769
• ISBN13: 9781912460762
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Leveret Publishing
• Length: 74 Pages
• Weight: 0.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"