Back to the sources

On Friday 19th December, at 14.20 hs I was back to the sources.

Twelve years have passed since I first step in Aconcagua summit. I was there again with a clear blue sky above us. ‘Us’ is me and a group of five wonderful friends with whom I spent twelve days in this mountain.

Aconcagua has been my source of inspiration to start high altitude climbing. As a kid travelling with my family to Chile, I often saw this mountain from the car windows. As a teenager I wondered what it felt to be up there. Shortly after, I climbed it.

Aconcagua is a truly gigantic mountain when compared to those other ones around it. Aconcagua is a truly enigmatic mountain when known that the Incas used it to sacrifice and offer their kids to the Gods. At last, Aconcagua is a truly beautiful mountain that offers breathtaking views.

Thanks to www.aconcagua2008.nl team members for the unforgettable days we spent together. Congratulations for the strength you kept all the way to the summit.

Finally, this summit is dedicated to my friend German Gonzales Mena, cameraman of ‘No Bike’s Land’. As a professional mountain photographer and cameraman, he loved working in Aconcagua. German passed away three days ago, after fighting bravely for a year against leukemia. He was only 43 years old. May his soul rest in peace over a mountain that was a source of inspiration for both of us.

Getting ready for Aconcagua

In a few more days I am off to Aconcagua.

Mt. Plata (5960 mt) and Mt. Rincon (5380mt) offer the perfect training setting. They are placed only within one hour by car from the western city of Mendoza. I was born here, I grew up here, and every time I come back to Argentina I fall in love again with the Andes I shared seven days with Juan in these two mountains. My friend has made it nineteen times to the top of Aconcagua working as a guide. During those days, we both agreed that climbing on our own to the summits was a retrospective experience. Nobody else but foxes, guanacos and condors were hour daily companions.

The only competition going on between Juan and me was to check which Suunto will give us the most accurate reading when we reached the summit. I had the X10, he had the Vector. He got the exact reading, I got to connect the X10 GPS and was only 2 meters below the suggested altitude. The view from the top was so magnificent, that we didn’t dare to discuss who the winner was.

Aconcagua is the next higher step. But I will certainly miss Juan, the solitude and the guanacos.

Safe Sunscreen for Sea Life?

Are we responsible divers? I have found a very interesting article published by www.thegreenguide.com that I ought to share with all those divers who whish to respect and preserve nature.

‘Coral reefs are under increasing threats, not only from global warming but also from us, tourists who want to appreciate their beauty. A study published by Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) revealed that chemicals and preservatives used in a number of sunscreens triggered viral infections in coral, causing them to bleach and die. The study targeted sunscreens that use chemical UV barriers (which absorb UV rays before they damage your skin) as opposed to physical UV barriers (which reflect UV rays before they reach your skin), and found that the sunscreen chemicals benzophenone and cinnamate caused the most harm. The researchers also found that preservatives called parabens, common in sunscreens, promoted coral bleaching.

It’s easy to imagine that one of us slathered with sunscreen wouldn’t cause much harm to ocean life, but the EHP study noted that the 78 million tourists who visit areas with coral reefs leave behind the impressive amount of 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen annually, because roughly 25 percent of what you put on gets washed off.

Since there are no regulations on what is ‘biodegradable’ or ‘reef-friendly’ buy sunscreens buy sunscreens with plant-based ingredients, which break down faster than petroleum-based ingredients do after they washed off. Also, opt for physical UV barriers (titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) rather than chemicals. Fortunately, what’s better for the coral tends to be better for you: The same chemical preservatives and UV blockers that damage reefs may interfere with your hormones.’

The Japanese diver story at Drake Peninsula

I probably couldn’t think of a better way to describe how good diving in Drake Peninsula (Costa Rica) can get by describing the ‘Japanese diver story’ mentioned by Brian Chavez. Brian, born in Denver Colorado, is Jinetes de Osa’s owner. He is one of those buddies who either consciously smile through the entire day or were born with smile drawn on their face.

This friendly biochemist by formation, early in his career traveled to Costa Rica and turned down job offers in Chicago while looking to buy land at Drake Peninsula.

Here’s a summary of our chat together and the distinctive ‘Japanese diver story’.

How did you become Jinetes de Osa’s owner?

Brian: As I was spending my days in Sierpe, I met this guy Santiago who was a Captain. I mean, a real Captain with a cigarette in his mouth all the time. He would roll the cigarette into his mouth to keep it from getting wet if it rains. He was the one who told me that Jinetes de Osa was for sale, I made an offer and two month later I become the owner. At first, our diving center didn’t look that great. I remember a tourist passing by asked me whether this building was a ‘kind of factory’.

So, tell us about the ‘Japanese diver story’ please.

Brian: Five years ago, a young Japanese man turned up to do the PADI Open Waters course. Although he had no previous diving experience, he was well equipped with an underwater camera worth around US 5000. On our first dive, we were lucky enough to see a whale shark.

On our second day, we did two consecutive dives. It turned out that we saw a great hammer head on our first dive that day and even more impressive, an Orca and its calf.

On our third day and final dive we spotted a big sting ray. As my student was getting ready to snap a picture of the ray, which was fairly close to us, a big hammer head grab the ray and scared the heck out of him, dropping the camera and not getting any picture.

Although this might not be exactly what happens in every single dive at Drake, the Japanese experience pictures very well the diversity that can be found while diving at Isla del Caño.

Given the fact that you are surrounded by wonderful nature; does it encourage you to run any green policies at Jinetes de Osa?

Brian: Yes, we have a small program of recycling batteries used by our customers. As Costa Rica doesn’t recycle batteries, we encourage our customers to take them back with them in order to be recycled at their country of origin. We also capture water from the rain, to save water supply.

We would also like to become the first carbon neutral hotel in Costa Rica, by offering our customers air-conditioned rooms if they pay to compensate for the emissions that this produce.

If you are interested in diving at Isla del Caño, take a look at www.costaricadiving.com

Pictures by Yann Feron (www.yannferon.com)

Undisturbed beauty of San Blas

The islands of the San Blas Archipelago are strung out along the Caribbean coast of Panama from the Golfo de San Blas nearly all the way to the Colombian border. San Blas is a series of 378 islands of which only 49 are inhabited by the fiercely independent Kuna Indians. Although only a 30-minute plane ride away from Panama City or four hours by four-wheel track vehicles, a trip to the San Blas islands will transport you 20 centuries into the past.

The Kuna Indians, who run all the islands as an autonomous province, with minimal interference from the national government have maintained their own economic system, language, customs and culture, with distinctive dress, legends, music and dance and thus have avoided traditional tourism development. The economy of the islands is based on coconut sales, fishing and tourism, and they offer travelers good snorkeling and swimming. Facilities are few and very simple, as is the food. The area is surrounded by reefs, some of the oldest in the world, and offer wonderful free-diving and snorkeling opportunities, the best of which are between the months of April and June.

San Blas is famous for one of its arts and crafts, the mola. Kuna women make rainbow colored fabrics, emblazoned with fish, birds, jungle animals and geometric designs that would impress the eyes of the more critical artists. The men still fish from canoes as they did before Columbus came and often carry buckets to get rid of the water that constantly leaks the canoes wooden structure. They still run up to the corner coconut palm trees for something fresh and cool to drink each morning, just as they have for untold centuries.

As long as the Kuna Indians manage to keep traditional and unsustainable tourism from booming in this area, San Blas Archipelago and Kuna’s culture will remain as an undisturbed nature and sociological jewel.

Pictures by Yann Feron (www.yannferon.com)

Diving in Bocas del Toro

Christopher Columbus was the first white man to anchor in Bocas waters in 1502 . Later, English pirates used Bocas as safe haven and in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bocas became an international commercial center for trade in cacao and bananas. Bocas was populated mainly by immigrants from Jamaica making Bocas an English speaking province in a Spanish speaking nation. Even today, most locals speak English.

At the turn of the century, the town of Bocas del Toro was the first headquarters of the United Fruit Company. Boasting of 25,000 inhabitants, it had six consuls and five newspapers. A banana blight in the l920's put an end to this vibrant commercial center, but historical buildings and a stately park still stand.

Diving and Snorkeling
The best places for diving are Coral Key,

Dark Wood Reef, Hospital Point and Punta Juan Buoy. For snorkeling, the Garden near Cayo Nancy, and Punta Juan buoy are excellent..

When diving in Bocas you will be able to see some of the best preserved hard and soft coral in the world. You will also have the opportunity to see sting rays, lobsters, many species of crabs and a countless variety of tropical reef fish. Besides, it has nice wreck diving, which is hallow and with a good amount of life.

Bocas is also a great place to do night dives. There is a huge amount of amazing bioluminescence. Lots of big crabs and others come out to be seen.

I could concentrate on my dives by using the Suunto D9, which is the world's first dive computer to integrate a digital compass and wireless tank data reception. Suunto D9 combines all dive-critical information in one instrument, conveniently mounted on your wrist. Instead of monitoring a multitude of gauges, I enjoyed my dives and played around with the compass by finding all the critical information in this reliable instrument.

The friendly staff from www.labugapanama.com would help you to discover the magnificent underwater world held in this relaxed corner of Panama.

Top2bottom becomes Peak2creek

I had a great time during the last Top2bottom race. Not only because the team I belong to made if first through the finish line, but also because wining a race being part of a team while doing an individual discipline like downhill marathon is a great feeling. I have great confident that this race, which puts together all those sports that can be practiced on the mountains, will become a must do in the Otztal valley! Thanks to Suunto and Red Bull for sponsoring such a great event! And more thanks to Giant,Sram and Mavic for providing with a great bike which also made it first on the MTB downhill!
Manu

The magic land around Pissis volcano

Pissis volcano is placed in the ‘Andes Septentrionales’, to the south of the Atacama dessert. The area that surrounds this volcano is over the second highest plateau of the World, where we can find plenty of wildlife adapted to the harshness of such environment.

Countless Vicuñas live on these high flatlands, where the more colorful flamingos are seen on the distant lagoons. As there’s a high content of minerals on the lagoons waters, the more beautiful combination of colors can be found around the area of Laguna Negra and Laguna Azul.

This is certainly an area worth visiting if you happened to be on the north of Argentina. Several volcanoes have been rarely climbed, offering countless possibilities for those adventures seekers who enjoy nature where the closest human being around is at several hundred miles away.

The new Solio solar chargers helped me to keep my X9i battery charged during the many days I spent on the mountains.

Have fun!

Manu

Mt Penitentes, Argentina

Hello!

I am back from the mountains and happy to be ready to share our fantastic discoveries with you guys.

Together with a group of five people, we climbed Mt. Penintentes (4300mt) placed in Mendoza, Argentina. What makes this mountain so special is the fact that was climbed by the Incas 500 years ago. The Inca's built a stone cairn 10 meters below it's highest summit, which has a direct line of sight with the placed where the Inca's sacrificed a boy of nine years of age. This mummy was found in Aconcagua, at the bottom of the Southwest ridge. Mt. Penitentes offers a perfect view of that spot; therefore the Incas’s chose this mountain to become a ‘secondary altar’.

It is fascinating to feel that we were standing at 4300 mts, at the very same place where such indigenous people once venerated their Gods.

I used X9i to record logs during our three days climb and can now see in Google Earth the exact location of the Inca’s cairn on Mt. Penitentes!

For those ones interested in information about the boy that was sacrificed in Aconcagua, I recommend to search for ‘Aconcagua mummy’ in Google and you will get information from different important sources. The Archaeologist who has published good documents (in Spanish) and who was present at the moment of the excavation is called Juan Schobinger.

Have fun!

Manu

Hello everybody!!

Since I have a special attraction to indigenous cultures, during the next two months once again I will be following the Inca’s legacy in the Argentinean Andes. After holding meetings with renowned archaeologist in the western Argentinean city of Mendoza, I will go up to Mt. Penitentes (4350 m). Although this is not a high mountain, it is placed right opposite to Mt. Aconcagua (6969 m) and offers a unique view of the some magnificent Andes peaks.

Later on, I will travel north of Argentina and spend some time discovering new areas where three years ago we shoot ‘No Bike’s Land’. Pissis volcano (6893 m) and Incahuasi volcano (6671 m) hide so many wonders that three weeks filming on this area was not enough to discover them all. I am intrigued by the same natural wonders which caught the Inca’s attention more than five hundred years ago.

I will be using my Suunto X9i to track and save logs which will be later downloaded in Google earth. Solio solar panel will help me to keep the X9i charged all the time while 'm on the mountains.

Stay tuned for more pictures coming next May!

Saludos!

Manuel

Interview with an atomic rider

Would we all grow older like this man as mountain bikers?

We all know as mountain bikers how great the kick can be when we ride our bikes, in particular if we ride our bikes through breathtaking landscapes. But mountain biking is not all about ourselves, our bike and the landscape around us, it is also about the wonderful people we can meet through this glorious sport.

As I landed in Costa Rica for my second endurance race called Guanaride (www.guanaride.com), I wondered if I was going to meet again that only rider I saw the previous year riding a five days endurance race wearing no shirt, no Lycra, no gloves and no mtb shoes. Instead, this long grey hair man was riding only SPD sandals, shorts made out of an old jean and the compulsory helmet. I was surprised not only because of the way he was dressed, but also because what he told me: that this was going to be his fourth Guanaride, among some other ten endurance races he has done in Costa Rica. From the look in his wrinkled eyes, from the strength of his ‘mature’ but fit body, from the old full suspension trek his was ridding I knew there was more inside of him than meet the eye.

You could already guess that during this year’s race he was there again. This time, I couldn’t help it and I ended up having a very interesting conversation during sunset in Playa Samara (a beautiful and sweet spot on the Costa Rica Pacific side) with this man called Heart Akerson. I leave it up to you to decide if he is one of those nice people you can only wish to know through our nice sport of mountain biking, but he certainly must got something that it is worth reading.

Manuel: You told me that with 57 years of age you have race Guanaride five times already. What else have you done?

Heart: I have raced and finished 9 times La Ruta de los Conquistadores. I have also run up and down the highest mountain in Costa Rica (Chirripo, 3819 mt) and completed four Canada Ironman barefooted.

Manuel: Why do you ride your bike shirtless, with nothing more than cut-off jeans, SPD sandals and a helmet?

Heart: I think that we have got a civilization out of touch with the world we live in. I like to ride my bike with the minimum. I don’t need to ride with more clothes than the ones I use because I need to feel close to nature by feeling the water, air, sun and mud directly on my skin.

Manuel: Tell us a little bit about yourself Heart?

Heart: I was born and grew up in USA. When I was 12 I had a very strong vision to become a nuclear physicist and develop new power sources. After I actually became a nuclear physicist, I realized that there really were no applications of nuclear power that could be used responsibly by this civilization and switched to theoretical physics. I am currently the CEO of Heart Transverter SA, which is a company that develops and manufactures the Transverter which integrates all types of renewable energy sources. The work at my company keeps me very busy, sometimes I spend ten hours in front of the computer, but I like to change the channel by riding my bike in the company of good riders. I am the father of nine kids and some of them are very good mountain bike racers. Besides my company and sports, I also like to spend time playing classical music in the piano.

Manuel: If you grew up in USA then how did you end up in Costa Rica?

Heart: As I was living in the States and with 27 years of age, I decided to build up my own sailing boat. I used this boat to sail down to Costa Rica. It ended up taking me three years to reach this country having departed from Oregon. I have nine children and one of my sons was born in that boat. In fact, the boat is still by the beach opposite to my home and you are welcome to come and see it.

Manuel: I would love to! What would you recommend to improve endurance mountain bike races like the one you are participating right now?

Heart: Probably the bigger thing we could do is to draw more people into these kinds of races. When people participate in these races they become more aware of the world they live in. They could witness the wonderful nature they have around and could be more in touch with the world they live in. I want to do things that affect the world in a positive way; maybe these riders would do the same after those races.

Manuel Bustelo partners: Sram Europe, Giant Germany, SixSixOne, Suunto Oy, Mavic Europe, Maxxis Spain, Northwave and Powerbar Spain.

Pictures: Courtesy of Luis Castro and www.guanaride.com

Top2bottom documentary

Extreme multi sports race

Have you ever thought that no matter how fast you are with your mountain bike going downhill you can not win the race if your other nine team members aren’t the fastest ones in their own disciplines? Yes, you heard well, other ‘nine’ team members.

Extreme multi sport races are becoming more and more popular. Races of this type provide athletes who practice individual and extreme sports with a unique thrill and challenge. As an athlete, you still have to be the fastest in what you know best. As a mountain biker (if the race like the one we will describe here includes this discipline) you still have to be the fastest one going downhill, but you need all other members of your team to be the fastest ones as well. What does make extreme multi sports races such a particular interesting event to be in if winning doesn’t depend on how crazy you are? Well, they provide you with the opportunity of becoming one more of a bunch of crazy athletes trying to be the fastest ones, so YOU and THEY can win the race.

Last year Top2bottom race gathered 10 athletes in the Otztal alpine valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol to make a documentary about what it takes to do such a race. This valley is not only famous for its beauty and the opportunities it offers to do from great mountain biking, to climbing or practicing water sports. It is also well known due to the fact that in 1991, Ötzi the Iceman, a well-preserved natural mummy from about 3,300 BC, was found in the nearby Schnalstal glacier on the Similaun Mountain.

Let’s get back to the movie and real action. While more than seven different cameramen with state of the art high definition cameras worked around the clock during twenty one days to make this documentary possible. After having ridden downhill for several days on the same track with the filming crew, I am now going to try to tell you what it takes to be the downhill mountain biker of Top2bottom race.

You as mountain biker have to wait until eight other team members finish their part. The race starts 57 km above your kick off point, with the speed flying buddy jumping off at 3772 m high from the top of Wildspitze. This is the highest peak in the Otztal Alps and the second highest peak in Austria. The team mate who does the hand off to you is the soaking wet bloke who has just abseiled down the 159 m Stuibenfall, which is Tirol’s largest and most spectacular waterfall.

Mountain bike downhill

As soon as the hand off is done to you and the competition judge gives you the green light, your off to ride as fast as you can the next 10 km of the race. The first 2 km are a very fast ride through a stony road that follows down the waterfall stream and the initial 500 m are the steeper section of this road. You just need to watch out not having your bike sleeping off the gentle turns. In fact, you might only call the turns ‘gentle’ after you cross a wooden bridge which entrance is at around a seventy degrees angle to your right. As you are coming down at full speed, you need to take this turn with the brake levers lowered down at full power, or you might find yourself walking back uphill. This entire cool scenario is happening inside a dense forest.

Once you are off this area, hell starts for downhill lovers. You are actually always going down, but you have to pedal pretty much in a few sections where you wish you were sitting in a hard tail carbon fibber bike or even better, a motorbike. The problem for you might not be the fact that by the time you reach the first 5 k, the race has already turns into an epic downhill marathon. If air doesn’t reach your brain on this ‘almost flat’ section the worst it can happen is that you might fall into the last fresh cow shit of the plenty of horned beasts wondering around the trail. Then, what’s the problem? You have to remain fresh and pumping oxygen into your brain by the time you reach the last 3,5 k where the fastest and more technical section starts.

The last kilometer downhill goes through a single-track which again follows a stream to your right and this time, in a much denser forest than the one you left behind. The beginning of this single-track starts with an almost-impossible 50 degrees turn in an area reduced to one square meter of very slippery earth, where you basically have two options if you don’t manage to get the rear wheel to follow the front one:

A) Fail to finish the turn and slide down into the stream (which might be a bit shameful and wet moment)

B) Get off your bike and walk (which is even more shameful but probably better than to end up wet)

Now if you don’t manage to do this ‘go to hell’ turn, no time for unhappiness and shameful moments is left as you have to rock and roll and focus on this single track that you definitely have to ride down without taking a fall. All sorts of nasty things that a downhill racer loves will be found here: wet big roots, jumps over loosen stones, big gaps with big steps and even some bushes impeding your vision and though of ‘what on earth comes next’ on this single-track.

By the time you hit a gentler, flat section you might remember that the finish line for your downhill is pretty close. Should you have some breath left, you will find yourself sprinting in a narrow track with big (I mean really big) stones to your left and a one meter wooden fence to your right, where again you will remember how much equilibrium a rider must have to sprint in such a narrow passage.

By then, your buddy waiting at the riverside sitting on his kayak will be shouting so loud that you have to hurry up, that you better do so. That’s it, you go down to him ridding downhill a twelve meters steps that take you straight into a one meter wet concrete platform where you better have good grip to come to a halt, or you will soon end up doing kayaking with your team mate in Ötztaler Ache river.

Once you touch the kayaker’s arm, he’s off and your race against the clock is finish, but that’s not the end for you. As the mountain bike rider is the one before the last one (kayaker) and the entire team has to assemble on the finish line of the buddy you just saw paddling down the river, you have to continue riding down all the section that will be covered by him. Yeap… all ‘his’ section as well, but not on the water. If you are completely out of breath, the good news is that you can take a few short cuts which are very technical (which means good fun) and be able to cheer up your buddy on the kayak.

In fact, you actually wish you could do so; cause rather than cheering anyone up, you have to quickly swap your protections, shoes and helmet for a full body neoprene swim suit and… a rafting helmet which definitely doesn’t look as cool as your full face helmet you just took off. Not to speak about the way you might look like in a tight neoprene swim suit.

Here is why you as a downhill racer have to go through this moment glory dressing up with the rafting outfit: the race actually finishes when all member of the team get together on a raft, go down another 6 km on the river and cross the finish line.

To sum up you end up riding ten kilometers downhill against the clock like a maniac, going through fast and technical sections. Then continue riding two more against your kayaker buddy (aka team mate) only to find yourself dressed up in a tight neoprene swim suit in a raft paddling like a maniac with a bunch of other maniacs.

Finally, if you like to race downhill and extreme multi sports races, it might be worth trying this one in the Austrian Alps.

Manuel Bustelo would like to thanks Suunto for their constant support.