Cueva Saturno Climbing

In January 2012 the Cuban authorities declared that almost all access to the mountains in Western Cuba was closed. The closure did not apply only to climbers, but all visitors, from cavers and mountain bikers to hikers and bird-watchers. In Viñales National Park, home of about 80 percent of the established routes, access was said to be limited to walking with official guides on the few trails long ago authorized by officials for tourism. The authorized trails reach about one percent of Viñales Valley, and go nowhere near any of the climbing sites. The rest of this World Heritage site was to be off-limits to all visitors.

Now, years later everyone has learned to live with the so-called closure. It’s a Cuban version of a kabuki drama. The officials pretend that all access is closed. the climbers pretend to obey — as they go about climbing. All sides seem content.

The bottom line is that everyone is climbing. New routes, even bolt replacements, are continuing in Viñales. Every few months a ranger will happen upon climbers and politely ask them to move on. No one has ever been cited. Indeed no one has ever seen a copy of the closure, and some doubt it ever was put to paper.