John Arran returning along a 35m Tyrolean traverse, needed to
pass a huge roof at 300m on Amurita (E7 6b [5.12+ R], 10 pitches), Amuri Tepui, Venezuela. He and partner Anne Arran recently made the first ascent of the line over a period of seven days. [Photo] Anne Arran
As initially reported in the October 4, 2008 NewsWire, Anne and John Arran have completed the first ascent of Amurita (E7 6b [5.12+ R], 10 pitches), a route located beside a 600m waterfall on the Amuri Tepui in Venezuela. Accessing the remote wall in the Venezuelan jungle proved an ordeal, beginning with a flight in on a small plane and followed by a four-day hike guided by locals.
Amurita, situated left of the waterfall and comprised of ten pitches, was completed over a period of seven days with the climbers making two camps on the wall. Encountering sections of loose rock and overhanging vegetation, the pair worked through mostly E5 and E6 sections of wall with the exception of two E4 (5.11d) pitches and a relatively dangerous 50m section, which John Arran rated at E7 6b. The two climbers placed only three bolts, as reinforcements on belays.
John Arran said of the climb, “It was a serious and committing venture for just the two of us, but the climbing was superb and the feeling when we finally made it was brilliant.” John’s trip report noted that the two climbers “decided there wasn’t time to try a line directly behind the falls, which certainly has potential for the hardest and most overhanging big wall free climbs on earth.”