First ascents are what many climbers live for. You not only get to savor the sensation of being the first person to ever climb a route, but you get to name it, too. You literally leave a legacy on the rock. And in a place as big as Brazil with so much untapped potential, talented and obsessive pro athletes like The North Face’s Felipe Camargo have their pick of the litter.
In The North Face’s new video, Tropical Lines, Camargo is on a first ascent bender. The short film follows as Camargo establishes five new routes across his home country of Brazil. While none of these have been climbed before, the hope is that they’ll be used by many other climbers into the future.
However, Auto Retrato, the 5.15 (9a+) Camargo establishes in Tropical Lines, might not get a lot of use. It’s the first-ever route of that difficulty completed in South America. And it looks absolutely formidable.
Follow Felipe on his instagram, @felipe.camargo. For more videos like Tropical Lines, check out The North Face’s YouTube page.
Runtime: 35:39 minutes
