Igbaras, Passi, Igcabugao, Dayhag, and the Big Wall
Let's get the names of places sorted first -- because names help us make sense of the real world.
Igbaras and Passi
Igbaras is the name of the town where Igcabugao is a part of. That's where you get your supply of food and select liquor.
Passi is the barangay before Igcabugao. It's where climbers leave their cars to park because not all cars can go up to Igcabugao just yet.
As of writing, nearly half of the road that connects Passi and Igcabugao has been paved. Some unpaved bits require the extra torque and traction of a four-wheel vehicle; plus a higher wheelbase will spare you from the scary under-the-chassis thud.
Otherwise, you can count on the skills of habal-habal drivers to haul human-and-backpack combos up the steep terrain.
Igcabugao
Igcabugao is the barangay where the big wall is. There are also caves and waterfalls in the area. Please get a guide if you decide to explore outside of the climbing area. Don't ask why. Just get a guide.
Dayhag
Dayhag is a sloping grassy campsite. People go there to pitch a tent or stay in one of the shacks for a relaxing, 16-degree evening some 500 meters above sea level.
It's surrounded by ridges where an occasional peak juts out. These peaks, which are many sweat and some food supplies away, are popular trekking destinations.
In the camp, there are toilets and a kitchen with an LPG stove. More importantly, there is a store that sells beer.
Dayhag is managed by a local family, but I know only two of them by name: Nanay Marian and Tatay Reggie.
To write "manage" might be short-changing their hospitality. They treat us like family.
The Big Wall
Imagine a perfectly parabolic hill, the kind that kindergarten kids draw. Split that in half -- that's the general topography of Dayhag and the Big Wall.
Jumping off the top of the hill to get to the belay station is not a feasible idea. So you'll have to hike down and around the hill of Dayhag to get to the belay ledge.
The Engagement
The Engagement is the queen line of Igcabugao Big Wall.
At 8b, it is the hardest in the area but it's not the grade that crowns it the queen.
It's hard to describe because the deepest experiences in climbing are internal. Even then, everything happens in moments -- with a flick of the wrist or an outbreath, the moment is gone.
I'll try to put this in words anyway: it's the aesthetics.
The movements are hard but beautiful. I've failed so many times but each time is worth failing for.
In some routes I've tried, there would be one or two mind-numbing hard cruxes . The rest of the line is a long-winded justification to hit the grade.
On the Engagement, the moves come naturally after each other. (Like reading TS Eliot's the Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. You don't read up to down. Your gaze naturally drift downwards to the next line while your consciousness evaporates into the air to take you wherever the wind blows.)
If you're climbing 7b solid, none of the moves will be too hard for you.
But why the grade then?
This is where the beauty of The Engagement lies.
You'll need to flow like a river to send it. The path of least resistance requires twists, awkward rests, and changing breathing methods.
You can brute force your way through some of the sections. But if you force your way through sections, you'll only send sections. The entire line is more than just a sum of its parts.
Kuya Mackie
Words are too limiting to describe a person. So it's with some apprehension that I try to write about the guy who bolted most of the bolts I've clipped in the nine years I've climbed; the person who established mega classics all over the Philippines.
We'll focus this section on his bolting of The Engagement.
The line is named after a crucial point in Kuya Mackie's life: when he bolted the line, he was engaged to his long-term girlfriend.
Benny the Bunny
Benny the Bunny lives on Dayhag. He steals bananas and commits other crimes: but he's forgiven in advance because he closes his eyes and curls into a ball, which people find cute.
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