Some routes take more work than others… For me, an example was the Dedo de Deus, which I first tried to climb in 1996 and only reached the summit in 2002. It took about six attempts until everything finally worked out. Everything happened: rain at the base, lightning, a partner who felt sick, and even a monstrous landslide that destroyed the old trail — which I only discovered upon arrival. Anyway, one day it works out and since 2002 I’ve already summited Dedo a few times.
With Maria Nebulosa, a giant route on the beautiful Maria Comprida, I went through the same thing — it only worked out on the fourth attempt.
Photo: Hugo de Castro
If I’m not mistaken, it’s a route established in 2002, and at that time I was working with climbing. As soon as I heard there was a route over a thousand meters near Rio, I immediately planned an attempt with a friend. This must have been around 2004 and back then there was no Waze, YouTube, none of these tools that help a lot today — it was just trip reports and texts I got from the FEMERJ discussion list and Hang On. Yep… those were the discussion/information forums for climbing back then and only those who chewed Banda candy and ate Mirabel at break time at school will remember this.
Days picked, we booked a guesthouse in Secretário (a neighborhood in Petrópolis where Maria Comprida is located), set off to scout the base — and no luck finding it. That’s right, we didn’t even reach the end of the road where the trail to the base should start.
Another attempt in 2008 with the same strategy: guesthouse and an early wake-up to reach the base, this time with more information, and… rain! Storm in the morning and an early return home. No giving up, and over the years I knew I’d be back.
I returned in 2018! And the strategy was different this time. I went one morning with my partner just to locate the base, planning to return the following week without wasting time, and this time it worked. Using tips from Escaladas Clássicas by Mauro Chiara — this guy is a true “walking Google” — we reached the end of the road where you park and hop over the gate, accessed the trail, and in about an hour we were at the base. Mission accomplished! Now it was just a matter of coming back the following week, easy right?! Wrong! Just a few days after reaching the base, life hit me with one of those blows you think you’ll never get up from, so I stepped away from climbing for about two years and stopped thinking about Maria Comprida, Nebulosa, or anything… I took a vacation from life for a while.
Surely you’ve heard this cliché phrase: “This too shall pass”… And believe me, it’s true. Everything passes — and it did. I recovered and little by little I picked up projects that had been pushed to the back of my mind, until the time for Nebulosa came.
In 2024 I invited my friend and partner Bruno Negreiros, who was super stoked and accepted the invitation immediately. We set the date and this time the strategy was different: we arrived in Secretário on Friday around 1 p.m., dropped our stuff at the guesthouse and headed to the base with the goal not only to scout but also to leave two fixed pitches on the wall. Everything worked out!!! With tips from Alex Tchê (one of the route’s first ascensionists) and Felipe Lombardi (Drone Aventura), we reached the base without major issues, climbed up to P2 and left the ropes fixed. Around 6 p.m. we were back at the guesthouse to rest and focus on the climb the next day, which started exactly at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
Fixed ropes, ready to start.
Leaving the first two pitches fixed helped a lot — after all, it’s a 1040-meter route with 20 pitches. The weather was perfect: cloudy and pleasant temperature. We reached the summit at noon, an excellent time, so we could enjoy a snack and start the descent calmly, knowing we still had hours of daylight ahead. We touched solid ground (what a dramatic phrase, huh?! I like it…) at 6:50 p.m. and by 8 p.m. we were at a bakery, exhausted and happy.
Perfect weather for a long climb like Maria Nebulosa
Photo at the summit
Done! Maria Nebulosa, 20 years later. Mission accomplished!
The Maria Nebulosa Route
The route was recently re-bolted and no one better than Tchê to talk about it — it’s worth watching this video published by Alta Montanha:
In fact, the exposure seems to be more moderate now and there’s lots of brand new protection, but it’s still an E3 route and definitely E4 in some sections.
As a friend of mine nicely put it, you can divide Maria Nebulosa into three distinct parts — and that’s what we had in mind when we started the climb.
Heading up! Only 18 pitches left
The first part is the first 4 pitches: lots of slab climbing with some holds, with many 4th grade moves and some 4+. Those not used to slabs might feel uncomfortable, but I think the suggested grade is very fair.
After P4 comes a sequence of very easy pitches, including some 2nd grade moves — so it’s time to gain ground and climb simul, which is exactly what Bruno and I did: we climbed simultaneously from P4 to P13, where there’s a huge grassy ledge that marks the start of the third and final part of the route.
Starting the simul pitches
From P13 onward the route gets more interesting and vertical, with a 5th grade crux, a well-protected bulge (protected with cams) and a few more spicy moves. That’s it! Maria Nebulosa summit!
Happy face after completing the mission
We just signed the summit book, had a snack and started the descent: 20 rappels, only possible with two 60m ropes. Another option is to hike down, but we didn’t think it was worth it — we’d need someone to pick us up at the trail exit, which is on the opposite side of the climb, plus get permission to cross a condo’s property… Forget it! Let’s rappel!
It’s worth watching this beautiful video made by my buddy Felipe Lombardi, Drone Aventura. You can see the grandeur of this mountain in detail:
Thanks Bruno for the partnership! Soon we’ll get ourselves into more trouble.
Cheers and happy climbing!
This post is also available in: Português (Portuguese (Brazil)) Español (Spanish)
