Night Climbing in downtown São Paulo – 05/18/2023 – It’s Right There

In recent months, at the beginning of the Wednesday night, a different group, carrying ropes, magnesium bags and carabiners, has gathered next to a long wall that divides Quirino de Andrade and Xavier de Toledo streets, a few meters from the station. Anhangabaú from the subway and the historic Largo da Memória, in the central region of São Paulo. There, little by little, an area for basic training on how to climb the walls is consolidated, in what the participants call “Urban Climbing SP” —but which also mockingly adopts the nickname of MEU (Urban Climbing Urinal).

“It all started with people who practiced parkour, who showed us that there was potential there”, says Eric Mikami, 37, better known as Batata.

Parkour, for those who don’t know, is an activity inspired by rescue and emergency escape techniques used by firefighters, and consists of jumping quickly and in continuous movements over obstacles in a given environment. Obstacles can range from handrails on a staircase to the tops of buildings —always without the aid of any support equipment, such as ropes or nets. Basically every mother’s nightmare.

“At the end of last year, we came to check it out and saw that it was an outdoor alternative to the existing indoor training wall at Sesc 24 de Maio, which we attend”, continues Batata. “Today we bring together climbers of all profiles, from beginners and the curious to the most experienced, from high mountains who just want to give a little basic training”, he guarantees.

The great advantage of the place, of course, is the possibility of going and returning by subway, by bus (next door is the Praça da Bandeira terminal) and the offer of different levels of climbing, both bouldering (when the practitioner climbs the “bumps ” of the wall looking for points of support for the tips of the feet and the fingers of the hands) and toprope (when the ascent is supported by ropes attached at the top).

“There aren’t many options for free training in the city”, explains Batata, who has already practiced the sport at Pedra do Frances, banned by the city hall, and in quarries on the outskirts of the city. “But it’s really cool to have a place where you can say at any time ‘let’s go over there’ and practice, without complications, meeting friends,” she adds.

If for many people the central region is synonymous with fear of robberies and hordes of drug addicts roaming the neighborhood, Batata guarantees that the group has never encountered any problems. “Sometimes some homeless people arrive, they stare, curious, but nothing ever happened to any of us, the conversation was always good”, he says. Residents of neighboring buildings are also curious, but he assures that the approach has always been friendly. And, as for the mocking name above, it is Batata himself who admits that the name Mictório Escalada Urbana was born because, “you know, from time to time there’s that unmistakable smell”. After all, there are no public restrooms available for the homeless population, as we all know very well.

“Even so, I really like the place, even more so because it is a historic point of the city, right next to the Memory Square”, says the climber, impersonating the guide. Created at the end of the colonial period, the square has as its central point the oldest monument in the city of São Paulo, the obelisk of Piques, from 1814, which signaled the point of entry and exit from the city to the drovers who took and brought goods, offering a water spout for the animals. Once called Largo dos Piques, legend has it that due to the steep slopes leading to the city, it is still an iconic spot for those who are not afraid of pirambeiras, right?

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