Photo by Nick Aguilos
History
Back in the late 80’s, my cousins Meloy and Antolin Amores had an arrangement to breed roosters with a couple named Heri and Lisa Derecho in the mountains of Danao, Cebu. When they found out I started rock climbing in the mid 90’s, they would often tell me tales of the limestone cliffs of Barangay Togonon where they would spend cool summer evenings looking over their birds, eating local fruits and watching fireflies at night. Even though I was a novice without the necessary skills or experience to undertake route development, I pressed them for details regarding the cliff. Antolin told me that it was “at least 20 meters high and probably 100 meters long.” For another 20 years, Danao would remain a curiosity for me…
Fast forward to 2014. After a series of January typhoons knocked out all dive plans with my late father, we developed some serious cabin fever being cooped up indoors for a couple weeks. I remembered the tales of Danao and decided it was time to ask Meloy to take me there. It turns out Antolin’s estimations were way off. The main cliff averaged 35-40 meters in height and was over 2 kilometers long. I inspected a cliff band closer to Heri and Lisa’s house for rock quality and determined it was worthy enough to investigate for real. What we found was astounding. Development of the cliff started in early 2015 with Megan Boe and our friends Jonas and Nikki Wallin, along with critical support developing the access trails and base of the cliff with Heri, Lisa, Vincent Lawrence, and Gem Capao. Since that time, many friends and contacts of trusted friends have come to help out with various stages of the process. Currently, development is ongoing. Danao is well on its way to becoming the biggest sport climbing venue in Cebu, and possibly the Visayas.
Algin Amores