Prana ambassador Kevin Wilkinson and I had the pleasure of spending two weeks over this holiday season vacation climbing and sharing a family holiday on the tiny Caribbean island called Cayman Brac, one of the three Cayman Islands. The main island, Grand Cayman, lies just under 500 miles south of Miami, offering a dreamy Caribbean setting complete with resort-style amenities, shopping aplenty, white sandy beaches, haute cuisine and night clubs. Eighty-nine miles northeast, Cayman Brac is the larger of the country’s two sister islands, measuring 12 miles long and a mile and a half wide. Just five miles away, Little Cayman covers slightly less surface area with only 10 square miles to the Brac’s 14.
Unique to the Brac is the feature that gave the island its name – a long band of limestone that rises slowly up out of the ground on the island’s west end, growing in stature to create a wide, mid-island rib, or bluff, that spans the length of the island and terminates in 100+-foot tall sea cliffs on the island’s east end. The word brac means bluff in Gaelic. The top of the bluff provides habitat for the Cayman Brac parrot as well as birds called brown boobies, which nest atop the towering cliffs above the bluff’s east end. Tucked into the walls of the bluff lie numerous caves, which have traditionally served as hurricane shelters for the island’s people, or Brackers, as they’re called, while also drawing interested tourists in for exploration. Both the Brac and Little Cayman are world-renowned scuba diving destinations as well.
About 15 years ago, my family “discovered” Cayman Brac and decided to make it a destination for regular vacationing. It was just my luck that the island happens to have established sport climbing on it, thanks to the efforts of a number of rock climbers through the years. Today, those efforts are spearheaded by Colorado-based climber John Byrnes, who owns a home on Cayman Brac that he rents out to climbers (and other travelers). He also runs the Climb Cayman Brac Web site, which includes a free, up-to-date climbing guide to the island’s sport climbing offerings. Though the harsh seaside environment corroded the original stainless-steel bolts on the island’s routes, creating a major safety concern, Byrnes has invested a vast amount of time, effort and money in replacing these and making sure that all new routes are equipped with specially designed titanium bolts called Tortugas, which have proven to resist corrosion.
We had the pleasure of sampling routes both old and new on our recent adventure to the island, appreciating all the work that has gone into making these outings safe and enjoyable. I hadn’t climbed on the Brac in at least seven years, which made even older routes that I’d climbed before seem new to me. We didn’t get the opportunity to rappel down the steep sea walls to climb routes on the point; rough seas during the first week and the family holiday time during the second kept us from that. But we did savor the incredible tufa outings available at Dixon’s Wall, as well as the short powerful climbs of the Love Shack and the more moderate, juggy and fun offerings of the Orange Cave.
The second week’s calmer seas drew us into the ocean every day with my family to explore the underwater wonderland that snorkeling offered, forgoing climbing entirely. One day after snorkeling, Kevin struck up a conversation with a local family that was spending the day out fishing, which resulted in the addition to freshly caught island fish to our dinner that night. Another day after snorkeling, Kevin retrieved some fresh coconuts, leading to another tasty meal addition. I also spent at least an hour walking nearly every single morning, exploring the island and seeing Cayman Brac parrots along with the gorgeously unfamiliar flora that flourishes even in midwinter there.
As always, it was a pleasure to spend time on the island, where the friendliness of the local community makes all visitors feel welcome and the friendliness of the climate makes me feel like I’m the most limber person in the world every time I stretch. Throw in a family visit and some fun limestone climbing, and it’s a recipe for an excellent holiday season, every time.
Alli Rainey, prAna Ambassador
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The annual prAna Holiday Warehouse Sale was once again a huge success! THANK YOU to all of the prAna faithful who continue to support us and our clothing. This year’s charitable recipient is, once again, North County Community Services who also runs the North County Food Bank. 1% of your purchases went to support this local non-profit who continues to support residents of San Diego County year round. Their Executive Director, Stan Miller, sent us a very nice note…
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