WHAT is the big deal about Tres Cuevas?

Well, for those of you who have been out here before ... you know.

But for those of you who are new to the event let me tell you about the climb. Tres Cuevas is spanish for Three Caves (which you will pass on your climb). Some folks say it is "three curves" but there's a whole lots more than three curves! You can see the profile below.

The climb really starts from the bottom of Comanche Creek, where the Dog Leg, (loop 1B on the Lajitas Resort & Spa Trail System) meets the jeep road near the Lajitas International Airport on the south side of the highway. From that point there are over 1200ft of climbing (400 meters for you modernists) over five miles. But the real CLIMB is between the Lonestar Gate and the Black Mesa turnoff (old Sport/Expert split) which is about 1000ft in under 3 miles. And it's rocky and unmaintained and tough. When Velo News rated the Chihuahuan Desert Challenge out here as one of the top twenty-five race courses of all time, they definitely talked about the climb.

But that was back then. It's much tougher now. Now, racers climb "the hill" at mile twenty-three of a total thirty-two, or if you are doing the full marathon, you will climb it again at mile fifty-five of sixty-two total. and if you can believe it, it has gotten significantly MORE difficult over the winter in 2008. There are no more jeep tours on the road and the torrential rainfalls have stripped much of the "road base" off and left huge lengths of exposed monster sized gravel. It may have been tough before, but it's unbelievable now!

Check out Mary Pickett's poem about being the marshall that directs folks onto the Tres Cuevas Climb. It'll help calm you.