COMPANHIA DA ESCALADA ORIGINS
Flavio Daflon began climbing at 16 years old in 1989 in Rio de Janeiro. Six years later he left college (UERJ) to dedicate his time exclusively to developing a climbing school, which led to the creation of the Companhia da Escalada (The Climbing Company) in 1995.
In addition to the climbing classes he also dedicated time towards writing mountaineering books, in order to help organize the sport in Rio, and of course, climbing. Some of the important moments in this history are described below.
In 1996, Flavio and his friend Delson de Queiroz released the first climbing guide of Rio, The Guide to Climbing at Urca (Guia de Escaladas da Urca), in which they mapped 180 routes in the Sugarloaf area. Today this guide is in its sixth edition and includes 350 routes.
In 1998, while climbing with friends, he met Cintia Aquino, a climber from Curitiba. A year later, Cintia moved to Rio de Janeiro and they got married.
In 2000, Flavio Daflon and a group of climbing guides founded the Aguiperj, which certifies professionals climbing guides and instructors in Rio de Janeiro. Flavio was the Technical Director of this association.
In 2004, Flavio and Delson released a second guide, the Tijuca Forest Climbing Guide (Guia de Escaladas da Floresta). This guide maps 235 routes in the Corcovado, Pedra da Gávea and Pico da Tijuca mountains and surrounding area of Rio de Janeiro. The second edition currently includes 360 routes.
In 2007, Flavio and Cintia Daflon created the Guide to Better and Safer Climbing (Escale Melhor e com Mais Segurança), which is based on the manuals used in the Companhia da Escalada climbing courses. This book (352 pages) has been used by various other climbing courses in Brazil.
Flavio and Cintia have also worked as editors of a local climbing magazine, Fator2, for 10 years, and recently published another two books: Guia de Escaladas de Itacoatiara and 50 classic routes in Brazil.
Flavio Daflon has never stopped searching for challenges and experiences in the mountains. He is a well-rounded climber that climbs from boulders to big walls and alpine routes. His climbing curriculum includes difficult routes such as the first repetition of Place of Happiness, at Pedra Riscada (Minas Gerais), and Franco-Brasileira, at Pedra do Sino (Teresópolis). He has been climbing in Europe, United States, Mexico, Thailand, Jordan, and has visited Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia eight times, where he climbed the North and Central Towers of Torres del Paine and did a first ascent on the Fitz Roy in 2013. This ascent was listed on the Piolet D’Or 2013, the highest prize in world mountaineering.
He has also climbed 6,000 meter peaks in Bolivia (including Huayna Potosí via Francesa in one day in 1996) and Equador. In sport climbing, Flavio has on-sighted 5.12a and 5.12b routes and redpointed up to 5.13b routes. Whenever possible, Cintia has always accompanied him.
Flavio and Cintia have continued to give classes and the company has grown. The school currently has more instructors, each one was selected for his professionalism, didatic and patience. All of the courses content and instruction are closely supervised by Flavio and Cintia Daflon.
Since 1995, more than 2,000 students have taken the Companhia da Escalada courses. The same number of Brazilian and international climbers have been guided by the Companhia da Escalada in the mountains. Companhia da Escalada is currently the largest and oldest climbing school active in Rio de Janeiro.
Companhia da Escalada guides and instructors:
Flavio Daflon, climber since 1989
André Kuhner, climber since 1987
Luiz Armando, climber since 1998
David Ribeiro, climber since 2003
Victor Gonzalez, climber since 2003
Flavio Leone, climber since 1994