By the early 20th century, many international mountaineers had visited Rio to attempt summiting Dedo de Deus—and all had failed. According to Nobre, a few German climbers visited a bar in Teresópolis to drink away their frustrations after one of these failed attempts. A few drinks in, the story goes, the team loudly declared that Dedo de Deus was simply unclimbable. Upon hearing this, five Brazilian friends at the bar that night decided to prove him wrong.
They had neither the expertise nor the equipment of a professional climbing team, but they did have knowledge of local seasons and weather patterns, plus an intimate familiarity with the country’s unique geography. They noticed that the German team’s biggest mistake, for example, was seasonal: it rains every day during the summer. Their leader, José Teixeira Guimarães, was also a hunter, thus privy to the secrets of Brazil’s dense forests.
They struck out near the end of fall, with the weather suitable and dry enough for the task, carrying tree branches as walking sticks. According to Nobre, at times they had to form human pyramids to scale certain features. Eventually, they succeeded, reaching the top of Dedo de Deus before planting a Brazilian flag on its peak. “The Conquest of Dedo de Deus,” as it came to be known, held much symbolic weight for a country that had only become a republic 23 years prior.
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The feat was praised around the country and immediately drew other ambitious climbers. In 1919, the Centro Excursionista Brasileiro, the
country’s first mountaineering club, was formed to curry interest in the burgeoning national sport. If Luiza de Freitas Caracciolo was any indication—the first woman to climb Dedo de Deus in 1933 at the age of 19—the club was a success.
As Brazilian outdoor enthusiasts braved farther into the backcountry, scientists saw an opportunity. The work of any mountaineer—to access the inaccessible—could also allow biologists and botanists to study previously inaccessible types of flora and fauna, thus expanding taxonomic understanding and conservation research. According to Nobre, scientists began tasking climbers with the collection and documentation of various mountain specimens.
In time, collecting data even became a source of pride for climbers, according to Nobre. He says that in some cases, only experienced mountaineers were able to access certain plants, like orchids and bromeliads, which tend to grow on the walls of hard-to-reach rock features. Faraway peaks were also home to an array of endemic plants—species that only exist in one location. “A lot of endemic species are located in the big walls or mountaintops, places that have particular climates, with certain humidities and temperatures,” says environmental engineer and longtime climber Ricardo Mello. “This is part of the reason why climbers are so important.” He adds that plants like Spanish moss found high in these mountains are also of particular interest for being bioindicators of pollution.
The red-legged seriema—photographed here by Mello in Serra dos Órgãos—is known to eat venomous snakes and reach land speeds of up to 40 m.p.h. Credit: Courtesy of Ricardo Mello.
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The curious minds behind Manual do Mundo join local experts on a five-mile hike through Brazil’s dense Atlantic Forest, examining giant free ferns, carnivorous plants, and venomous vipers before scrambling into Gruta Casa de Pedra—the largest cave-mouth on the planet.
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is Dedo de Deus, another striking and remote geological formation. As the birthplace of Brazilian mountaineering, however, “God’s Finger” had an unexpected impact on national conservation—read on to learn more.
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The Serra dos Órgãos mountain range overlooking the city of Teresópolis. Credit: Shooterb9.
Dawn in the Serra dos Órgãos mountain chain. Credit: Carlos Perez Couto.
As a result of this mountaineer–scientist collaboration, the gradual exploration of Dedo de Deus’ surrounding mountains led to the creation and protection of the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos (PARNASO) in 1939—the third national park in Brazil’s history. “The establishment of the Park represents an important milestone in the history of Brazilian conservation and the goal of protecting the [region’s] exceptional landscape and biodiversity,” says Marco Campos, head of PARNASO.
Still, due to centuries of logging, sugarcane farming, and urbanization, today only 7 percent of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest vegetation remains. PARNASO’s job then, according to Campos, is to preserve what’s left. “It houses over 2,800 species of plants, 462 birds, 105 mammals, 103 amphibians, and 83 reptiles, including 130 animals that are under the threat of extinction, and many endemic species,” he adds—posing an altogether new hill to climb.
he red-legged seriema—photographed here by Mello in Serra dos Órgãos—is known to eat venomous snakes and reach land speeds of up to 40 m.p.h. Credit: Courtesy of Ricardo Mello.
While it may not literally be God’s Finger, this geological wonder has had the unexpected effect of preserving and therefore creating life, thanks to an ambitious group of young men eavesdropping in a bar.
For his part, Nobre has summited Dedo de Deus himself several times, but at this point he no longer does it for himself. “The coolest thing [for me] is to take someone else up there for their first time,” he says. The sheer physical effort through ever-thinning air, ascending a divine landscape to a place of serene quietude seems to invite each new climber to revisit their relationship with the natural world. “No matter how many times one goes up there,” he says, “it’s always a new feeling.”
Bromeliads tend to grow in especially hard-to-reach cliff faces. Credit: Guilherme Haruo.
Dawn in the Serra dos Órgãos mountain chain.
Credit: Carlos Perez Couto
Brazil is such a beautiful country that Brazilians only half-jokingly believe God is Brazilian. And while several countries have laid claim to “God’s Finger” in one geological oddity or another, perhaps the most striking—and consequential—is found 50 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.
Dedo de Deus, or “God’s Finger,” sits within the Serra dos Órgãos mountain chain near the city of Teresópolis. It’s a thin, jagged appendage of granitic mountain pointing 5,500 feet into the warm, coastal air, much like the index finger of some enormous earthen deity. As Leandro Nobre puts it, “Nepal has Everest, Argentina has Aconcagua, and Brazil has Dedo de Deus.” Nobre is a lifelong climber and president of the Center for Excursions Teresopolis, a group that provides mountaineering resources and training in Rio’s Atlantic Forest region.
Biblical aspirations and geological grandeur aside, Dedo de Deus is notable for more tangible ramifications as well. Dedo de Deus is the birthplace of mountaineering in Brazil, a sport that would eventually grant scientists access to previously unexplored pockets of nature and pave the way for lasting conservation efforts. According to Nobre, it all started at a bar in 1912.
This geological oddity encouraged an unexpected collaboration between extreme athletes and scientists. Credit: Pintai Suchachaisri/Getty.
The allure of a striking geological oddity came to spark an unexpected collaboration in the name of science.
By Chris Goldenbaum
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