CUETZALAN, MEXICO — Ricardo García kneels before the towering tree in the middle of town and, like his brothers and father before him, prepares for a journey taking him 100 feet up and 2,500 years into the past. He places one foot on a wooden step nailed into the spine of the tree trunk shorn of branches. At the top, almost parallel with the bells of the church tower, he sits alongside three other voladores — fliers — on a square frame mounted on the pole. Ricardo, 25, has been making this climb since he was 15 and his chest “cold” with nerves. Now, he sits with his legs dangling, taking in the church’s spire, the tiny spectators below, the cluster of houses giving way to central Mexico’s lush green mountains.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 25, 2023 14:21 UTC