Mountain climbing - Los Glaciares National Park

WORK IN PROGRESS - JULY 2009

First ascent information paraphrased with the permission of UK Mountain Info, American Alpine Journal, Alpinist magazine and The Mountaineers. Reproduced here online. Credit and many thanks are due to Rolando Garibotti for his help in its original preparation. Full bibliography here.

Illustration by Gary Porter, from an original photograph by Bean Bowers

a - Cerro Torre, claimed first ascent in 1959
b - 1970 ‘Compressor’ route
c - Torre Egger - 1975 first ascent
d - Cerro Standhardt - 1988 first ascent

Cerro Torre

1. First ascent of Cerro Torre
2. Other routes
3. Further information

1. First ascent of Cerro Torre

In 1958, two groups attempted to make the first ascent of Cerro Torre. The Italian alpinist, Walter Bonatti, describes in his autobiography ‘On the Heights’ how he and fellow Italian Carlo Mauri, joined an Italian/Argentine expedition that was forced to attempt the west face, reached only after a 40 km approach march over the ice cap, after an all-Italian expedition turned up at the same time and attempted the peak from the easier to reach east side. Neither party had any success.

Bonatti and Mauri gained no further than the icy col between Cerro Adela and Cerro Torre, which they christened the Col of Hope, and the Italians’ expedition leader, Bruno Detassis, simply banned attempts, for his group’s safety, after he saw Cerro Torre first appear out of the cloud.

The arrival of Cesare Maestri

One year later, in 1959, Walter Bonatti was packed and ready to leave again for Patagonia when he received news that one of Detassis’ men, Cesare Maestri, was in the Fitz Roy region and making another attempt on Cerro Torre. He decided to stay at home. Maestri’s account of his 1959 climb has gone down in mountaineering history. He claims that, after ten days of continuous storms, he, fellow Italian Cesarino Fava and Austrian ice climber Toni Egger travelled up the Torre Glacier and climbed 700 m up the East face of Cerro Torre to reach a huge notch they proclaimed the Col of Conquest. Fava then returned to camp and left Maestri and Egger to continue the next day, up the steep north ridge.

Whether it is true they reached the col or not has since been the subject of much debate. The evidence apparently dictates otherwise. What is known is that six days after he said he descended from the col, Fava found Maestri alone and delirious, lying half-buried in the snow at the foot of the East face. Babbling, Maestri spoke of a great avalanche that had swept the face, killing poor Toni Egger as the pair descended from the mountain. They were returning triumphant, Maestri said, having been the first persons to stand atop the summit of the mighty Cerro Torre.

Maestri’s account of their success was feted around the world. He received a hero’s welcome on his return to Italy. The French mountaineer, Lionel Terray, one of the first ascentionists of Monte Fitz Roy in 1952, went so far as to call it ‘the greatest mountaineering feat of all time’. If true, Maestri and Egger had indeed completed a spectacular climb, a visionary ascent way ahead of its time and probably the finest ascent of the 20th Century.

First doubts

In November 1968, a team of highly experienced British climbers, including future Everest summiteer Dougal Haston, enlisted the help of ace Argentine climber Jose Luis Fonrouge for an attempt on Cerro Torre’s South East ridge. Bad weather hampered the expedition throughout. The group managed to climb within 400 metres of the summit before they returned to base camp for more equipment. A major storm saw them stuck for 37 days in base camp and when they returned to the mountain their fixed ropes had been destroyed by the wind. Defeated, the British returned home and, when asked, expressed doubts about Maestri’s ascent, compared to the time it had taken them to climb their route, the terrain they could see on the East Face, and the ferocity of the Patagonian weather.

In 1969, Carlo Mauri added fuel to the fire when he made another attempt on the west face and sent out a telegram in which he inferred that Cerro Torre remained unclimbed. This was picked by the Italian press and the resultant exposure led Ken Wilson, the editor of the British climbing magazine, Mountain, to investigate Cesare Maestri’s claims in more detail. Finding Maestri extremely reluctant to discuss in detail the nature of the climbing he encountered on the ascent, Wilson started a concentrated commentary on the 1959 climb, of the firm belief that the account as published was not truthful, raising eyebrows in the mountaineering world, which had up until then operated very much on ‘a man’s word is his bond’ principle.

A mountain desecrated

Angered by the slur on his character, Maestri returned with a team to Cerro Torre in 1970. Rather than silencing his critics by repeating his visionary, alpine-style ascent of the north ridge, Maestri employed a team and sieged the mountain from the east, forcing a route up the South East ridge and drilling over 400 bolts with the aid of a gasoline- powered air compressor drill. Bad weather stopped their first attempt 350 m below the summit but Maestri was not to be defeated and he returned later in the year and drilled a final bolt ‘ladder’ up the headwall to stand just below the final 20 m high summit ice mushroom. On his return, he announced once again that he had reached the summit, claiming the mushroom was not part of the mountain and would fall down some day. He also destroyed many of the bolts he had placed in the headwall to prove the compressor drill was necessary for the route of ascent and to prevent the bolts being used by other climbers attempting the mountain.

(Known today as the ‘Compressor route’, the South-East ridge is the most popular way to climb Cerro Torre. The compressor itself is still on the mountain. About the size of a small table, it hangs from bolts that Maestri drilled nearly all the way up the middle of the headwall. It is often used by today’s climbers as a belay stance.)

The condemnation of Maestri’s actions from the climbing world was more or less immediate; the sheer amount of bolts Maestri used for the ascent and the manner in which they were placed creating much anger and condemnation amongst mountain purists. It was also suggested that he couldn’t claim it as an ascent as he didn’t climb to the very top of the mountain. In the UK, Ken Wilson published a damning article in Mountain magazine, claiming ‘the rape’ of Cerro Torre and declaring it a “mountain desecrated”. Maestri responded by comparing his doubters to fascists for telling him he must only climb a mountain in a certain way but the style he went about climbing Cerro Torre in 1970 went so far against the climbing ethics of the day that it made his corner almost impossible to defend. More than anything, the complete contrast with his 1959 account —which was seen as light years ahead of its time— and the lack of proof he could show for that climb, forced upon people the general opinion that the true summit of Cerro Torre (i.e. the top of the ice mushroom) still remained untouched by human presence.

The over-riding factor for Maestri’s detractors over the years was the inability of the world’s top alpinists (most notably Austrians Toni Ponholzer and Tommy Bonapace and the Italian Ermanno Salvaterra) who, with vastly superior technique and using much more modern equipment, had consistently failed to repeat the line that Maestri claims he and Egger took up the north ridge. Added to Maestri’s apparent denial to answer any questions raised about his 1959 climb and the inaccuracies raised by other climbers’ accounts —including an Italian team who “went as far as rappelling 50 metres straight down the north ridge … and made several pendulums in hopes of finding something…” (‘A Mountain Unveiled’, Rolando Garibotti, American Alpine Journal 2004) — it lends credence to the many people who regard another Italian team, from the Ragni di Lecco, led by the great Casimiro Ferrari, as being the first persons to stand on top of Cerro Torre on 13 January 1974, by way of a continuation of Bonatti and Mauri’s original route up the west face. The other members of the successful summit party were Mario Conti, Daniel Chiappa and Pino Negri.

Toni Egger

In 1975, British climber Mick Coffey, on an attempt of Cerro Standhardt with American climber Jim Donini and fellow Brits, Ben Campbell-Kelly and Brian Wyvill, found the gruesome remains of Toni Egger sticking out the glacier. His corpse had travelled a simple one and a half miles since its disappearance fifteen years earlier from the East face of Cerro Torre. An elusive camera, which Maestri claimed would provide proof of his 1959 ascent, was unfortunately not to be found. Donini returned to Patagonia in 1976 when he joined up with fellow Americans, John Bragg and the late Jay Wilson, to make the first ascent of Torre Egger, by its south face. The bottom part of their route started up the East Face of Cerro Torre and goes over a snow patch where Maestri claimed an avalanche took the life of Toni Egger. Although they found proof of the Maestri/Egger route on ground below this snow patch, the Americans saw no evidence of further passage and disputed the nature of the terrain that Maestri described above it. When they later published these findings, it fuelled yet more fire to the uncertainties surrounding Maestri’s claim.

Despite the arguments that have abounded over the years, there are some notable mountaineers, including Swiss Thomas Ulrich —in his 2001 film, 'Cerro Torre', about an attempt on Maestri’s claimed route up the north ridge— who believe that Maestri and Egger, with their expert rock and ice skills, would have been able to make the first ascent in 1959. The most authoritative account of all things written about the events of that year appears to be published in 'A Mountain Unveiled' (see above), in the American Alpine Journal 2004, in an article written by Argentine climber, Rolando Garibotti. A chronicler of Patagonian climbing for mountaineering publications throughout the world, Garibotti has huge experience of climbing in the region and with his skills in interviewing related parties and translating previously unpublished documents he has presented a comprehensive argument against Maestri’s claim.

In October 2005, Garibotti, and Italians Ermanno Salvaterra and Alessandro Beltrami, became the first persons to summit, without question, Cerro Torre from the Col of Conquest. Their route, El Arca del los Vientos, too found no evidence of Maestri’s ascent. In February 2006, Cesare Maestri —then 76 years old— repeated through his lawyer that he and Toni Egger had made the first ascent of Cerro Torre. He regarded Salvaterra’s, Beltrami’s and Garibotti’s route as simply following his and Egger’s route to the summit in 1959.

As the surviving climber from up high on the 1959 expedition, Cesare Maestri is of course the only person who knows the truth of his and Toni Egger’s days on Cerro Torre in 1959. Judging by his previous exploits in the Italian Dolomites, and Egger’s expert ice skills, it is thought the two were capable of climbing the mountain. Others however who have covered the same ground as that claimed by Maestri have raised large inconsistencies in his route descriptions. And no evidence of the climb, above a reasonable height, has ever been found. As a result, the arguments about whether or not Maestri and Egger were succesful in climbing Cerro Torre in 1959 sadly seem to show no signs of abating, over 50 years on.

Update - In 2007, Americans Josh Wharton and Zack Smith intimated they would chop Maestri's bolts if they managed a boltless attempt on the Compressor route. This encouraged a public debate in El Chalten, where local guides and visiting climbers voted the bolts should be left where they are.

Bio, Ermanno Salvaterra - A 51-year old mountain guide from the Trento region in Italy, Salvaterra has made over 20 expeditions to the Fitz Roy region in Patagonia, during which he has climbed Cerro Torre via its East, South and North faces, made the first winter ascent of the mountain, in 1985, and has made many attempts at a continuous traverse of the three Torres peaks, Cerro Torre, Torre Egger and Cerro Standhardt (see below). His ascent of Cerro Torre's South face in 2004, which rises an enormous 1900m above the Torre Glacier, is especially notable for the way the group hauled a 225kg, two-tiered aluminium box on a pulley system for a shelter each night, a meagre 2cm at a time!

2. Cerro Torre - selection of routes (not exhaustive)

Main sources are UK Mountain Info, Climbing, Alpinist and the American Alpine Journal. Full bibliography here.

a. South-east ridge, 1100m
Route: Compressor route
Climbers: Cesare Maestri, Ezio Alimonta, Carlo Claus
Year: 1970
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Comments: Controversial first ascent - see above. Second ascent by Jim Bridwell and Steve Brewer in 1979. Solo ascents by Marco Pedrini in 1985, Athol Whimp in 1994 and Aaron Martin in 2005, all from Col of Patience. Alternative starts include the Slovenian 'sit-down start' (Andrej Grmovsek and Silvo Karo) in 2005 and via El Mochito and El Mocho (Dean Potter, Stephen Koch and Marco Prezelj) in 2006. Potter planned on base jumping from the summit, a feat realised in 2009 by Valery Rozov from Russia, lower down the mountain.

b. West face
Route: Ferrari route
Climbers: Casimiro Ferrari, Mario Conti, Daniel Chiappa, Pino Negri (to summit)
Year: 1974
Access: Paso Marconi or Paso del Viento
Comments: Often acknowledged first ascent of Cerro Torre. 2nd ascent in 1992 by Jon Krakauer and Dan Kauthorn. First winter ascent in 1999 by Gregory Crouch, Thomas Ulrich, Stefan Siegriest, David Fasel. Solo climbed by Walter Hungerbühler from Switzerland in 2008.

c .South flank
Route: A la Recherche du Temps Perdu
Climbers: Andy Parkin and Francois Marsigny
Year: 1994
Access: Laguna Torre
Comments: Climbed to Col of Hope then retreated in bad weather short of summit. Pair abseiled onto ice cap via Circos de los Altares then starved during 80km walk back to camp. Awarded Piolet d’Or. Route repeated and continued to summit (via Ferrari route) by Kelly Cordes and Colin Haley in 2007.

d. North-west ridge
Route: El Arca de los Vientos
Climbers: Rolando Garibotti, Ermanno Salvaterra, Alessandro Beltrami
Year: 2006
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Comments: First undisputed ascent of the route Cesare Maestri claimed to ascend to the summit in 1959. Salvaterra's fifth summit of Cerro Torre.

e. South face
Route: Infinito Sud
Climbers: Ermanno Salvaterra, Piergiorgio Vidi, Roberto Manni
Year: 2004
Access: Laguna Torre
Comments: Climbers hauled a 225kg, two-tiered aluminium box for shelter each night, 2cm at a time.

f. South face
Route: What´s love got to do with it
Climbers: Janez Jeglic, Marko Lukic, Miha Podgornik
Access: Laguna Torre
Year: 1994

g. East face
Route: Quinque anni ad Paradisum
Climbers: Ermanno Salvaterra, Alessandro Beltrami, Giacomo Rossetti
Year: 2004
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Comments: Finished via 'Compressor' route.

h. East face
Route: Devil's Direttissima
Climbers: Janez Jeglic, Silvo Karo, Francek Knez, Pavle Kozjek, Peter Podgornik, Slavc Sveticic
Year: 2004
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Comments: Finished via 'Compressor' route.

3. Cerro Torre - further information

Topos -

• www.climbinginpatagonia.freeservers.com/
• http://www.expe.com

Photographs / Videos

• Ermanno Salvaterra photo library
• Ermanno Salvaterra video library - YouTube
• Cerro Torre base jump video - YouTube
• Bruno Sourzac on Cerro Torre west face - Petzl video
• A season in Patagonia - MountainZone (Jimmy Chin, Steph Davis, et al)

Writing -

• 'A Mountain Unveiled', Rolando Garibotti, American Alpine Journal
• A season in Patagonia - MountainZone (Jimmy Chin, Steph Davis, et al)
• Kevin Thaw - Expedition reports

Interviews / Forums -

• UK Climbing interview with Rolando Garibotti
• Guardian newspaper interview with Cesare Maestri
• National Geographic interview with Cesare Maestri
• Supertopo climbing forum discussion instigated by Jim Donini

Torre Egger

1. First ascent of Torre Egger
2. Other ascents
3. More information

1. First ascent of Torre Egger

Torre Egger is the middle of the three Torres spires and the second tallest at 2,850 m. It was first attempted by a strong British team in 1974, who abandoned their attempt due to the threat of falling ice.

Gregory Crouch, in ‘Rock & Ice Goldline’, and Alan Kearney, in ‘Mountaineering in Patagonia’, both describe how, in 1975, a New Zealand expedition called off an attempt on Torre Egger’s East face after their youngest member, Phillip Herron, fell 60m into a crevasse and despite the protracted efforts of his climbing partner, died between its narrow walls.

As the New Zealand tragedy played out, the strong US team of John Bragg, Jim Donini and Jay Wilson were attempting Torre Egger’s south face. Despite the fact they had just arrived overland from Buenos Aires, the three climbers immediately took advantage of some fine weather and ferried supplies up the Torre valley to what is now the site of Campamento Agostini. With a base camp established in the woods, they continued up the Torre Glacier and moved food and equipment to a snow cave at the foot of Torre Egger. In what was to be a regular occurrence, bad weather arrived and forced them back to camp. When they were able to return, nearly two weeks later, their cave had been buried by nearly 10 m of new snowfall.

It took a further two days for them to dig out all of their equipment. Once they had done this, 700 m of steep, difficult climbing took the group to the icy notch between Cerro Torre and Torre Egger and Maestri’s proclaimed Col of Conquest was reached, perhaps for the first time (see Cerro Torre, above). Dark storm clouds greeted their arrival and, with 300 m still between them and Torre Egger’s summit, they returned to base camp to recuperate.

Three weeks later, after another attempt ended at the Col of Conquest, the determined Wilson, Donini and Bragg were back at the col for a third time. This time, they tried a different plan of attack, chopping out a ledge 100 m below the col for a ‘Whillans Box’; a tent designed by the late English climber, Don Whillans to withstand high winds and first used during the first ascent of the central tower in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park.

Above the Col of Conquest, the trio were impeded yet again by bad weather and retreated again but this time only as far as the col. Sheltered from the storm in the box tent, a game of cards calmed their nerves and the following morning they decided to ignore the weather and go for the top.

On 2 February 1976, three months after they first started, the American’s patience and determination paid off as Jay Wilson surmounted the last of the difficult climbing above the col and became the first person to reach the icy summit of Torre Egger. Bringing up Donini and Bragg, the three celebrated their success in the cold, featureless mist but didn’t stay long, fearful of being caught up high in another storm. They began their descent soon afterwards, leaving behind as proof of their passage a karabiner which Donini had found with Toni Egger’s remains the year before.

2. Torre Egger - selection of routes (not exhaustive)

Main sources are UK Mountain Info, Climbing, Alpinist and the American Alpine Journal. Full bibliography here.

a. South Face
Route: American route
Climbers: Jim Donini, Jay Wilson, John Bragg
Year: 1975
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Comments: First ascent route - see above.

b. East face
Route: Badlands
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Climbers: Conrad Anker, Jay Smith and Steve Gerberding
Year: 1994

c. East Face
Route: Slovenian route
Climbers: Silvo Karo, Janez Jeglic
Year: 1986
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac

d. East pillar
Route: Titanic
Climbers: Maurizio Giarolli, Elio Orlandi
Year: 1987
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac
Comments: Climbed by Timmy O'Neill and Nathan Martin in 2002 with a route variation - first alpine-style ascent. Climbed by Dean Potter and Steph Davis in 23 hours in 2005 - first one-day ascent.

e. South east face
Route: Psycho Vertical
Climbers: Janez Jeglic, Silvo Karo, Franc Knez
Year: 1986
Access: Laguna Torre or Norwegian bivouac

3. Torre Egger - further information

Topos -

• www.climbinginpatagonia.freeservers.com/
• http://www.expe.com

Photographs / Videos -

• Badlands ascent - Climbing: On Ice video
• Timmy O'Neill photo gallery - Torre Egger

Writing -

• Timmy O'Neill story - American Alpine Journal 2002
• High Infatuation, Steph Davis book

5. Cerro Pereyra

a. North-west ridge
Climbers: Leo Houdling, Cedar Wright, Kevin Thaw
Year: 2004
Access: Laguna Torre / Norwegian bivouac
Comments : Small spire on Cerro Torre's south-east ridge, east of the Col of Patience. Named after their late friend, Jose Luis Pereyra. Second ascent likely by Silvo Karo and Andrej Grmovsek on way to summit of Cerro Torre from Torre Glacier (see Cerro Torre, sit-down start, above).

Fitz Roy

1. First ascent of Fitz Roy
2. Second ascent of Fitz Roy
3. Ascent of north-west (Goretta) pillar
4. Other ascents
5. Further information

1. First ascent of Fitz Roy

The first mountaineers to attempt Monte Fitz Roy were from an Italian expedition in 1937. Led by Count Aldo Bonacossa, this small group climbed the glacier above Laguna de los Tres and reached a small col they called Paso Superior. From here, they found they could ascend to the Piedras Blancas glacier and from there reach another col at the foot of the south-east ridge of Monte Fitz Roy. This small notch in the skyline is known as Brecha de los Italianos, or the Italian Col.

After two attempts by Argentine parties, a group of world-class mountaineers from France arrived in 1952, inspired by photos published by the Argentine missionary, Padre Alberto de Agostini. Highly confident, the group included one of the first men to reach the summit of an 8,000 metre peak, 31-year old Lionel Terray.

Disaster struck the expedition when one of their climbers, Jacques Poincenot, drowned whilst attempting to cross the Rio Fitz Roy. Despite this, the French continued their expedition but were rewarded only with atrocious Patagonian weather, bringing with it hurricane force winds that blew them from their feet and snow blizzards that left them unable to see. But eventually their patience paid off and when the weather conditions changed they were able to forge a route back up to the base of the mountain.

At dawn on 31 January 1952, two members of the French expedition, Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone, left their snow cave on the Brecha de los Italianos and headed back across easy ground to the base of Fitz Roy’s South-East Ridge. Seeking out the line of least resistance, they spent the day making their way slowly and skilfully up increasingly difficult terrain, fixing ropes for safety as they went, before they ended the day as planned and returned to the cave for the night. It took the French pair nearly four hours the next morning to regain their high point where the difficulties increased and they were pushed to their limits in order to make further progress. One single pitch of climbing (50m) took them over five hours to surmount. As night fell they were only half-way to the summit and looking for a place to spend the night. Perched precariously high on the shoulder of the mountain, the plan was to make an attempt for the summit the next again morning.

Terray and Magnone continued early the next day, having spent an uncomfortable night out in the open. They soon had difficulty in finding a route and were forced to use crampons on iced-up rock. The arrival of strong winds and dark clouds swirling around the nearby peaks saw the more experienced Terray fearful for their safety and he advocated retreat. Anxious they would not get another chance, an enthusiastic Magnone pushed forward his reasons for wanting to go on and the pair decided to continue for just two more hours in the hope of making the summit. Finally, just as they thought they had run out of equipment to protect themselves from a fall, they ascended the last of the technical difficulties and raced to the top of a cloud-strewn Fitz Roy at 4pm on 2 February 1952, completing what was an outstanding ascent and one which reinforced the reputation of French climbing throughout the world.

Terray, an outstanding all round Alpine mountaineer, would later say in his autobiography, ‘Conquistadors of the Useless’ that his ascent of Fitz Roy was “more complex, hazardous and exhausting than anything to be found in the Alps” and the one in which he “most nearly approached my physical and moral limits.” Despite this, he still found the strength four weeks after the expedition to make an ascent of Aconcagua, at 6,962 metres the tallest peak in South America.

2. Second ascent of Fitz Roy - Supercanaleta

In January 1965, two Argentine climbers, 22-year old Jose-Luis Fonrouge and 24-year old Carlos Comesana, made the second ascent of Monte Fitz Roy, via the Supercanaleta, or Super Couloir. A huge gash splitting Fitz Roy’s remote west face, the Supercanaleta is a difficult and dangerous route up the mountain, exposed to any bad weather sweeping in from the ice cap and frequently peppered by rockfall. Its attraction is its straightforwardness; 1700 m of couloir takes a climber from bottom to almost top.

Gregory Crouch, in 'Enduring Patagonia', and Alan Kearney, in 'Mountaineering in Patagonia', both write how Fonrouge and Comesana intended to make a lightweight, 2-3 day attempt on the mountain, boldly relying on the short gaps of good weather between storms to help them climb. This committing style of climbing, dubbed alpine-style by today's climbers, was in vast contrast to the huge, monthslong expeditions prevalent of the time. It had great potential for things to go wrong but the Argentine pair had proven their style worked however when, only two days earlier, they had made the first ascent of Fitz Roy’s neighbouring peak, 2,579 m Aguja Guillaumet, in a rapid, 2 day push.

The pair’s confidence from this ascent was merited when they also stood atop Monte Fitz Roy, at 7 pm on 16 January 1965. Thirteen years had passed since the mountain's first ascent. With only faint wisps of clouds in the distance, Fonrouge and Comesana spent an hour on top before they planted an Argentine flag and began their descent back into the couloir. With no lines of fixed rope attached to the wall to help them on the descent —a feature of the big, multi-walled expeditions of the past— Comesana and Fonrouge knew that they were not home and dry yet. This was hammered home to them when the weather turned during their final night and a malevolant Patagonian storm saw them spending the day dodging snow, ice and rocks that the couloir funnelled directly on top of them. High winds bouncing around the constricted walls of the couloir made it difficult for them to abseil and, finally forced to cut the rope and leave equipment behind, the nerve-frazzled pair eventually solo down-climbed the final 400 m of the couloir to reach the Fitz Roy Glacier. Once on flatter ground, they fled back to the safety of their base camp, counting how lucky they were as the storm they just missed continued to rage around Monte Fitz Roy for six consecutive weeks.

Today, climbers have ascended the Supercanaleta in a matter of hours; the quickest probably being the first solo ascent in January 2004 by American climber, Dean Potter, who reached the summit in a remarkable 6 h 29 m before he descended the same day to Campamento Poincenot, on the other side of the mountain. Potter also reached the summit of Cerro Torre in the same month, making the third solo ascent of the mountain in a remarkable eleven hours from glacier to summit (most parties take two days). A highly experienced Patagonia climber, Potter became the first person to base jump these mountains when he leapt from Torre’s stunted neighbour, El Mocho, in January 2005, landing 400 m away on the Torre Glacier.

3. The ascent of Fitz Roy's Goretta Pillar

A summary of the ascent of the giant north-west pillar of Fitz Roy by Italian climber, Renatto Casarotto.

Once the summit of Fitz Roy was reached in 1952, the focus for climbers soon moved to other features of the mountain. The big, thick index-finger of granite you see attached to the northern shoulder of Fitz Roy is known as the Goretta Pillar. It is nearly 700 metres high.

The pillar had never been climbed before when Italian climber Renatto Casarotto made his way solo up the steep, cracked granite over the Summer of 1979. Progress was slow, with each section of rock having to be climbed twice; first for Casarotto to find the way then he abseiled back down and climbed it again so he could re-use his equipment for the following pitch.

After many aborted attempts due to the weather, and a final two consecutive nights out sleeping on the mountain, Casarotto reached the summit alone late in the afternoon on 19 January 1979. Completing what he classed as his “quest for adventure”, he named the pillar after his wife, Goretta, who had supported him throughout from a base camp in the valley.

4. Fitz Roy - selection of routes (not exhaustive)

Main sources are UK Mountain Info, Climbing, Alpinist and the American Alpine Journal. Full bibliography here.

a. South-east ridge, 650m
Route: French route
Climbers: Lionel Terray, Guido Magnone
Year: 1952
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: First route of ascent - see above.

b. South-east ridge
Route: Franco-Argentine
Climbers: Alberto Bendinger, Marcos Couch, Peter Friedrich, Eduardo Benner
Year: 1984
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: French route straightened out. Said to be the most common route of ascent. Also first solo ascent, by Japanese climber Miyazaki Motohiko, in 1994.

c. South-west ridge
Route: Californian route
Climbers: Yvon Chouinard, Dick Darworth, Lito Tejada-Flores, Doug Tompkins, Chris Jones
Year: 1968
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: Chouinard spent three weeks in a snowcave nursing an injury. Route of first woman to summit Fitz Roy, Romy Druschke, with her husband and a friend in 1978.

d. South-west face
Route: Canadian route
Climbers: Jon Walsh, Paul McSorley
Year: 2005
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior

d. West South-West face
Route: California Roulette
Climbers: Dean Potter
Year: 2002
Access: Laguna Torre, Polish bivvy
Comments: Combination of Bianchi/Frasson couloir and California route.

d. West face
Route: Supercanaleta
Climbers: Jose-Luise Fonrouge, Carlos Comesana
Year: 1965
Access: Laguna Torre / Polish bivvy / Sitting Man Ridge or Piedra del Fraile / Paso Cuadrado
Comments: See story above. Free climbed by Dean Potter, solo, in 2002.

e. North face
Route: Tehuelche
Climbers: Rolando Garibotti, Doug Byerly
Year: 1996
Access: Piedra del Fraile / Paso Cuadrado
Comments: Route originally climbed to within 100m of summit by Italian team in 1986. Variation 'The Hoser Chimney' climbed by Freddie Wilkinson and Dana Drummond in January 2008. Original route repeated in January 2009 by Slovenians Urban Azman and Boris Lorencic.

f. North-west ridge
Route:
Climbers Jean Assanhieff
Year:

g. North-west buttress
Route: Ensueno
Climbers: Andrea Sarchi, Lorenzo Nadali, Maoro Girardi
Year: 1995
Access: Laguna Torre / Polish bivvy / Sitting Man Ridge or Piedra del Fraile / Paso Cuadrado
Comments: Route freed by Silvo Karo in 1999. Ascent in 2006 by Slovenians Rok Blagus, Tomaz Jakofcic and Miha Valic.

h. North pillar
Route: Goretta Pillar
Climbers: Renatto Casarotto
Year: 1979
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: See above. Variation by Alan Kearney and Bobby Knight in 1984. Also climbed by Marco Pedrini and Kurt Locher (not to summit) in 1985. Pedrini/Locher route finished to summit by Athol Whimp and Andrew Lindblade in 1993. Rolando Garibotti and Bean Bowers climbed new route Mate, Porro, y todo Lo de Mas on western side of pillar in 2008. First female ascent, via Kearney-Knight route, by Crystal Davis-Robbins in 2006.

i. East Face
Route: El Corazon
Climbers: Michel Pitelka, Kaspar Oschner
Year: 1992
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: Named after the heart-shaped feature high up on the face.

j. East face
Route: East pillar
Climbers: Casimiro Ferrari, Vittorio Meles
Year: 1976
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments:

k. East face
Route: Devil's Dihedral
Climbers: Silvo Karo, Janez Jeglic, Francek Knez
Year: 1983
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: Inside left edge of Goretta pillar.

l. East face
Route: Linea de Eleganza
Climbers: Lucas Fava, Horacio Codo, Elio Orlandi
Year: 2004
Access: Laguna de los Tres, Paso Superior
Comments: Climbed free by Tommy Caldwell and Topher Donahue in 2006.

m. Skyline traverse
Route: Traverse of all the peaks on the Fitz Roy skyline
Climbers: Incomplete
Access: Laguna Torre / Polish bivvy or Paso Guillaumet
Comments: Not specific attempts but skyline climbed south to north by Jonny Copp and Josh Wharton in 2005 (Aguja St Exupery to Aguja Poincenot, in 50 hours), and north to south (Aguja Guillaumet to Fitz Roy) in 2008, by Freddie Wilkinson and Dana Drummond.

5. Fitz Roy - further information

Topos -

• www.climbinginpatagonia.freeservers.com/
• http://www.expe.com

Photographs / Videos -

• TV Mountain video - Franco- Argentine route ascent - 1
• TV Mountain video - Franco- Argentine route ascent - 2
• Jean Afanassieff video - Guido Magnone - Fitz Roy first ascent
• Lauri Hämäläinen and Sampsa Jyrkynen photography - ascent of Franco-Argentine route
• Mikey Schaefer photography - ascent of California route

Writing / Forums -

• Mikey Schaefer blog - ascent of California route
• Andy Kirkpatrick website - Matthew Farrell's kit list - Supercanaleta in winter
• Colin Haley blog - Supercanaleta solo
• Camp to Camp website - Franco-Argentine route info plus gear requirements
• Freddie Wilkinson blog - trip reports 2006 and 2008 and route guide

8. Aguja Rafael (Innominata)

a.
Route:
Climbers:
Year:
Access: Laguna Torre / Polish bivvy
Comments: Named after Rafael Juarez, one of two Argentineans who died on Cerro Grande in 1974. Often still referred to as Aguja Innominata - the peak with no name.

b. East face
Route: Via sin Nombre
Climbers: Freddie Wilkinson, Taki Miyamoto, Dave Sharret, Paul Turecki
Year: 2005
Access: Laguna Torre / Polish bivvy
Comments:

c. West ridge
Route: Crouch/Donini
Climbers: Jim Donini, Gregory Crouch
Year: 1994
Access:
Comments:

'Trekking' peaks

From the book - Few peaks in the Fitz Roy region allow anyone but the most experienced climber to attain their summit. According to local mountain guides, the following peaks are the exception. Although the common terminology for such peaks is ‘trekking peaks’ —in that they do not require any overly technical rock-climbing skills on their ascent— there is no doubt they reside in the category of mountaineering. I would recommend that, due to their remoteness, the nature of the terrain and the objective dangers involved in high mountain glacial travel, that they are only attempted if you have alpine climbing experience, are very fit and capable, and are accompanied by a mountain expert.

Most of these peaks take around two to four days to complete and have difficulties around Alpine PD grade, unless noted.

Cerro Electrico 2257 m

Cerro Electrico is a mountain at the northern end of the Fitz Roy Group. According to mountain guide Merlin Lipshitz, of Mountaineering Patagonia, it has superb views of Monte Fitz Roy, Aguja Mermoz and Aguja Guillaumet. The mountain is first seen as you enter the Rio Electrico valley, where its glaciated top stands 1800m above the valley floor. Cerro Electrico was first climbed in 1932, by Padre Alberto de Agostini and Argentine Mario Deriard, during some of the first explorations of the valleys and rivers of the Fitz Roy region.

Cerro Madsen 1806m

Cerro Madsen lies to the north of Laguna de los Tres. It is an easy peak for experienced trekkers to reach and a guide will not be required by many. Skirt the eastern shores of Laguna de los Tres and climb the gradually steepening spur above the lake to reach the summit. Some scrambling is required. Depending on the season there may also be some exposed snow slopes to negotiate Be suitably experienced and prepared or plan to turn back if necessary.

Cerro Vespigniani 2146m

Cerro Vespigniani is a glaciated mountain above Lago del Desierto, 35 km from El Chalten. It offers fine views both out across the ice cap and back to the Fitz Roy region. Ski ascents are possible early in the season. The first ascent of the mountain was made by a group in 1968 that included the Italian, Cesarino Fava (see stories).

Cerro Marconi Norte 2210m, Cerro Marconi Sur 2484m and Punta Fina 1800m

As part of their version of the ‘Traverse of the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap’ expedition, the American Alpine Institute (AAI) offers ascents of Cerro Marconi Norte and Cerro Dumbo —which they call Cerro Marconi Sur— at the head of Paso Marconi. These are optional parts of the trip. The AAI also offer an ascent of a peak they call Punta Fina, which they say is a satellite peak off Aguja Guillaumet offering views from the summit of Aguja Pollone, a needle-like peak off the Fitz Roy glacier and named after the village that Padre Alberto de Agostini was raised in. According to the AAI, no technical experience is required to reach the rocky summit, which is between 1750 m and 1850 m high, but some scrambling is involved in the ascent.

Cerro Mariano Moreno

Tour operator, Adventuras Patagonicus, will take experienced ski mountaineers on an attempt of Cerro Mariano Moreno. This snow and ice peak lies 35km out on the ice cap and is named after Mariano Moreno, an Argentine writer and councilman who died in 1811. The mountain was first climbed in 1958 by a strong Italian-Argentine team —including Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri— who saved grace after they had failed to make the first ascent of Cerro Torre three days previously (see Cerro Torre ascents above).

Cerro Grande 2751m

Cerro Grande is the most southerly peak in the Cordon Adela massif. It was first climbed in 1958 and the party included the Italian, Cesare Maestri, who claimed to be the first person to climb Cerro Torre in 1959 (see above). The mountain sometimes has a cornice at the summit, making the peak more technical than other trekking peaks in this book. Local tour operator, NYCA, offers guided ascents of the mountain. Owner Billy Zaballos says for those making the summit there is ‘a fantastic view out over the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap’. For information, Billy also takes experienced climbers on guided ascents of the technical Aguja Guillaumet (Alpine grade TD).

Cerro Solo 2121m

Mountain guide Pedro Fina (pedrofin@hotmail.com) will take you up Cerro Solo, the prominent peak you can see when you step off the bus in El Chalten. Pedro says its ascent offers stupendous views of the Torre peaks and the south faces of the Fitz Roy massif. The steeply tilted glacier on the mountain’s eastern side gives the peak an ominous first impression when you arrive off the bus from El Calafate. Cerro Solo is however climbed from it’s slightly easier northern slopes, up a gully accessed from the Grande Glacier. The route does not cross onto the eastern face until much higher up where there is sometimes a huge crevasse that makes reaching the top difficult or impossible. Be prepared to turn back if necessary.

Punta Velluda 1963m

Punta Velluda is a small rocky peak just to the east of Paso Superior. The grade is given for the trek up to Paso Superior. Local guide Paulo Gallegos (payosur@yahoo.com.ar) says the peak itself is not difficult and has great views of the massive crevasses found at the head of the Piedras Blancas Glacier.

Gorra Blanca 2907m

Moving further into the realm of expedition climbing, the great snow and ice peak of Gorra Blanca dominates the area around Paso Marconi. It was first climbed in 1964 by an Argentine expedition that included the glaciologist Peter Skvarca. From the well-equipped Refugio Garcia-Soto, it will take 2-3 days to reach the snow-covered summit and return. John Biggar, of the trekking and mountaineering company, Andes, has more information on this trip in his book, ‘Andes, a Guide for Climbers’. John will also take experienced ski mountaineers on attempts to summit the volcano, Cerro Lautaro, 35 km out on the ice cap.

Cerro Huemul 2677m

Another trekking peak in the Fitz Roy region is Cerro Huemul, which lies on the southern side of the Rio Tunel valley. This peak is nearly as prominent as Monte Fitz Roy in a picture I have seen taken by glaciologist Peter Skvarca from Cerro Bertrand, out on the ice cap. It should therefore have fantastic views. Cerro Huemul is probably the first mountain to be climbed in the Fitz Roy region, by Alfredo Kolliker, Fritz Kuhn and Lutz Witte, who were part of Dr Frederick Reichert’s expedition to the ice cap in 1914 (see stories). Mountain guide Alberto del Castillo, of popular local tour operator Fitz Roy Expediciones, says that the view from the summit is ‘comparable with the view from the summit of Cerro Torre’ and that you can look ‘all the way down the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap from the Viedma Glacier to the great Upsala Glacier’ and ‘right across to the Argentine steppes’.

Loma del Diablo 1750m

An easy walking peak 25 km north of El Chalten on the road to Lago del Desierto. As with Cerro Madsen, there may be well be snow on the summit late into the Summer.

• Mountain Info, Lindsay Griffin
• World Climbing
• Alpinist magazine
• Vertical magazine
• Climbing magazine
• Rock and Ice magazine
• National Geographic magazine
• American Alpine Journal
• Planetmountain.com
• Expeditions, Andrew Lindblade
• High Infatuation, Steph Davis
• Conquest of Fitz Roy, Marc Azema
• Patagonia, Gino Buscaini & Silvia Metzeltin
• Mountaineering in Patagonia, Alan Kearney
• Los Glaciares National Park reference source, El Chalten
• Adventures in the Patagonian Andes, Roberto Hosne
• Patagonia, Images of a Wild Land, David Nielson
• Enduring Patagonia, Gregory Crouch
• Rock & Ice Goldline, Gregory Crouch
• Conquistadors of the Useless, Lionel Terray
• Mountaineering in the Andes, Jill Neate
• The Mountains of my Life, Walter Bonatti
• Andy Cave, Thin White Line
• In the Land of Mist and Fire VHS, Leo Dickinson
• Climbing: On Ice, VHS, Cliffhanger Productions
• Scream of Stone DVD, Warner Herzog
• Splitter DVD, Jonathan Copp/Russ Holcomb
• Cerro Torre DVD, Thomas Ulrich