| 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!
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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 -
Photographs / Videos
Writing -
Interviews / Forums -
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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.
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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 -
Photographs / Videos -
Writing -
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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).
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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.
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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.
|
Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perito Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
|
|
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.
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Full trip planning information and more...
- El Calafate town guide
- El Chalten town guide
- Day trips to the Perit
- o Moreno Glacier
- 16 treks below Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre
- Trek / traverse the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap
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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 -
Photographs / Videos -
Writing / Forums -
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.
Reference sources
- 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
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