Cerro Fitz Roy, Various Activity. The classic Franco-Argentine Route appears to have had just one ascent, by Philippe Wheelock and Brad McMillon (U.S.), with Markus Pucher (Austria), on December 2, 2000. El Corazon on Fitz Roy’s east face was attempted by a large team composed of Steve Bechtel, Justin Bowersock, Ty Mack, Peter Malamo, Bobby Model, and Mike Lilygren (U.S.). They arrived in the area in early December with the intention of attempting a free ascent, but iced-up cracks and bad weather forced them to desist after fixing the first seven pitches. Later in the season, a team of four Swiss climbers from the Ticino region attempted the route as well, fixing 15 pitches before giving up.

Italians Fabio Leoni, Rolando Larcher, and Elio Orlandi attempted a new route just right of El Corazon, following a line that had been previously attempted by a large team of Japanese climbers led by Tsuneo Hasegawa in early 1982. Continuous bad weather forced the Italians to desist after climbing 500 meters, two pitches higher than the Japanese high point. Leoni, Larcher, and Orlandi spent eight days on the wall, using portaledges on their final attempt. Sometime in March, John Bragg (U.S.) attempted to solo the Supercanaleta route, but iced-up conditions forced him to retreat from the base of the Bloque Empotrado. This was his second attempt to solo this route. His previous was in 1978.

Rolando Garibotti, Club Andino Bariloche