Artesonraju, Southwest Face, Variation

South America, Peru, Cordillera Blanca
Author: Sergio Ramírez Carrascal, Peru . Climb Year: 2010. Publication Year: 2011.

On June 13, Michael Sanchez Adams (Chile) made a probable new variation (900m, D+ 70-80° M1/M2), solo, to the classic Southwest Face route. He began at 3 a.m., believing that he was on the classic route but he actually was farther right, on the rock band where there are no known routes. He climbed a 350m 70-75° couloir to reach a rock ridge with hard snow and pitches M1/M2. Then, at 5:30 a.m., he traversed left under the characteristic hanging serac. In the final difficult (80°) section he self-belayed 45m, 50m, and 60m pitches. Finally he reached the summit (6,025m) at 3 p.m. and began the long descent.