At 4 a.m. on August 10, Gregg Beisly and I set off to add another route to Pico Italia’s east face, of which we made the first ascent in 2012 (AAJ 2013). We were keen to find an easier line leading directly to the summit. After wading two hours through waist-deep snow, we started climbing 800m north of our previous route.

In fact the new route proved to be harder and longer than our 2012 line. Although the hardest pitch was only about F6a, the route was generally steeper and more complicated, and we didn’t fix any pitches. The climbing was superb, absorbing, and with generally good protection, but challenged by navigational difficulties around a series of false summits and overhanging sections. We completed the 600m route in 12 sustained pitches and 17 hours, thankfully finding a straightforward descent along the ridge to the col between Huayna Potosi? and Pico Italia, then down the glacier. We christened the route Arthritis, as I struggled with a significant flare-up of a longstanding arthritis condition affecting my right hand, which added considerably to the challenge and burden of the climb. The overall grade is TD+/ED

Prior to this, on August 5, we made what was possibly the first complete traverse of the three Milluni peaks (highest summit 5,500m) in seven hours—a classic traverse with nothing desperate.

Erik Monasterio, New Zealand