Starting in late October, the French climbers Laurent Bibolet, Antoine Cayrol, Emmanuel Chance, Merhal Desay, Gaylord Dugué, Julien Ravanello, and David Vigouroux made a 26-day expedition to the Cordillera de Darwin. Using the sailboat Podorange as a base, they moved from west to east along the range and made a number of ascents. A total of six days of good weather prevented many would-be climbing opportunities.

Starting from Fiordo De Agostini on the northwest side of the range, they made two significant ascents. On October 28, Cayrol and Dugué ascended the south face of an unnamed 1,036m peak located west along the ridgeline from Monte Buckland (1,746m): the South Face Direct (500m, TD WI4 M5). On October 29, Chance, Desay, Bibolet, Ravanello, and Vigouroux made the first ascent of Cerro Garcia (1,244m), located southwest of Monte Buckland, calling their route on the south side Sky Fish (600m, TD M5). Both routes involved considerable snow, ice, and mixed climbing. The climbers rappelled both routes.

Further to the east, the climbers entered Fiordo Parry. On the west side of the fjord’s inlet and across from Bahía Blanca, they made an ascent of Cerro 1,123m by easy terrain. They also made an unsuccessful attempt to climb the north face of Cerro Selk’nam (1,837m), with two bivouacs to reach the base.

Lastly, further to the south, the climbers visited the zone near Monte Darwin (2,261m), accessing it from Brazo Pia Este off the Beagle Channel. They then traveled to the far southeastern part of the range to reach Bahía Yendegaia, where Dugue and Vigouroux ascended Cerro Serka (1,366m), the westernmost 1,300m peak in the Cerros Pirámides chain (AD, 50° IV), and then traversed the five summits to the south of Cerros Pirámides.

– Erik Rieger, with information from David Vigouroux, France