In the first week of December, Scott Bennett and I took advantage of a short, windy weather window. Looking for a sheltered and manageable daylong objective, we opted for a beautiful line of splitter cracks that Scott had spied on the west face of...
In February 2014, Ryo Masumoto, Yusuke Sato, and I hiked into the Pollone Massif, hoping to open some new routes.Our first route followed the most obvious crack on the west face of Aguja Tito Carrasco, which is very steep, and varied in size from ...
On January 22, 2014, Drew Smith and I climbed the east face of an unclimbed tower on the west side of the Pollone massif, just north of Aguja Tito Carrasco. After climbing an approach couloir, we navigated two pitches of ice and snow up a ramp (75...
After forcing about eight days of relaxed living, the Patagonian wind gave Dave Macleod and I a promising weather window. We bivied at Piedra Negra, intending to climb Aguja Mermoz’s east face by either Vol de Nuit (Andy Parkin, solo) or a new lin...
Two thousand feet above the glacier, and moments before the screaming started, I felt the ice give way under my foot. I saw, as if from a distance, that my leg was swinging backward into space the way climbers’ feet do in videos, with ropes clippe...
The 2013–2014 season was relatively cold and wintry compared with recent years, and many climbers focused on ice and traditional alpine routes more than pure rock climbs. This resulted in first ascents of interesting summits and a number of attrac...
After looking for a partner for days, I made the decision of going on a solo trip to climb the unnamed Peak 1,960m, which I had seen on a previous expedition. The peak is located on the north side of the Rio Leones, west of Claro River. A few loca...
It all started with a mistake, as some things do. I was with my friend James Stover, somewhere near the summit of the Mooses Tooth. We had just finished the last of our food: a little can of Vienna sausages. I was cold from nearly 24 hours on th...
Yep, right there in the desert, just a two-hour drive from my house located outside of Chile Chico in northern Chilean Patagonia is Wyoming’s Devils Tower on steroids: La Pirámide. The massive cliff hosts route potential up to 700’ and is a great ...
Marco Poblete and Harry Brito (both from Chile) climbed a new route, La Via de los Seracs (5.9 60°), on an unnamed peak in the Aysén Region of Chilean Patagonia, which they called Hama (ca 2,400m). The peak is located near the Miller River valley ...
On October 27, Felipe Cancino and I, both Chileans, made the first ascent of the northeast face of Cerro Peñón (2,424m), the second-highest peak in the Castillo Range, which is located south of Coyhaique. This prominent peak was first climbed by i...
Paul McSorley initially told me about the Turbio Valley in the summer of 2008, after seeing a photo of Cerro Mariposa in the refugio at Aguja Frey near Bariloche. “Where’s that?” he inquired. Nobody would tell him. However, blessed with fluent Spa...
In February, Cooper Varney, Elise Maillot, Laure Batoz, Caroline North, and Nick Heyward established a new route in El Antifeatro on Pared del Tiempo. The 8-pitch route, comprised of splitter cracks and roofs, was eventually free-climbed by Chris ...
After a month of fighting cold weather in El Chaltén, my partners, Kivik Francois and Olivier Zintz (both from Belgium), and I decided to head north to the sunny granite walls of Cochamó. On January 11 we climbed a new line ground-up on Cerro Lagu...
After opening El Filo la Aleta de Tiburon (see previous report), I was set on finding a cleaner and harder route, full of splitter cracks. Near the back of El Anfiteatro, up a gully, was an amazing-looking buttress, still untouched. I was in need ...
In January 2014, Florian Haenel (Germany), Austin Siadak (USA), and I made the first ascent of an unclimbed feature left of Pared del Tiempo. (At first, it appears to be part of Pared del Tiempo, but it is separate from that wall.) The lower part ...
This season I hoped to complete a first ascent on one of the most impressive and beautiful walls in Cochamó, the west face of Cerro Capicúa. I’d chosen a line in the middle of the wall, following a very steep headwall. Trying to free as much as po...
In late January 2014, Chris Moore, Katie Ryan, Cooper Varney, and I began to porter our gear across the strenuous 13km approach from La Junta to the base of El Monstruo. We set our eyes on a direct and sustained line on the east face, to the right...
I’ve spent 10 seasons of my life climbing in the awesome big-wall destination of Cochamó Valley, and the devouring finger crack of my new route Doña Debora de Dedos (450m, 5.12b) is the best I’ve ever climbed. Others who have repeated it agreed an...
On January 7, 2013, Drew Smith and I walked into Cochamó Valley with 160 pounds of food, climbing gear for any situation, and the intentions of having an adventure. After a week of climbing some established routes, we decided to explore the 1,000m...