In early November 2020, Nick Sullens of Yosemite Valley SAR and Eric Lynch, a Yosemite climbing ranger, completed the long-awaited free ascent of a new route on the Fifi Buttress in Yosemite Valley—the culmination of vision and determination by ...
COVID canceled our foreign expedition plans in 2020, so Justin Bowen lassoed me into one of his dream projects: a new route on the north face of the Grand Teton. A Jackson Hole local, Bowen had been researching the Grand for a number of years an...
Even in the 21st century, in the Central Andes of Mendoza Province there are believed to be approximately 50 unclimbed summits above 5,000m with at least 200m of prominence. One of those unnamed peaks (5,194m, 33°43'30.7"S, 69°32'47.9"W), is situa...
In October, the Torres del Paine National Park was still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We began to look at climbing objectives in the surrounding ranges. After a tip-off from local climbers who had just climbed the route Painakan (see repor...
On May 28, Aldo Coral (Ecuador), Nicolas Secul (Chile), and I ventured into the valley between Cerro Azucena and Cerro Esmeralda in the Prat Range, which is about 50km south of Torres Del Paine and 35km northwest of Puerto Natales. After battling ...
In mid-September, Damir Mandakovic, José Vial, and I, members of Club Andino Universitario, opened what may be the first route up the southern side of the southernmost 5,000m peak in Chile, the Picos del Barroso (34°17'17.2"S, 70°1'52.4"W). This ...
In late November, Raimundo De Andraca, Antonio Eguiguren, Sebastían Rojas, Nicolás Valderrama, and Galo Viguera climbed Monte San Valentín (4,058m) and then made a ski descent of the steep south face. Their 1,300m descent followed the general line...
Due to the pandemic, Argentina remained closed to most foreign tourists, allowing only those from neighboring countries to enter and with Los Glaciares National Park not opening until early January. Chile opened its borders to tourism in late Nove...
Undoubtedly one of the strangest names in the toponymy of Chile’s Central Andes is Cerro Mono Verde (4,524m, 33°0'40”S, 70°2'58”W), which means “green monkey.” The peak is located approximately 70km northeast of Santiago and 40km south of Aconcagu...
Volcán Llullaillaco (6,739m; 24°43'13.81"S, 68°32'12.78"W) is located on the border between Chile and Argentina in the Northern Andes and was a sacred mountain to the Inca, who are confirmed to have ascended it more than 500 years ago. In February...
I arrived in El Chaltén at the beginning of January 2020 with my climbing partner Nicolas Favresse. We had a great season, climbing two new routes and freeing a third (AAJ 2020). Nico returned to Europe around mid-March. My plan was to stay until ...
Around the same time that Torres del Paine closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, we received the unfortunate news that our friend Johan Millacahuin Vivar had died in an accident on the North Tower while descending the Monzino Route. More than 50 p...
For Isidora Llarena and me, most expeditions begin with talking a partner into a half-baked scheme, later followed by faint guilt for the mishaps that ensue; fortunately, our adventure to Cerro Nora was anything but. Unclimbed Cerro Nora (2,460m; ...
Many years ago, a friend pointed out a mountain along the horizon: “That´s Negro Pabellón. It’s had few ascents. It’s hard and far away—a real climb, but close to home.” For 15 years, its image stayed imprinted upon my brain. Finally, in late Nove...
On January 16, 2021, Sebastián Martino and Mauro Schmiedt (both Argentina) began their approach to Cerro El Moño (4,699m; 34°47'53.8”S, 70°14'53.6"W) in Mendoza Province, and reached Refugio Soler that day. The next day, they crossed the Río Atuel...
Cerro Las Peinetas (2,018m, 39°30'2"S, 71°30'45"W) and Volcán Quinquilil (2,052m; 39°30'16"S, 71°35'30"W) are volcanic massifs located 15km south of the town of Curarrehue in the Región de la Araucanía. Though summer rock climbing is limited due t...
Cerro Huinay (1,430m; 42°23'59"S, 72°5'59"W) has a beautiful, 1,000m granite wall hidden in the Northern Patagonian jungle. The name Huinay means “curved because of the strong winds” in the Mapuche language and refers to the massive alerce trees (...
In late October, Yorly Batlle, Juan Pablo Cabbada, Adrián Gambetta, Alejandra Morales, and Álvaro Zerené drove from Santiago to the Parque Andino Juncal (V Region). They approached up the Quebrada de Lagunillas, heading north to a camp at 3,400m n...
Volcan Campanario (4,049m; 35°55'24.15"S, 70°22'2.55"W) is an eroded volcanic skeleton between Chile and Argentina in Mendoza Province. Campanario was first attempted in 1963 by Bión González, Osiel González, Sergio Kuntsmann, and Mario Puig and h...
Gabriel Fava reports that he and other Argentine climbers have established many new routes at the Agujas Del Glaciar Fría (31°45'41.80"S, 69°51'34.30"W), an area of remote, high-elevation granite needles along the eastern ramparts of Ansilta 7 (5,...