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,...
On July 25, Michael Gardner and I set out from the Exum Mountain Guides office to take a look at the northwest face of Mt. Owen (12,933’). We departed around 6 a.m. and briskly hiked up Cascade Canyon, wallowed across the creek, and bushwhacked ...
Ground-up first ascents are ephemeral experiences, like steep turns in perfect powder, burning briefly and brightly before flickering from fantasy to memory. Top-down route development is a long, dirty, and masochistic affair, like fighting throug...
On July 4, Damien Nicodemi and I completed a new route on the upper portion of Tehipite Dome and named it in memory of friends and family lost this past year. Two weeks prior, Rett English, Damien, and I had attempted a different line ground-up,...
Royce Falls is notable for being perhaps the highest of the large waterfalls in the Sierra. This obscure horsetail fall descends approximately 700’ over its 1,200’ length, fed by the drainage of Royce Lakes atop the 11,000’ Merriam plateau. The un...
In 2013, Scotty Nelson, Jon Griffin and I slogged 18 miles back to the "netherworld between the Palisades and LeConte Canyon” in Kings Canyon National Park, home to the Cyclorama Wall [37.001365, -118.506994]. The only recorded route on the wall...
The 2,000’ Bubbs Creek Wall has seen a fair amount of development during the last several years on its main southern face, but the east face had yet to see an ascent. During the socially distant summer of 2020, that's where I set my sights: a mass...
In late August 2019, IFMGA guide Henry Moya (Ecuador) and I guided Ted Mueser and Mark Yoder (both USA) up a new route on the west face of Nevado Palqay (5,422m; 13°17'23.40"S, 72°30'8.22"W) in the Cordillera Vilcabamba. This peak lies along the f...