In October, my girlfriend Wenny Sanchez and I climbed a new route in a remote part of Argentina’s Central Andes: the Cordillera de Ansilta. The area is reached from the town of Barreal, in San Juan Province, and then by following harsh and rugged high-desert terrain westward along the Río Blanco. From Barreal it is about 30km to Estancia del Rio Blanco. From there it took us two days and about 12 total hours to hike the 18km, which starts around ca 2,000m to ca 4,300m at the base of the needles.

The climb ascends a very beautiful granite needle on the eastern side of Ansilta 7 (5,780m), starting just off the moraine below the Glaciar la Fría. Ansilta 7 is a large, glaciated mountain, and this needle is one of many possibilities in a recently discovered area that somewhat resembles Frey, outside of Bariloche. Nico Made is 4600mts.

Our climb mostly followed steep, clean cracks up compact, brown granite. We called the needle Nico Made and the route Alegria (230m,6c), which means “joy.” Eight rappels bring you back down the route. The area has many other walls and needles  anging from 100–400m in height.

[Editor’s Note: See http://bit.ly/1s0SDUk for a map and overview of the mountain, including a selection of walls and spires for future new routing.] 

Gabriel Fava, Argentina