TheNumberNine Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Hey people, Been a little while since Ive posted. Ive been in El Chalten for about 6 weeks now trying to get out into the range when I can. My first week here my partner and I climbed Amy Couloir on Guillaumet.. Super fun route that joins the comesana fonrouge on the ridge to the summit. We climbed through all the technical stuff to the summit snowfield but spun and headed down because it was getting late and we had to get back down to peidra fraille, a camp about 5000 vert feet down from the start of the route. Long day. We both caught a bit of a cold which ended up turning into bronchitis for my partner which screwed us for about 8 days including one good weather window. When we were healthy again we tried to climb the comesana fonrouge in its entirety on guillaumet following a wet and snowy storm. We ended up off route in snowy and icy offwidth cracks and ended up bailing early into the climb. Pretty bummer and a good hard kick to my confidence. My partner took off about a week ago and I joined up with a cool dude from south africa and we sent the Whillans route on Poincenot on Sunday the 13th in absolutely splitter weather. What a summit! The climb was quite an adventure complete with heads up bergshrund crossings, ice/rock fall directly through our rap route 2 minutes before we rapped through it, an anchor piton ripping out, and a 4 hour bivy at the base of the ramp to wait for the conditions to harden up enough to safely traverse and head back across multiple bergshrunds on the way back to paso superior. I fly back to the states the day after tomorrow and Ive been reflecting on my experience here. Climbing in Patagonia is the REAL DEAL and its been full of highs and lows... Successes as well as full on ass kickings in the mountains. Ive met some really awesome people and some truly phenomenal climbers who have inspired me to strive to become a better alpinist. I hope to one day return to these awe inspiring mountains faster, stronger, smarter and full of psych! Ill try to post some pictures when I get back to California. The internet down here is kind of funky... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Good on ya! Sounds better than my trip to Patagonia last year, where I waited for a month and didn't climb a single route. Looking forward to pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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