Fitzroy - Attempt 1

Owen and I woke up at 4am Thursday morning and were out the door by 5 to start our trek back up to Paso Superior for what was going to be a two to three day weather window. We didn't have to carry much as everything was stashed up there from our previous reconnaissance trip. It took less than 8 hours to get to the pass where we were struggling to stay connected to the snow ridge due to the strength of the wind gusts. After an hour and a bit the winds died down signalling the start of a spell of good weather. Due to still having a fair bit of time left in the day we decided to try and make it to the top of the Brecha, a 300m mixed rock, snow and ice gully approach to the bivvy called the Brecha de los Italianos. This involved another long slog up a glacier then dealing with a tricky schrund before the mixed 300m even begun! We made it to the top just before dark and were exhausted after a day of over 2000m elevation gain.

Owen walking up to Lago de los Tres

Owen above Lago de los Tres on the way to Paso Superior.

Owen on the glacier above Paso Superior on the way to the Brecha de los Italianos.

Four in the morning and we were up again to tackle another long mixed pitch leading to a rock and ice covered slope were the La Silla bivvy is located. The La Silla bivvy is a rock big enough for two to sit behind out of the wind. It is also the closest bivvy site to the base of the Franco-Argentine route up Mt Fitzroy. Two Americans that were in front of us the day before had bivvied here and were at the base of the granite wall were the route begins. So we waited...

The first pitch of the route is a 50m finger crack at a grade of 6a+ in the topo but the word around town was that it was closer to 6c. It didn't matter as it was choked with ice and snow and turned into an aid climbing epic by the Americans taking a couple of hours. It was easier once they had cleaned it for us but the speed at which we were moving became an issue and with the pitches above all iced up we decided to bail. The Americans and a team of three Korean ladies (North Face sponsored?) behind us also decided to turn around. The route needs a couple of days of good weather to come into condition and we need to jump on it first in line so there is no waiting around. 

First good weather in a few weeks and everyone wants a go! Owen rapping down over the icy ridge approach with three Koreans and two Americans above.

The joys of finding a nice rappel anchor! At the top of the Brecha begining our descent.

Owen a couple of rappels down the Brecha.

After bailing back to Paso Superior we fell into our snow cave and slept for what must have been about 12 hours. The next day we stumbled back to town defeated but found an even better period of weather is approaching and now have renewed confidence since we understand the approach and conditions better than before. Plans are always changing along with the weather forecasts but at the moment it looks like today is our only rest day before heading back to Paso Superior tomorrow. We are breaking up the approach to conserve energy and give the route a day of good weather before we jump on it. After tomorrow we will go from Paso Superior to La Silla were we will bivvy behind the rock there. Hopefully most of the other punters will give it a go that day and be out of our way for the next. We will have a very early start to be first on the next day and hopefully make it up!

Paso Superior

Owen and I are resting back in town after slogging our way up to Paso Superior with all our gear. This is the bivvy site that most parties start out from when attempting Mt. Fitzroy or any of the other peaks along the same ridge line. The walk isn't so bad except for when you have to carry half your body weight the whole way! It is a popular tourist walk from El Chalten up to Lago de los Tres before things get a bit more involved and you have to skirt around a lake with steep sides and then up a glacier to a relatively simple alpine ridge leading to the Pass. 

Poincenot, Fitzroy and Paso Superior from just above Lago de los Tres. The red line is the approach we did.

We took about 9.5 hours and ended up at the windy and wet Paso Superior to find a free pre-dug snow cave which was awesome. It was cold and uncomfortable but out of the weather. 

Owen looking a bit too happy to be cold, wet and residing in a mound of snow.

The next morning it started out windy with gusts so strong it was hard to stand up outside. We thought we might be stuck for another day up there but the wind dropped off enough for us to retreat. Most of our gear is up at the pass now except for our glacier traveling gear stashed at the base of the glacier. The weather looks like it will be good enough for a crack at Mt. Fitzroy this Friday so we are having a couple of days rest before heading up again with a bunch of food for a prolonged stay.

Fitzroy on the walk back down.

El Chalten

After a ridiculous transit half way around the world Owen and I have made it to El Chalten in Argentina. Climbers we met at the airport who were leaving spoke of one of the best seasons in terms of weather for a long time. Apparently we had recently missed an unheard of 6 day weather window. The downside to all this is that there had been too much melting and large rockfalls were common and the schrund at the base of the walls had become so wide it had become hard to cross. So it is a good thing the weather has taken a turn for the worse this week dumping new snow up high. We need the time to get ourselves organised anyway. 

El Chalten is a tourist town catering to trekkers and climbers and is jam packed with people so we have managed to get ourselves in at a youth hostel till Monday when we have organised an apartment above a bakery for the remaining 5 weeks. The other option is to camp but with 50kg's of gear each we decided the cushy way was the way to go (Thanks to Seth and Sea to Summit for helping me out replacing all my old gear!). We plan to head up to Paso Superior to familiarise ourselves with the walk and stash some gear during this bad weather period in preparation for attempting the Franco-Argentine route on Mt Fitzroy. There is also a lot of sport climbing and bouldering around El Chalten where the weather is much nicer. We did some sport climbing yesterday and have a boulder festival on tomorrow so there is plenty to keep us busy.

El Chalten with Mt Fitzroy in the distance.

Mt Fitzroy

Its windy up there!

2011 - A Good Year

I just made it back from the long 30 plus hour drive from Mt Arapiles in Victoria ending my latest foray away from Perth and allowing me to contemplate the goals I achieved and did not achieve during another ‘blink and you miss it’ year. It was hot in Arapiles and the glassy slopy sidepulls covering my number one goal of 2011 (and 2010!) were hard to hold! I’ve decided that Punks in the Gym (32) is hard! Add a grade if you can’t reach the holds from the good feet and two grades if its 40oC. The first day wasn’t too hot and I managed to catch the ‘birdbath’ hold twice from the ground but not finish it off. After that I got tired and didn’t rest enough and the conditions progressively got worse. The only solution to this for me is to go climb some even harder routes elsewhere and then come back fresh and show that pointless 25m section of rock who’s boss!! It was a great trip though and as always the friends I got to climb with and drink coffee in the pines with (you know who you are) made the climbing just an afterthought. I did get up some classics in the heat though including Trojan (25) onsight, Masada (29), and Denim (26). A highlight was definitely the second shot battle wrestling my way up Denim when I was super tired on the last day in mid 30 degree temps.

Staring down the crux move on Punks in the Gym. Photo: Alex Glaser

Jarrod entering the crux sequence on Punks in the Gym. Photo: Alex Glaser

As for the rest of 2011 I feel I balanced work and climbing well getting stronger than ever although I don’t feel I portrayed this in my achievements on rock. This may be due to a lack of opportunity as well as a decrease in my power endurance due to the amount of time I spent on site working and not climbing. There is definitely a big difference between your boulder strength and your power endurance! I did manage to climb better locally this year finishing off two projects in Mountain Quarry, Death Star (29) and Take Off (29), both still unrepeated, and managed to send Tim’s Animalistic Rage (29). Best ascent of the year would have to be the five star L’ami de toute le monde (31) in Ceuse. It’s a pity I didn’t get to do what I wanted in the alpine during 2011 and that has reflected itself in my 2012 goals.

Despite having a good job I’ve decided to go full time climbing for a while with a focus this year on some stand out ascents. You’ll never achieve amazing things unless you dream of amazing things. I remember when I started climbing I was intimidated just looking at pictures of Cerro Torre and Mt Fitzroy in Patagonia thinking they were the ultimate ‘bad ass’ peaks. Maybe I know a little better now but I am still stoked to have booked my tickets there with Owen for February and the first half of March. In April Owen and I will be hanging out in the European Alps and I’ll get to continue to work on one of the biggest weaknesses of my all round climbing abilities which is mixed climbing. After that I am keen to keep plans open but I am super motivated to get rid of an inner belief I climb grade 31. I can count the number of routes I’ve tried harder than 31 on one hand and Punks is really the only one I’ve had a good crack at. 3 months in Spain at the end of the year should sort me out :)

2012 is the year to step up, take the plunge, push yourself...