First Patagonia Climbs of the Season | Travel News

Climbing in Patagonia during January is in full swing, with locals and seasoned visitors already achieving impressive early-season ascents.

At first glance, conditions this year appear particularly snowy, making some classic routes more challenging due to increased mixed sections and larger snow mushrooms. However, the thicker snowpack has also made approaches easier and safer.

“The glaciers have a thicker snowpack than at this time last year, which was already an improvement over previous years,” Colin Haley observed this week. “More snow and less horrendous talus—hooray!”

Haley, an American climber, has been in Patagonia for three weeks, accompanied by Thomas Bukowski and Anthony Walsh. During favorable weather windows, he managed an attempt on Aguja Poincenot and successfully climbed Aguja Guillaumet via the Amy route.

New Route on the White Throne

 

Local climbers, familiar with the area, capitalize on brief weather windows. Recently, Seva Pelleti and Hernando Salas used a single calm afternoon between storms to establish a new 700m route on the south face of the White Throne (Trono Blanco) in the French Valley of Torres del Paine.

They named the route Ultima Ronda and rated it AI3 M4. The weather window was so narrow that strong winds resumed while they were on the summit, prompting a swift descent via rappel.
 

Other Noteworthy Ascents

 

The Odel brothers, Pedro and Tomas, took advantage of the late Patagonian spring to climb Anda pa alla, a challenging route established last year by Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, Leo Gheza, and Matteo della Bordella on Aguja Guillaumet. They then tackled the remarkable Los Tiempos Perdidos on Cerro Torre with Guillermo Navarros.

Pataclimb, a site dedicated to Patagonian climbing and managed by Rolando Garibotti, highlighted additional achievements:

• Tom Seccombe and Etienne Potof, as well as Dane Steadman and Allie Oaks, recently climbed Aguja Standhardt’s Exocet.
• Ethan Berkeland, Ballin Miller, and Chris Labosky completed a repeat of Via dei Ragni on Cerro Torre.
• Saul Marcos and Jorge Larraz from Spain ascended the Supercanaleta on Cerro Chaltén.

Additionally, there has been notable activity in the Torres del Paine group, further demonstrating the vibrant climbing season in the region.