My ascent of the Ragni Route, on Cerro Torre's West Face.
The first rays of sun lighting up the Torre Group: a breathtaking sight!
A long journey to the summit.
When I got to El Chaltén in the 1995-96 summer season, I fell in love with its mountains and decided I would return there every summer. On that first trip I spent 6 weeks climbing and exploring. We went up the Guillaumet, Poincenot and De la S needles. After that trip I decided to pursue the Mountain Guide career and settle permanently in El Chaltén since 2001. This way I could be closer to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre and be able to take advantage of climbing and exploring at every opportunity that would arise.
I was able to reach the summit of Fitz Roy in 2004 and complete the “Compressor Route” to Cerro Torre in 2008. However, the west face of Cerro Torre with its famous "Ragni Route" was a personal dream of mine which was pending for many years, with aura of myth that surrounds it from its very first ascent by Casimiro Ferrari in 1974. Cerro Torre is considered one of the most difficult mountains in the World to climb, due to its technical difficulties and the ever-changing Patagonian weather.
In October 2012 I started to fulfill this dream. With several friends from El Chaltén we agreed to make an attempt prior to the tourist season and we formed 2 rope teams of 3 people each. The great advantage of living in Chaltén is that with just 1 or 2 days of preparation you are ready to go climbing a great mountain face. To be able to climb in Patagonia you need to have three fundamenteal factors: enough free time, your climbing partners and a good weather window.
After studying the forecast, the route and the approach, we organized the team, the logistics and the day of departure. A high pressure center was anticipated and predicted very good weather for 3 or 4 days. It is a great advantage to have accurate forecasts nowadays when it comes to climbing, especially in Patagonia where the weather changes so rapidly.
Until 2004 there was no internet connection in El Chaltén, which meant there was no forecast to use. The strategy at the time was to settle at the base camp and try your luck when the atmospheric pressure marked an increase in the barometers of your watch.
This time we began the approach through the Cerro Torre valley on October 19. It still amazes being able go out with my backpack from my doorstep, straight to the mountain without the need of any transport at all!
The route includes 11 climbing pitches from the “Col de la Esperanza” ( Saddle of Hope) on. In general, in this kind of climbing we divide the sections that each one is going to climb into blocks; it can be 2,3 or 4 pitches leading and then we switch leader. This second time on Torre, the ice conditions were excellent, which allowed us to move forward without much delay. Ice formations and ice mushrooms truly make this route an other-worldly climb!
But this time, it was not our time to reach the desired goal. The night before reaching the summit, a call via our satellite phone to El Chaltén warned us that the weather would change sooner than expected. After a group discussion, we concluded that the best thing to do was to turn around and descend, since we would not have enough time to reach the summit and descend safely.
It was psychologically difficult having to descend in perfect weather without having achieved the goal! Time to wait for the next opportunity ...
We started our tourism season and noticed that in December there were several ascents of the West Face of Cerro Torre, the famous "Ragni Route". By talking to various climbers, we were able to obtain recent information about the conditions of the route, which were apparently extraordinary!
In January we saw that another good window was coming, and the stars aligned in our favor: free time, solid companions and good weather! We prepared for a second attempt, there were 4 of us divided into 2 rope teams: 2 Canadians, Manu Quiroga (who had climbed with me on the first attempt) and myself.
This time, we decided to approach the start of the route from the Marconi pass with light skis, since we anticipated fresh snow on the Ice Field. In the end we did not find fresh snow so we could have avoided the weight of the skis ...
On January 12 we went up to Paso Marconi, where we camped the first night. The next day we got to the base of the Filo Rosso, left the skis there and continued to the base of the “Col de la Esperanza”.
We were surprised by the number of climbers we encountered. We were altogether between 15 and 20 people. Some with tents and others only carrying mats and bivy sacs. The weather in the afternoon was incredible, it was not cold nor was there a drop of wind!
We decided to change the strategy camping this time higher, in a small glacier on the base of the “Col de la Esperanza”, in order to be lighter to climb up and descend the route in a single day. There we set up the tent and tried to rest until midnight, after hydrating ourselves and eating well.
We woke up at midnight, but in reality we had not been able to sleep at all.
Often times it's difficult to sleep due to the anxiety you get before a big climb like this one! So after a coffee and some cereals, we left around 1 in the morning with cold and starry sky up the ice ramp to the Col de la Esperanza.
Moments later at dawn, Markus, an Austrian climber who was climbing “freesolo” (that is, without a partner and without a rope!). He went up without a backpack, only with a harness, a couple of ice screws, a few quickdraws and a rope on his back. We would later find out that he managed to set a new speed record of freesolo on Cerro Torre : just 3h 15 min from the camp to the summit!
We continued to “Elmo”, the first difficult pitch of the route, and also the point where we turned around on our first attempt. It was my turn to lead, and I found some passages at around 80-85 degrees of incline but of very good and consistent ice quality. Often times, inconsistent ice makes screw protection difficult and dangerous.
After that, Manu lead some mixed pitches that took us to the base of the "Head Wall": this is one of the most difficult sections, with 60m of vertical ice walls! The Canadians were ahead of us and gt through this section quickly. In Canada there are many ice falls, so our colleagues had a lot of experience in this kind of terrain.
It was time for me to lead the challenging pitches of the Head Wall. I had to take some breaks on the climb, since the climb was very physical and athletic, but really of a high quality! It was the first time that I climbed 2 pitches of 30m verticals.
After the headwall, we switched again and Manu relieved me on lead. Moments later, a piece of ice fell right in my eye, which would leave me without vision in that eye for a few hours ...
Our doubts at this point become existential: will we be able to reach the summit this time or will we have to descend being so close to our goal? We decided to go forth!
After some easier pitches of 70-80 degrees incline we reach the base of the final pitch, where there is a comfortable platform. We took a break and made tea while the Canadian rop finished the last 50m of climbing. The final pitch is generally the most difficult one to climb, since the ice is usually very inconsistent and vertical, called “rime snow”, therefore very difficult to protect. However, as other ropes had passed recently, the conditions were excellent.
We went through a 50m vertical ice wall, passing through a natural tunnel that led us to the summit!
Moments of great happiness and excitement after so many efforts !!! It was very emotional to share the summit with my climbing partners. The view was incredible: clear sky to the horizon and totally windless. At approximately 2:00 pm, after hugging each other and taking a lot of photos at the summit, we prepared to begin our descent on rappels using stakes and Abalakov (ice bridges built with runners).
The summit, with a grand view of the Fitz Roy group
The descent as a team of 4 was very efficient, but with the heat of the afternoon sun, chunks of ice fell we falling all around us, making it quite scary. We arrived at the tent at a reasonable time, around 8-9pm; exhausted but deeply happy! After an instant soup and a freeze dry meal, we went to sleep.
This time it was not difficult for us to fall asleep!
The next day, we woke up calmly, drank some mate and began our return to Lake Marconi, located at the base of the homonymous glacier. During the last day, after all the difficulties, we only had 5 hours of trekking to reach the Río Eléctrico bridge, where we had left our vehicle parked.
The weather was still good and people kept climbing. In Piedra del Fraile we met other friends who were going to the “Casarotto Pilar” on the Fitz Roy, (another one of my pending projects ...)
It is beautiful to get back home and be able to share the joy with friends and family. After a day of rest, we celebrate with a proper Patagonian lamb asado!
Many times my clients ask me where I would like to travel to climb, and I answer that for me, the best mountains in the world are in Patagonia. It is incredible that after 20 years of guiding and climbing in El Chaltén, I still have so many pending projects. One life time is not enough to do everything!
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