Cerro Torre - Via dei Ragni ; Argentina's Los Glaciares National Park

Cerro Torre - Via dei Ragni

Favourite Alpine Routes May 12, 2020

 

 Grade VI, 95deg snow/rime/ice, M4, 1000m

Jeff and Priti on the summit of Cerro Torre

 

The moment I saw the mythical looking wind sculpted domes, and the blue tunnels carved through rimed ice-towers on Cerro Torre, the Via Dei Ragni route had captivated my imagination. For years, I had dreamt of climbing through the magical landscape myself. When my husband Jeff and I started our climbing sabbatical in 2020, we put this route on the top of our list.

The road to El Chalten

 

In 2019, at the beginning of February, we saw a fantastic weather window in Patagonia, and we flew down from Seattle to climb Fitz Roy.  In a 9-day magical whirlwind of constant movement, we summited Fitz Roy via the Franco-Argentina route. While on the summit of Fitz Roy, looking down at the surreal summits of Cerro Torre, we were determined more than ever to come back the following season.  

 

We arrived in Patagonia, Argentina on New Year’s Eve and for a month, storms rolled over the Argentinian pampas and crashed into the towers of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy, with no good weather windows.

The Fitzroy Massif

 

I wasn’t surprised by the bad weather, this was our fourth trip to Patagonia, and our 6th consecutive year of watching the weather. But at the start of February the biggest weather window Jeff and I had seen in a year showed up on the weather forecast. We were so ready!

 

We hiked in to the Torre valley and camped at Noruegos, the Norwegian camp on the Torre side of the valley. It’s closer than the Niponino camp to the Col Standhardt that crosses the Torre range and allows access to their East faces including the Via dei Ragni route on Cerro Torre.

Hiking into the Torre Valley

 

The next day we climbed up steep snow to Col Standhardt and descended down the other side, with Cerro Torre watching over us the whole way. Several rappels deposited us down to the Circo de los Altares (Cirque of the Alters), an impressive crescent of white-capped peaks and toothed spires.

Bivy site at Noruegos, with Fitz Roy behind

 

From the Col Standhardt the climbing to the camp at Col de Esperanza involves steep snow climbing and easy mixed terrain. Looking up at the ethereal rime ice towers above, my heart soared. This was the stuff dreams are made of! A gleeful smile plastered my face while we set up camp under a full moon.

 

The next day was a rest day of sorts.  We moved camp a few hundred meters up, just below El Elmo (the “Helmet”), a prominent plateau below the steep, technical climbing.  This camp set us up well for a summit push the next day. The faster and stronger climbers had gone straight to the highest camp the day before and were now battle-axing the bullet-hard blue ice and cleaning the cotton candy mushrooms of the summit, carving their way up.

On the way up to camp below the Col de Esperanza

 

We camped beneath the first rime ice pitch that ascends the Elmo. Early in the morning, before sunrise, we started our summit push. Jeff led the steep pitch up the Elmo and the mixed pitches after. I took over for the ice pitches, the ice headwall, and we arrived at the base of the first mushroom.

 

Cerro Torre has three rime ice mushrooms to climb on the Ragni route. The key is finding the natural ice tunnels, sculpted by the wind, that provide the easiest and most secure way up and through the billowing, loose rime mushrooms.

Climbing through the tunnel in the first mushroom

 

Climbing through the first tunnel, as big as an elevator shaft, lined with vertical blue ice, was the coolest thing I had done in my life.  Finishing my lead up through a snowy squeeze, I brought Jeff up into the sunlight.  The sun shone in a clear blue sky, and barely a wisp of wind blew, it was perfect.

 

When we reached the final mushroom we saw the vertical rime crux of the route.  The previous parties had dug a half-pipe in the bottom half on the unconsolidated rime, and a tunnel for most of the second half.  But at the top of the tunnel was a short section that stepped left into loose steep rime.  This section was the crux of the crux, scary, unprotectable and overhanging.

The party in front of us had attempted the pitch but they were about to turn around because they lacked the ice tool wings that provided any sense of security in the rime. We had rented a pair of wings, a Petzl protoype, at the local gear shop Viente Oeste. We offered to let them use our tools, to get everyone to the summit. We all held our breath as we watched the Argentinian climber knock huge chunks of rime off and the route disintegrated before our eyes.

The Petzl ice tool wings

 

Climbing with my ice tools without wings seemed like it was going to be impossible.  But suddenly I remembered a bit of advice from Marcus Pucher: “just punch your fists into the rime.” It worked amazingly! Punching and stemming into the rime, I climbed the manufactured tunnel, while eyeing the chunks falling off, the disintegrating ice, and the growing holes in the tunnel. Climbing through the burrowed tunnel in the mushroom was definitely the coolest experience of my life.

Priti on the summit of Cerro Torre

 

Walking up to the steepest point on Cerro Torre on a perfectly still, clear day was absolutely surreal, basking in the bright orange-red glow of the sunset.  The 200 miles of the Continental Ice Cap stretched before us and the Pacific Ocean now clearly visible.  Behind, on the other side of the Torre Valley, small, wispy clouds hovered over the summit of Fitz Roy.  We were lucky to get perfect lighting to fly our drone around for 30 minutes alone before we headed back down to our tents at El Elmo for the night.

 

Standing below the peak after the descent, I felt immensely humbled and awestruck by the amazing people, the incredible peaks and my good fortune to be around them.

 

Follow along as Jeff and I continue our climbing sabbatical at alpinevagabonds.com

IG: @prittyright @jeff_t_wright

Also thanks to the American Alpine Club Live Your Dream Grant for supporting this trip.

https://www.womensalpineadventureclub.com/blog/cerro-torre-via-dei-ragni

 

 

Los Glaciares National Park,

Santa Cruz province, Argentina.

 

East face of the en:Cerro Torre,

with the Torre glacier and Laguna Torre (including 2 icebergs).

 

Los Glaciares National Park (north part), Santa Cruz province, Argentina.

 

The Laguna Torre lake is located in the Los Glaciares National Park, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is formed from glacial melt water and is a popular site for hikers and climbers to see surroundings peaks, including the east face of Cerro Torre.

 

Cerro Torre et montagnes

Photo de El Chaltén, Patagonie argentine en Argentine

 

Elevation :  3,128 m (10,262 ft)

 

Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located on the border dividing Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). At 3,128 m (10,262 ft), the peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peaks are Torre Egger (2,685 m (8,809 ft)),  Punta Herron, and Cerro Standhardt. The top of the mountain often has a mushroom of rime ice, formed by the constant strong winds, increasing the difficulty of reaching the actual summit.

 

Some peaks of the Cerro Torre Group. 2: Cerro Torre, 3: Torre Egger, 4: Punta Herron, 5: Aguja Standhart, 7: Aguja Bífida, 11: Cuatro Dedos

 

East face of the cerro Torre group (Fitz Roy massif, Patagonia) taken from the Laguna Torre, and with names as following: 1: Torre Rafael Juárez 2: Cerro Torre 3: Torre Egger 4: Punta Herron 5: Aguja Standhart 6: Perfil del Indio 7: Aguja Bífida 8: Torre Pachamama 9: Torre Achachila 10: Torre Inti 11: Cuatro Dedos 12: Domo Blanco

 

 

 

 

 

Cerro Torre Range at Sunrise

Cerro Madsen Ascent

 Cerro Torre viewpoint – Walk Patagonia

 

Argentina's Los Glaciares National Park is breathtaking.

 

Los Glaciares National Park is situated in the southwest of Santa Cruz Province in Argentine Patagonia. It encompasses both a national park and a national reserve, covering a total area of 600,000 hectares.

 

Los Glaciares National National Park

 

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Los Glaciares National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized for its exceptional natural beauty, towering mountains, and glacial lakes. Lake Argentino, stretching 160 kilometers, is a central feature of the park, where three glaciers converge and release massive icebergs into its milky grey waters.