In this Patagonian summer characterized by short weather windows to be exploited in a race against time, Sean Villanueva and Pete Whittaker have shown that they are a perfect team, taking home two free ascents in the space of two “ventanas”. After making the first free ascent of yacaré on Aguja Rafael Juarez, they aimed for the return of the good weather at theGuillaumet needlestill in the massif of Fitz Roy. The story seems a bit the same: a route recently opened, waiting to be freed. The street in question is called go there and extends for 500 meters on the western wall of the Aguja.
©Julia Cassou
The opening was carried out in two stages. On 25 December the mountaineers Franco Toscani, Facundo Saubidet and Jeremiah Chestnut they managed to climb a first section, then the oncoming bad weather forced them to surrender. “A wonderful afternoon climbing into the unknown”, summarizes Toscani. The second episode of the adventure took place in mid-January, when Jeremias Castana and Facundo Saubidet returned to the route in the company of Santiago Scavolini. On that occasion, the trio managed to complete the whole route, free climbing it, with the exception of two pitches out of a total of nine (as highlighted by Patagonia Vertical, 9 independent pitches which rejoin with a variant of the route Padriafor a total of 400 metres) climbed artificially: the fourth and fifth pitches, including the crux of the route. “Now it’s time to free her”, the invitation to complete the work launched by Saubidet on social networks on January 15th. After about a month, the two right characters to carry out the feat arrived, Sean and Pete, accompanied by a perfect photographer for the occasion. Julia Cassouthanks to which we can relive the climb step by step, shot by shot.
From photos to rock
As Pete Whittaker recounts on social media, the idea of attempting the full free ascent came from observing the photos of the first ascentionists, who “showed some spectacular fissures” (Saubidet in the account of the first ascent described it as “a perfect crack” to be tackled in some sections by pointing on the fingers, in others on the hands, in others still on the fists, “not even half a meter wide”), and the crux passage on the fifth pitch, which also according to Saubidet & co. one could have attempted to free climb, with a estimated degree of difficulty on 8a.
The route did not disappoint expectations and the two managed to free the entire route. Sean onsighted the fourth pitch, then Pete is “went to take a look at the crux pitch”. “The underside was more complex at first than it probably was – comments -, because it was a wet crack (about E5) and I found myself having to cut the ice while climbing”. And then he found himself stuck in a particularly complex section, a “subtle relief” dealt with assuming “a very uncomfortable position and with burning fingers”. Despite these premises, on the second attempt, amazed at himself, he was able to climb the pitch red point. The two then continued the free ascent of the following pitches, rejoining the route Padria, reaching the top that there was still light. At midnight they returned to base camp. In total they covered 500 meters with an estimated maximum difficulty of grade 8a.
With reference to pitches 4 and 5, Pete confirms the degrees of difficulty proposed by the first ascentionists: a 7b for the fourth, a 8a for the fifth. “An amazing place – conclude Whittaker – ma Patagonia still scares meso staying focused and climbing well remains the only option”. Below is a video (for which we thank Pete for sharing) that shows us the level of harmony of the fun and gritty Belgian-British couple, which we hope to see again in action in a future season of adventures in Patagonia.
