Comments on: A Fine Piece — stories & photos from the first ascent

By: The Triumph and Tragedy of Ryan Jennings | Gregory Crouch

The Triumph and Tragedy of Ryan Jennings | Gregory Crouch — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 00:06:45 +0000

[…] about the first ascent another classic alpine route Jim and I did together, this one in Patagonia: A Fine Piece, pictures and stories from the first ascent. I tried to talk Ryan into climbing that one, too. […]

By: Original Topo for The Old Smuggler’s Route | Gregory Crouch

Original Topo for The Old Smuggler’s Route | Gregory Crouch — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:35:29 +0000

[…] photos from our FA of Shaken, Not Stirred on the Mooses Tooth in Alaska’s Ruth Gorge and from our FA of A Fine Piece in […]

By: Piergorgio film | Gregory Crouch

Piergorgio film | Gregory Crouch — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 16:11:28 +0000

[…] first ascent of A Fine Piece on the West Pillar of Cerro Pollone, right next door. (Here’s my story of that climb, surely the longest website post I’ve ever made, with lots of photos; and based on the number […]

By: Gregory

Gregory — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:01:34 +0000

In reply to Blake Herrington. Guess that puts it at three ascents to date...

By: Blake Herrington

Blake Herrington — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:28:00 +0000

Hi Greg,

I don’t know of any others. I think our was the second ascent of the pillar (yours, of course, being the first) and then the next I heard of was of Joel, Neil, and Dave. I know that previously it had been attempted at least once by Katie Holme (sp?) and someone else form Squamish, I read about their attempt on the MEC website.

By: Gregory

Gregory — Wed, 29 May 2013 17:34:56 +0000

In reply to Blake Herrington.

I’ve watched your vid before, Blake. Very cool. Neat to see the same spots pop up in your pics and vid. Fabulous piece of stone, in a remarkable setting.

Looks to me like you guys came at the bottom of the route from a different angle than us… ;-)

Happy to hear that you guys had such a fine time with it. It’s well deserving of regular traffic, in my opinion. Counting yours, and ours, and the ones that got done this season, I think it’s had four ascents to date. Do you know of any others?

One of the best experiences I’ve ever had “on the hill.”

Thanks for checking in.

Cheers, Greg

By: Blake Herrington

Blake Herrington — Wed, 29 May 2013 17:18:22 +0000

Greg,

Thanks so much for establishing this amazing climb and for the various other inspirational Patagonia stories and routes. Looking at your photos was great, because there are some spots which are exact places I remember being when Scott Bennett and I climbed the route.

We thought were climbing the exact line of “a fine piece” up the West Pillar (and then we continued up new terrain on to the summit of Cerro Pollone), but we learned several months after being down there, that we had begun to the left of your line, and joined it after a few pitches. The left-side was also excellent, featured granite, with a free crux around .11d or so, which Scott of course dispatched onsight.

I am 100% sure we bootied an old trango cam from high on “A fine Piece” and Scott may still have it. I can’t recall bootying any other gear from the route, but I’m guessing we would have left old/rusty carabiners in place on the route.

In this video which Scott made, your picture “Jim again” is where I am at from 2:10-2:20 and we bivied on the ledge where you mention having Cerro Torre come into view – not a bad spot to wake up to a clear sunrise! – Cerro Pollone Video

By: Photos and stories from the first ascent of Shaken, Not Stirred | Gregory Crouch

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:09:13 +0000

[…] we were able to get onto three such marvelous climbs. Recently, I shared pictures and stories from A Fine Piece. Here, I’m going to post about Shaken, Not […]

By: Gregory

Gregory — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:16:49 +0000

In reply to Joel Kauffman.

Wow! You guys are tearing it up. Fabulous. Am I understanding you correctly in that you climbed Tito Carrasco, too? Hope so. That was a fun one. How much longer are you going to stay down south?

The two ascents include yours, correct? Are Bennett and Herrington the other ascent? Do you know of any others in the last decade? A Fine Piece really deserves a lot of traffic, in my opinion.

I’m delighted to hear that you had such a good time up there. It was a huge buzz to check out your photos when your blog got brought to my attention. Such a slew of good memories. That trip up the Marconi Valley was the only one of my Patagonia trips in which the objectives just rolled over and gave themselves up. Just pure pleasure for us.

I’d be absolutely delighted to get that Lost Arrow back! If it can survive the rest of the season. It’ll go smack onto the shelf that divides my living room from kitchen, in the place of honor.

Cheers, Greg

By: Joel Kauffman

Joel Kauffman — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:05:35 +0000

Gregory,
Thank you for your contributions to Patagonian climbing! I read Enduring Patagonia for the first time ten years ago. A few years later when walked into the Torre Valley it WAS a dream come true. Neil and I have had many more dreams come true while following in your and Jim’s footsteps down here. Tito Carrasco was one of those dreams.
This year we’ve been fortunate enough to climb the Ragni Route on Cerro Torre as well as A Fine Piece, on the West Pillar of Pollone. The former I had built up in my mind for 10 years after reading about your winter ascent. I agree that the later is alpine granite perfection and it has received at least two ascents this year to the top of the pillar. As far as we know, no one has made an integral ascent of A Fine Piece and continued onto the summit.
Blake Herrington and Scott Bennett climbed a variation start and continued to the summit before rappelling to the SE. When Neil, Dave, and I were on top of the pillar the wind was coming back. We prudently decided to rap the route. On the way down, dave pulled a Lost Arrow and we replaced it with a stopper. We’ll do our best to get it back stateside.

Joel