Back in the Patagonian winter of 1999, I made the first winter ascent of Cerro Torre’s West Face with Thomi Ulrich, David Fasel, and Stephan Siegrist. Well, this morning, I’m thrilled to see the news posted at Planet Mountain that Stephan has done it AGAIN, this time in company with Dani Arnold, Thomas Huber, and Matias Villavicencio.
Well done, Stephan!
(Here’s the account of the climb on Stephan’s website, but you’ll have to read German to get through it.)
I’m amazed that nobody has repeated Cerro Torre’s West Face in winter in the last 14 years. Since the demise of the Compressor Route, it sounds like the only way to have a reasonable chance of getting that all-world classic route to yourself is to do it in winter. And that climb doesn’t want company–with just the people with whom you’re sharing the rope is how it should be for full value on Cerro Torre’s West Face.
It’s worth clicking on the PlanetMountain image below and perusing their photos–they’re spectacular.
But then again, as I’ve always said, taking pictures of Patagonia is a lot like taking pictures of Sophia Loren–even when she looks bad, she still looks pretty good.
My account of our 1999 winter ascent of Cerro Torre’s West Face is the “On the Side of Hope” chapter of my book, Enduring Patagonia.
