Sunday, December 29, 2013

Patagonia: lessons from a bigger scale


Poincenot, via the Whillans-Cochrane, 550 meters 70 degrees M4 5.9+



How can I describe the size of this place? How can I describe the dizzying gulfs of air below us as we claw our way towards the summit of Poincenot, glaciers splayed below like blue tongues cascading into tortured icefalls, and the Torre spires emerging from whorls of cloud across a valley too deep to comprehend? The sheer scale here is beyond anything I’ve seen, like the fabric sheets of the Bugaboos stretched across a much larger bedframe of terrain. 

After a mile-long glacier traverse, 500m of snow climbing and an intricate ice chimney, we spend the afternoon picking our way up the massive upper flank of Poincenot, probing the folds of the mountain for the path of least resistance to the top. As only Neal has rock shoes, we have to find a path that goes at 5.9 or less for us to follow.  The wind picks up and streamers of cloud begin coursing overhead, signaling that our ventanilla, “little window” of weather will not last as long as we hoped. Eventually we spot a 3rd class ramp that leads to a 20m corner of technical rock right below a notch between two summits; the best option? We roll the dice and scramble the ramp; Neale climbs the corner in rock shoes as an airborne litter of rime and snow assails our faces, carried over the crest of the peak by the wind. Seth and I follow the pitch in our mountain boots, scrapping up the delicate footholds and pawing our feet uselessly at the handcrack. Somehow we both free climb high enough to grab the next cam. It’s a game of only one rule: upward progress. It’s ugly, but I learn I can climb 5.10 with these massive boots I’ve only used for climbing ice; not the first or last new thing I will learn here in Patagonia.

 

I crawl up the final blocks to the notch and am rendered breathless, both figuratively by the view of Fitz Roy streaming plumes of fresh wind-born cloud, and literally as the wind’s vacuum sucks the air from my throat. It is all I can do to sit and gaze at the mighty peak getting ravaged by the gale, the air above me aloft with flecks of ice and snow. Seth and Neale join and we take stock; to the right a thin fingercrack cuts a steep wall, to the left a gentle slabs runs up to a crack filled with ice.  I know I can climb the slab, but can I balance there, run out, long enough to chip out a gear placement in the raucous wind? And keep going up the slab, gambling that my friction will overcome the gusts? It’s my first mission in Patagonia, my first weather window only 3 days in country, and I feel lucky enough to make it this high up a mountain. Neale and Seth agree; we admire the view of Fitz another minute, high-five our high point, and turn around to contemplate the long descent.

“…Naught without prudence, for the carelessness of a single step can ruin the happiness of a lifetime.” 

The words of climbing literature throb in my head as I remove my gloves to downclimb a 4th class step, searching for another rappel anchor while Neale and Seth pull the ropes. Beneath my feet lies a near-vertical drop over 1000 meters to the glacier. Up here, the consequences of a mistake are very clear.

How do you descend from a 500 meter spire, moving safely through vertical terrain and objective hazards? Inside, a voice called ego pleads without reason to be out of the danger zone, to be safe on flat ground. In a glance we see this silent plea in each other’s eyes; we don’t dare voice it. In this austere world of rock, wind, and vertical sky, where a single mistake can kill you, when the child inside you yearns for nothing but safety, how do you make it down? With patience. Without ego, without panic. Without fear? A little much to ask for this guy, for us mere mortals. At moments of doubt, staring down unfathomable distances of rough terrain, I feel a swell of terror rising in my chest. But the wave must not break. As alpinists, we make that commitment before we leave the ground. I acknowledge the wave, relax into its motion and let it pass. “If it weren’t for climbing we’d all be surfers,” the sage said. Maybe we still are.

So how do you descend from a 500 meter spire? Calmly. A compilation of small steps, executed with precision. One. Two. Ten Thousand.

That's how we stumbled into camp watching the sun rise the second time that day, 26 hours later. Tired, thirsty, happy to sit down, with big grins on our exhausted faces.

 Approaching toward Guillamet, 2AM

 Dawn at Paso Guillamet



 "I don't think we're in Colorado any more."

 the Cathedral in morning light


Starting up the Whillans snow ramp


Neale on the ramp

the mixed chimney

Seth Adams, stoked

Neale crushing the off-route corner, while we wondered how the hell we would follow it in mountain boots.

The Torre group emerged from the clouds to give us this spectacular view

We were blessed with a mystical Specter of the Brocken at our brew-up ledge on the descent


Myself, Neale and Seth at our high point.

Descending across the glacier on a clear night, in the middle of the Whillans ramp you can see the headlamps of an Argentine party cruising through the night.

Back to camp, 26 hours later, pretty psyched to drink water and sit the f*&% down. I couldn't have picked better guys to spend a super long day in the mountains with.


Some of these photos are from Seth Adams, an outlandish rogue who is not to be trusted, but check out his blog at http://sethdadams.blogspot.com/ and you may encounter genuine entertainment amidst spiteful vitriol.



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