El Chalten is a very interesting place. Supposedly it´s the fastest growing town in Argentina right now, but it´s all about Fitz Roy out here. Despite how many people I´ve talked to, and how many pictures I´ve seen, I was just absolutely taken aback by my first views of the Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre range. It was clear as a bell when our bus got in first thing in the morning on Saturday. The peaks and the glaciers are so incredibly picturesque it´s as if someone took the skyline here as their own personal work of art. The incredible way in which they are offset against the sky and forest with the sharp greys, brows, blues, and whites makes me think that I will never see mountains like this again.
After much research, and scouring summitpost, I decided that my best option for a reasonable peak to try and climb here would be Cerro Solo, or “The Cupcake” as Ben Glenn calls it. It´s the simplest glacier in the area, and doable in 2 days. Unfortunately, there´s been about 2 ft of snow in the last 2-3 weeks, and the guides tell me that the crevasses are lightly covered, the most dangerous time for a summit. Not even the guides will go. So, I decided to spend 2.5 days in the park, and spend my last day going to Laguna de Los Tres, and see if I can summit Cerro Madsen.
Likely the worst thing that could happen to me, on the first night of my 2.5 day trip, I´m on the far north end of the park in an area called Del Fraille, and my headlamp has decided it´s going to be broken. It´s dark, my extra batteries don´t work, without really rhyme or reason, my petzl headlamp has completely failed me. However, for those of you watching the lunar calendar, it´s still a very full moon. Bright enough to even read my book in the moonlight. Hell yes nature, you rock.
It´s pretty obviously not climbing season here anymore, despite the climbing team in El Chalten who was running laps up and down the main street in their climbing harnesses (bonus points to anybody who can tell me what this actually accomplishes). Perhaps this time of season explains why there´s me and a couple from Switzerland who decide to camp in El Campo Rio Blanco, which is supposedly for climbers only, and we´re the only people there. Far far better than the rat infested El Campo Poincenot, which had about 80 people in it on Sunday night. I think that this time of the season also explained why there was a sheet of ice 400 feet below the summit of Cerro Madsen, as well as the incredibly strong winds and clouds that decided to rain on me. Needless to say, I decided to bail on the climb about 400 feet below the summit, I didn´t particularly feel like getting blown off of a slippery summit.
I´m otherwise absolutely spectacular! I´ve gotten quite a bit of sun, logged a ton of miles on my boots, and I´m relaxing today in El Calafate before I head to Puerto Natales to head through Torres Del Paine. As per Ben´s suggestion, I´ll see if I can do the W in reverse for the best views possible.