I spent a month climbing in Patagonia after my Outward Bound contract ended. I did this climbing with my partner, Daniel and our best friend, Max. I now have the immense challenge of trying to summarize this experience into this blog. But I will do it, as I appreciate the challenge, enjoy sharing, and love the record. I climbed in 3 different locations, and each was quite different. I'll do an organized little write up of each followed by some photos. (In this ted talk I will... prove my neuroticism to the ethers of the internet) Cerro Ventana, Bariloche, Argentina After my course, Daniel was the first to arrive. We had 5 days together before Max arrived. We booked an Airbnb with a reasonable approach time to the base of a bunch of sport climbing. There was single pitch sport, which we did 2 of the days, and there was multi-pitch sport, which we did 2 days as well. It was nice to ease back into the climbing, as I was coming out of 3 months without it. The rock was kind of chossy, but it was great to have climbing essentially right in town. We clipped bolts, dialed in our systems, watched Netflix, and cooked hearty meals in our heavenly Airbnb. Brief intermission from climbing report... ... Because at the end this week of climbing, not only did Max arrive, but Argentina made it to the World Cup final! This set us up quite nicely for a lifetime cultural experience. We went downtown and waited in line early in the morning for a bar. It was an exciting final game, and wicked cool to be there when they won. It was fun to stand out in the streets for a bit for the celebration, but I was simply an observer which was an interesting experience. I know the feeling, ah yes the street rally. This one was cool to see. Here's one pic. Frey, Bariloche, Argentina So after the World Cup win, we loaded up heavy backpacks and took a taxi to the ski resort in town, Catedral (largest ski resort in South America). From the trailhead there, we hiked 4 hours/ 7 km to the Refugio Frey, a mountain hut with food service, beds, and free camping outside. We set up our tents and immediately went to climb our first climb, a 5.8 glory hands crack in a dihedral, then up a face. Absolutely stunning rock quality and friction. We came back down extremely excited that this would set the tone for a few weeks of lifetime climbing. And it sure did. Frey has a bunch of granite spires, and over the next 8 days we did a number of classics up these incredible features. Worth mentioning, that Frey has a pretty serious sandbag... aka whatever grade a route is called, the route probably feels much harder than that. This made for a humbling and challenging climbing experience. Camping at the hut was lovely, as we could waltz in after a hard day out and simply order a pizza or sprite or cookies. This trip was a great progression for me/ us because although there was a hut with food service that we definitely utilized, it was my first time ever backpacking to go climbing. Plus, climbing alpine trad was a thrilling and adventurous experience. Pics: Valle Cochamo, Chile After a brief transition in Bariloche, and a logistical epic to get things booked, we made the big journey to Chile to climb in Cochamo Valley. The journey there required essentially: bus in town, 8 hr bus to random Chilean town, 2 hr drive from nice hostel man, 5 hour hike in ankle deep horse poop. It was a 2 day journey and it really set the tone for the adventurous nature of the climbing in Cochamo. This valley can be likened to Yosemite; it has epic amounts of granite, walls taller than El Capitan, and so much rock that its light grey color fills your entire field of vision. But it was so different than any place that I have ever climbed because, well, there was no guidebook! All route information is on hand drawn topos, which are (some posted online) found on the ground, at the bivouac sites for each area. For example, when we went to climb in Anfiteatro (the amphitheater), we left our tents up in the main campground, and took everything else with us to the bivy site. There, we located the bivy boulder with the beaten binder (alliteration !) and took photos of the routes we thought we might do. We lucked out big time with this trip, not just in our logistical realm (like securing bus tickets and being granted extra camping days) but especially in our weather realm! Chile, as it is on the western side of the Andes, receives all the rain and humidity from the ocean. While Argentina was rather dry except for snow melt, Chile was essentially a rain forest. In some ways, it reminded me a bit of North Carolina. Despite this wet fate, we had every day except for 1 with full sun. Incredible! So, we climbed, yes we did. We also backpacked a ton. We climbed in 2 of the higher valleys, and getting there/between/back was no small feat. This trip, while it was a lifetime climbing trip, felt like a beta-gathering trip in many ways. The real best way to do Cochamo is to spend at least a month there, that way you have time for hiking between sites, rest days, bad weather, and big (potentially) overnight missions. With our short week there, we did an impressive amount in my opinion, and I was very proud of us for stringing together all of the logistics and then buckling up for an adventure and trying hard. I hope to return in the future. Pics: The trail up to the main campground. The valley is washing away with all the human use. The trails don't have much in the way of drainage, and the land is so soft. As it rains, which it does constantly, the trail becomes a little river and forms these deep trenches. Lucky for us, when we hiked in, it was relatively dry. Vibes are high at the bivy on our penultimate night at Cochamo. Things to note: 1. my yellow cilmbing pack in the right side of the pic is standing up by itself. That's a well packed pack. Idk, I'm just proud of it. 2. ropes in the tree on the right side of the pic... here's to hoping mice don't chew through them! 3. Daniel left, Max right. Lucky me! globe trot & what's next? Well after our last climb at Cochamo we rappelled down to the bivy. There we packed our bags and hiked back down to the main campground, arriving at 10pm. The next morning we left at 7am, and hiked back out through the horse poop to the trailhead. We then walked along a dirt road, hitching a ride in a pickup truck along the way for the bulk of the 8km to the bus stop. From there, we took a 4 hour bus to the random Chilean town again and got a hotel room. The next day, we took our 8 hour bus back to Bariloche, then a taxi from the bus terminal back to our home base- a friend's house. Two days later, I took a taxi to the airport, then a 2 hour flight to Buenos Aires, then an hour long taxi to the international airport in BA, then a 10 hour red eye to Atlanta, then a 2 hour flight to Charlotte, then a 2 hour drive back to Asheville in Stiles' truck (thanks Stiles!). All that's to say, it was a long and involved journey from the top of our last climb until I was safe and sound in Asheville. But the fun didn't stop there. The next morning, I started my drive out west. Day 1 to Chicago. Day 2 layover day in Chicago to hang with friends. Day 3 to Rapid City, SD. Day 4 to Bozeman, MT. Day 5 1/16 I arrived in Bend, Oregon.
So pheeewwwww I've done it. I've arrived at the present moment. I am now in Bend, Oregon, in a house of 5 people (friends from NCOBS). I am here for 2 months to ski at Mt. Bachelor and (hopefully) backcountry, as well as climb in the gym and at Smith Rocks. I'm here to rest, get shredded, have fun, and enjoy comfortable life before I head back into the world of Outward Bound in March. I am extremely thankful to NCOBS for sending me to Patagonia for work and for believing in me to instruct the course down there. Flights paid for a month of climbing after that work was quite the deal. I walk away from the past 2 months with an incredible lifetime experience under my belt as well as money saved. I think that this arrangement will work quite well for me. I expect to be back next winter. If you made it to the end of this post, color me impressed. I had fun synthesizing everything down into a (hopefully) digestible and colorful post. A doozy, for the books, but as always, worth the effort. |
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