Avenali Tower, first ascent, Avenali Avenue. The Avellano Towers are ...
Avenali Tower, first ascent, Avenali Avenue. The Avellano Towers are a rem ote, recently discov ered group just northeast o f Lago G eneral C arrera in C hilean Patagonia. They com prise sever al low b u t rugged granite towers. The rock ranges from excellent to choss and, due to their prox im ity to the N o rth ern Patagonia Ice Cap, the w eather can be trying. In M arch 2004 a group o f clim bers led by Dave A nderson and N acho Grez, after a tw o-day approach from the n o rth , did
a route on the n o rth e rn m ost tow er (“Avellano Tower,” A A J 2004, pp. 307-308). The next year John Bragg, Wes B unch, Angela Hawse, and B renton Regan explored a so u th ern ap proach from the sm all tow n o f Bahia M urta. John broke his leg d u rin g the rugged approach, ending their attem pt. From o u r base at my new house on the shores o f Lago G eneral C arrera, T ho m Engelbach an d I used the Bragg approach in an attem p t to
reach
th e
unclim bed,
so u th e rn m o st tower. We call th is “W ild Patagonia” versus “C ham onix Patagonia,” the C halten area, w here there are som e o f the best clim bs in the w orld b u t no exploration. Taking advantage o f w eather m ore Sierra-like than P atagonian, we left o u r cozy base on the m o rn in g o f Janu ary 21, 2008, and drove to the trailhead at Bahia M urta. Sev en h o u rs o f gnarly hiking got us to base cam p in a beautiful cirque 2,000 vertical feet below, and west of, the tower. T he next day we m ade an ex p lo rato ry hike to the col south o f the tower, scoping o u t a line rising from ju st dow n an d east o f the col, before depositing o u r tech n i cal gear and retu rn in g to base cam p. A fter lu x u riatin g in atypical sunshine on the m o rn in g o f the 23rd, we left cam p for th e tw o -h o u r approach to a bivy at the col.
T he next m o rn in g we left before daw n on a clear, w indless day, scram bled d ow n, and started clim bing the b ro ad so u th east ridge. The clim b felt m ore like an excursion into Rocky M ountain N ational Park th a n a Patagonian first ascent. A bout 500m o f clim bing in 16 pitches had us on the virgin, w indless su m m it o f w hat we called Avenali Tower, for o u r m e n to r Peter Avenali w ho was m y in sp ira tio n for going to th e area. [E d ito r’s note: Som e sources initially reported this as the tow er im m ediately south o f the n o rth e rn m o st tow er clim bed in 2004 (Avellano Tower), but it is actually farth er so u th along th e sam e gro u p o f tow ers (see p h o to ). A n a t ural b arrier betw een Avellano Tower an d Avenali Tower blocks the view from one tow er to the other, and, tho u g h they are in th e sam e chain o f towers, they are approached via different val leys.] O u r route, Avenali A venue (V 5.11- R A0 ), has so m eth in g for everyone. Rock ran g in g from sublim e to shite, difficult ro u tefin d in g , an d som e sketchy p ro serve up clim bing th at will keep you on your toes. Eleven raps got us back to the col at m idn ig h t, culm inatin g an 18h o u r ro u n d trip . T his season, since P atagonian w eath er was so consistently good, I p ro p o se th a t all new routes receive an asterisk. They need to be d one in m ore representative cond itio n s before they get full value. J im D o n i n i ,
AAC
a route on the n o rth e rn m ost tow er (“Avellano Tower,” A A J 2004, pp. 307-308). The next year John Bragg, Wes B unch, Angela Hawse, and B renton Regan explored a so u th ern ap proach from the sm all tow n o f Bahia M urta. John broke his leg d u rin g the rugged approach, ending their attem pt. From o u r base at my new house on the shores o f Lago G eneral C arrera, T ho m Engelbach an d I used the Bragg approach in an attem p t to
reach
th e
unclim bed,
so u th e rn m o st tower. We call th is “W ild Patagonia” versus “C ham onix Patagonia,” the C halten area, w here there are som e o f the best clim bs in the w orld b u t no exploration. Taking advantage o f w eather m ore Sierra-like than P atagonian, we left o u r cozy base on the m o rn in g o f Janu ary 21, 2008, and drove to the trailhead at Bahia M urta. Sev en h o u rs o f gnarly hiking got us to base cam p in a beautiful cirque 2,000 vertical feet below, and west of, the tower. T he next day we m ade an ex p lo rato ry hike to the col south o f the tower, scoping o u t a line rising from ju st dow n an d east o f the col, before depositing o u r tech n i cal gear and retu rn in g to base cam p. A fter lu x u riatin g in atypical sunshine on the m o rn in g o f the 23rd, we left cam p for th e tw o -h o u r approach to a bivy at the col.
T he next m o rn in g we left before daw n on a clear, w indless day, scram bled d ow n, and started clim bing the b ro ad so u th east ridge. The clim b felt m ore like an excursion into Rocky M ountain N ational Park th a n a Patagonian first ascent. A bout 500m o f clim bing in 16 pitches had us on the virgin, w indless su m m it o f w hat we called Avenali Tower, for o u r m e n to r Peter Avenali w ho was m y in sp ira tio n for going to th e area. [E d ito r’s note: Som e sources initially reported this as the tow er im m ediately south o f the n o rth e rn m o st tow er clim bed in 2004 (Avellano Tower), but it is actually farth er so u th along th e sam e gro u p o f tow ers (see p h o to ). A n a t ural b arrier betw een Avellano Tower an d Avenali Tower blocks the view from one tow er to the other, and, tho u g h they are in th e sam e chain o f towers, they are approached via different val leys.] O u r route, Avenali A venue (V 5.11- R A0 ), has so m eth in g for everyone. Rock ran g in g from sublim e to shite, difficult ro u tefin d in g , an d som e sketchy p ro serve up clim bing th at will keep you on your toes. Eleven raps got us back to the col at m idn ig h t, culm inatin g an 18h o u r ro u n d trip . T his season, since P atagonian w eath er was so consistently good, I p ro p o se th a t all new routes receive an asterisk. They need to be d one in m ore representative cond itio n s before they get full value. J im D o n i n i ,
AAC
