Trip to Fitz Roy

Hey MP,

I'm going to Argentina May to July and would love to tick off a couple climbs in the Fitz Roy Massif and around Buenos Aires/Bariloche.  In an ideal world, I hope to climb Aguja Poincenot or Cerro Fitz Roy.  If you're down there and interested drop me a PM.  Also, if have any information about routes/ weather/ where to stay/ general information please let me know!

Will

You do realize it will be winter in the southern hemisphere right? Any route on the Fitz massif is a serious alpine climb in the summer months. Winter conditions will up the ante by a significant margin. Winter ascents aren’t entirely unheard of but are relatively few and far between, especially on Fitz itself, and are usually only accomplished by climbers very experienced in the range. El Chalten is the base area for all activities in the range.

Hey Flex! 

Thanks for your response! 

Yes, I do realize it will be winter in the southern hemisphere. I'm planning on climbing Aguja Poincenot in mid-May by the Patagonicos Desesperados route or Whillans-Cochrane (weather dependent) around May 5-25.  A delayed start to winter would be required for this to work.  I'm basing myself out of El Calafate and working on an Estancia throughout the fall and winter.  I have a couple friends who live and climb down there as well and one of them is my partner for the ascent.  So, this post was mostly inquiring to see if anyone had any information about getting reliable weather condition reports or would be willing to go cragging in the area when he can't.  I'm always down to meet new people and would love to get some advice from people who have climbed the range at any time of year if you're open to sharing!

Maybe try the AAJ. It’s only been climbed a handful of times in the winter. Probably worth thinking about why that’s the case. 

Thanks for the tip Brian. I'll check out the AAJ.  If it's not possible this time, then summer it is.

Everything on the massif is going to be majorly snowed/iced up at this point. The first storms of the year have already come in. Forget about Desesperados, any face climbing of that difficulty is going to be out of condition. The best potential summit routes at this point of the year are ice/mixed lines, like Whillans-Cochrane as you mentioned, Supercaneleta on Cerro Chalten etc. Double boots, a good variety of screws, some hexes, and a few pitons are going to be ideal protection at this point. As others have said, major summits are a very accomplished endeavor during the winter in Patagonia. Perhaps consider more intermediate objectives first to wrap your head around the nature of the game. El Mocho has a nice gully climb, the Amy on Guillaumet is also a good option. Unless both you and your partner are accomplished alpinists, I'd be wary of wouldn't be starting off with a large objective like Poincenot or Chalten. 

William Hibbard wrote:

Hey Flex! 

Thanks for your response! 

Yes, I do realize it will be winter in the southern hemisphere. I'm planning on climbing Aguja Poincenot in mid-May by the Patagonicos Desesperados route or Whillans-Cochrane (weather dependent) around May 5-25.  A delayed start to winter would be required for this to work.  I'm basing myself out of El Calafate and working on an Estancia throughout the fall and winter.  I have a couple friends who live and climb down there as well and one of them is my partner for the ascent.  So, this post was mostly inquiring to see if anyone had any information about getting reliable weather condition reports or would be willing to go cragging in the area when he can't.  I'm always down to meet new people and would love to get some advice from people who have climbed the range at any time of year if you're open to sharing!

Weather is very reliable for chalten on yr.no and NOAA ready. Winter has no wind over there but its gonna be at least 5 meters deep...skiis mandatory and the -20c at night at least