Argentina and ChileC e n t r a l A n d e s , C h il e

Torres del Brujo, A Ultima Dama and other climbs. From January 10-22 , 2008, Joao Cassol (Florianopolis, Brazil), Wagner M achado (Curitiba, Brazil), and I explored the seldom- visited Torres del Brujo. Located 120km south of Santiago, Chile, the area may best be described as a smaller version o f its famous Patagonian neighbors to the south. The p ri­mary difference between the two regions is the likelihood o f long periods of high pressure in the Torres del Brujo during the South Ameri­can summer.

We set out from the trailhead under a deep blue sky, with two heavily laden and disagreeable mules. O ur arrival two days later at the base o f the towers went, more or less, according to plan, and we promptly set out to repeat one of the easier routes on the Aprendiz de Brujo, a 300m tower at the foot of 500m Brujo Falso, our main objective.

The day after our arrival, we climbed the classic Aprendiz route Uno Poco de Patagonia (300m, IV 5 .10d) in a long day from our camp at the base of the glacier. During the course of

this day, we realized that the gla­cier conditions were too poor to perm it safe passage with the am ount of equipm ent we need­ed to carry to Brujo Falso. We then set our sights upon the walls on the opposite side of the glacier from the Brujo Falso, walls that seemed conducive to a lighter style.

On January 17, with ever­present high pressure, we found our way to a substantial wall that looked promising. The unnam ed peak is adjacent to a tongue o f glacial icefall that descends from the icecap above and east of the peak. Examination of the wall revealed two previously climbed lines, but farther up-glacier toward the icefall tongue we found a line that appeared unclimbed. Located on the very left side of the wall and threatened by seracs from the icefall, the line starts in the middle o f a system of right-facing corners and can be distinguished by the presence of a short section o f chimney 65m above the glacier, at the top of the first pitch. From here, the climb ascends a strenuous hanging flake above the chimney and continues in a fairly direct line, on crack and face features, to the top of the steep wall. This first part of the wall is characterized by steep, hard 5.10 crack climbing. After the steep section o f the wall, the route changes to an alpine ridge climb. The final 150m is seldom more difficult than 5.9, and routefinding on the broad ridge never seemed difficult, with several logical options available to reach the summit. We completed our route in one long day from camp. Because it seemed to be the last unclimbed line available to our party, we named it A Ultima Dama (320m, IV 5.10+), Portuguese for “the Last Lady.”

During our trip we also established several single-pitch routes from 5.10-5.11 in an area we dubbed Gato de Brujo (the Sorcerer’s Cat), at the lower end of the same long ram part as our route. There was at least one other route there, likely done by Italians. (The bolts were Italian, anyway.)

D a v id T r ip p e t t , Vancouver, B.C., AAC