Cochamo

I took a stab at putting together a short video of my trip to Cochamo. Let me know what you think! 

Music by: Minus The Bear

Dreams Become True

Hanging in space off the side of Campanile with Cerro Tronador and Cerro Principal looming behind

The last six weeks have been pure joy. I attended my Rock 301 course with the Mountain Training School which took place in both Patagonian Chile and Argentina. We primarily climbed in two distinct and unique areas: Valle Cochamo in Chile and Frey in Argentina. Both places are giant granite playgrounds filled with unlimited climbing for the rest of ones life. 

Our backyard at basecamp in Coyhaique

....And the front yard

....And downtown....get the picture?

As soon as I arrived to basecamp in Coyhaique, we got to work with a 5 day self rescue class in preparation for the serious terrain we would be faced with in Frey and Cochamo. After becoming proficient with leader and follower rescues, we were prepared to head off into the unknown. We flew into Puerto Montt and then prepared for our trip to Valle Cochamo in Puerto Varas. Puerto Varas is a beautiful vacation town situated on the south west corner of Lago Llanquihue with Volcanoes Orsono and Calbuco over looking in the distance. After a night in Puerto Varas, we were ready to make the trek into Cochamo.

Volcan Orsono just outside of Puerto Varas

The view from Camping La Junta in Valle Cochamo (AKA heaven on earth)

About a year and a half ago when I first heard about Valle Cochamo it was described to me as the "Yosemite of South America" but without the roads, rangers, fees, tourists, rules, none of it, just pure climbing. It sounded like it could be a shadow image of Yosemite from the late 60's and early 70's; just a bunch of climber hippies hanging out, climbing, partying, and having fun. This place sounded magical, almost mystical, and I instantly wanted to be there. Somehow I managed to play my cards right and I found myself at the trailhead ready to spend 10 glorious days in the Valley. After a slow 4 hour, winding, slightly uphill battle I had finally arrived to Camping La Junta, the main camping area for Valle Cochamo. Nothing could have prepared me for the views of the 3000 foot tall towering granite domes surrounding me.  

Anfiteatro with Escudo rising to the sky in the middle

Looking out from Anfiteatro to Arco Iris and Camping La Junta

The thing about Patagonia is that it is Patagonia and that means the weather can be absolutely crazy and come without warning. Some of the Cochamo veterans were regaling stories of previous seasons that would have two straight weeks of torrential downpour. Once again luck would be on our side and we managed to escape with only two days of rain. This allowed us to make the three hour treks into both Anfiteatro and the Trinidad Valley to spend time climbing the biggest routes that our ability levels could handle: "The Sharks Fin" 10 pitches 5.10, and "Homo Santa" 10 pitches 5.10+.

Jude and I hanging on "Homo Santa" while Travis takes the lead

Well deserved asado after 10 hard days in Cochamo

Ten days passed before we knew it and then we were on our way to Bariloche Argentina to prepare for another ten days of climbing but this time in Frey. Frey, similar to Cochamo, has a long strenuous hike to the camping but unlike Cochamo most of the climbing is much more easily accessed once you arrive there with approach times of 30 min to 2 hours as opposed to 3-4 hours as in Cochamo.

First day in Frey

Refugio Emilio on the lake

Look closely for the rainbow

Torre Principal in the clouds

We would once again get a break with the weather only having one rain day. We would climb as many classic pitches as we possibly could. The camping is not as cushy as Cochamo but what Frey lacks in camping it makes up for in approach times and numerous pitches of quality classic climbing. The culmination of our stay was two epic days climbing the tallest spire, Torre Principal, and the spire with arguably the best quality climbing, Campanile.

The shadow of Torre principal

Campanile

400 feet to the base of the spire

On top of Argentina

I am now back at basecamp, just about 42 days after the course started. We ended up climbing over 70 pitches in 13 climbing days at Frey and Cochamo. My body is thrashed and I need a rest but tomorrow morning I step on a plane back to Puerto Montt and will go back to Cochamo for two more weeks of climbing with mi amigo Dan from the Red River Gorge. After Cochamo I will be heading back to the states to pick up Bertha for a two month road trip just like old times!

Successful trip! Back to basecamp..

Do the Camel Dance!

Six weeks in Morocco was definitely interesting to say the least. I was in class about 95% of the time but we did manage to squeeze a little free time in and made a two day camel excursion into the Sahara to spend the night in a nomad tent.

We had one day off a week and every day off I would get out extra early to climb some of the tallest objectives around: 10+ pitches of mostly solid (sparsely) bolted limestone face climbing, crimping and high stepping all day long to reach the summit of the selected formation of that day.

I ended up getting sick on Thanksgiving which was quite the bummer as I missed out on a day of climbing but also because our host made an incredible dinner for us including roasting a whole lamb who was marched into camp the morning of and was food by the end of the night. Gives you a perspective of where your food comes from.


Mitch who is a friend of mine, an apple farmer in upstate NY, and a climber ended up organizing to come out to meet up for 2 weeks. Although I was quite busy with classwork, we still managed to get out and climb quite often and when I couldn't get out he was always able to find a partner with someone else in class or a local.. I always look forward to our random meet ups and wonder where we will cross paths next!

The course finished out with my successful completion of the Wilderness First Responder certification. We literally had no time to spare and were on our way out as soon as we finished. I flew back to Philadelphia where I would travel through three continents in three days and four continents within a week. As always, my stay at home was extremely brief and within days I was already on my way back down to South America.

I would return to Patagonia to complete my next rock climbing class (Rock 301). I was greatly looking forward to this class as we would be climbing at a place called Valle Cochamo which I have been dreaming of for over a year now. We would also be climbing at a place named Frey in Argentina. More on that in the next post...

Onto the pics!

The "Ferraris" of the Sahara

The "Camel Dance"

Playing on sand dunes at 6AM

Mitch peeking around the corner

Successful Summit shot!

Morocco!

looking to buy a motorcycle

A New Journey Begins

Matanuska Glacier, AK

Mountain Training School is broken down into three disciplines of skills: rock climbing, skiing, and Mountaineering. I decided that I wanted to pursue just the rock climbing discipline but the first rock course available to me wouldn’t start until September so I decided to complete the introductory mountaineering and ski courses to fill up some time until the rock class in September. Luckily for me MTS has basecamps in Alaska, Patagonia, and Spain so that meant I would be traveling to exotic destinations to complete my courses. First up was the Mountain 101 in Alaska.

The Team

Mountain 101 was a 21 day course highlighted by a 16 day back country trek through the Talkeetna Mountain Range. Our objective was to hike up the King’s river valley to access the King’s Glacier. From there we would traverse to the Chickaloon Glacier and descend the Chickaloon river valley. In total we trekked about 90 miles while carrying roughly 70 pound expedition packs. I had made a poor choice in selecting boots and by the time we reached the terminal end of the Chickaloon Glacier, I could barely walk and could no longer wear the boots. I ended up wearing flip flops for the last 50 miles of heinous bushwhacking. Both flip flops fell apart and I ended up sewing them together with dental floss then duck taping them to my feet; it was miserable, but not as miserable as wearing those boots haha! Anyway, I survived the course and had a 3 week break before attending Ski 101 in Patagonia!

King's Glacier Traverse

A real alpine start

It's funny that in Alaska it is easier to call a helicopter than it is to call a taxi...resupply mission

Devil's Club is a bitch

Those three weeks off fell around the Fourth of July and I spent them in the North East. I spent some time in New York climbing at the Gunks and some time in West Virginia hanging around Morgantown and climbing at the New River Gorge. Summer was in full swing and I had an amazing time with friends new and old. Unfortunately three weeks were over in a flash but that also meant it was time to head south of the equator to Chile!

Summersville Lake, WV

El Portillo

I would spend a total of 9 weeks in South America first attending a 3 week Ski 101 course and then a 6 week Mountain 201 course. For Ski 101 we stayed at a hostel in downtown Santiago and skied at various resorts in the surrounding Andes Mountain Range. The highlight was skiing at a resort called El Portillo which is nestled in the Andes on the Chile/Argentina border within shouting distance of Aconcagua which is the tallest mountain peak in South America. I learned to ski and then was quickly on my way to MTS’s basecamp in Coyhaique, Chile which is in Patagonia proper. I attended the 6 week Mountain 201 course which was highlighted by a 30+ day trek through the Northen Patagonian Ice field. The Patagonian Ice fields are the largest ice fields in the world outside of Antarctica and our goal was to traverse a 10 mile section of the ice cap proper. Unfortunately between foul weather caused by the El Nino and poor group dynamics, we did not achieve our goal. Regardless of that fact, we did spend 32 days hanging out in isolation in one of the wildest places on Earth. This course tested all of our physical and mental fortitude but we managed to survive. If you know me well at all, then you know I have an extreme dislike of winter, winter weather, cold, rain, and snow and the only thing that kept me going was the idea of starting my first rock climbing class in sunny and 75 Spain. I couldn’t believe I was giving up my North American summer for South American winter but in the end it would be a very positive experience. Besides, I am trading North American winter for Patagonian summer so it all evens out in the end!

Boat ride across Lago Leoness

Metric F-ton of gear

High camp @ Red Rocks

41F degree agua. Mucho Frio? SI!

Lago Fiero

Puertozuelo

From Chile, I stopped in Philadelphia for basically an extended layover and as quickly as I arrived, I was on my way to Spain. I planned to be in Spain a few days days early so I could take a day to explore Bilbao. While staying in Bilbao I recieved a sign that seemed like the world was saying “welcome to Spain, you are exactly where you are supposed to be.” I caught a bus to Potes, which is the location of MTS basecamp and where my course would begin. I was finally back in my element although it was now almost 6 months since I had been climbing regularly. I felt relieved to be in such a beautiful place at a much slower pace with an amazing atmosphere and even better food (the cheese is incredible!). The next 6 weeks were spent climbing various locations around the Pico de Europas as well as other well know destinations such as La Pedriza, near Madrid and Riglos, just south of the Pyrenees. A lot of class time was focused on technical rope skills and every day I was expanding my knowledge of climbing and becoming more proficient with rope skills. Overall it was an extremely positive experience and I can’t wait to get to Patagonia to climb Valle Cochamo!!!

Pico De Europa

Yelmo on La Pedriza

Working hard or hardly working?

Riglos

Andrea over 600 feet up on the crux pitch of Mosquitoes and a group on "El Trono"

Where does that leave us? Well, currently I am writing this while sitting on a train bound for Madrid. My next rock class doesn’t start until the end of December and to fill the time in between I have a Professional Development class to attend which includes obtaining a Wilderness First Aid certification. Did I mention that we get to do our classes in exotic locations all around the world? Well tomorrow I hop on a plane to Marrakech, Morocco and then will take a 6 hour bus ride to Todra Gorge. Todra Gorge is a winter vacation climbing mecca for European climbers and we get to spend the next 6 weeks at the mouth of the gorge. I am not looking forward to completing actual school work (isn’t that why I chose to be a climbing guide? Haha!) but I am looking forward to pulling on the perfect limestone that makes up Todra Gorge.  

Waking up under a 1000 year old chestnut tree

Riglos

Inspiration, Move me brightly

Two posts in under 24 hours...what's going on?