A couple Belgian climbers, Sean Villanueva and Nico Favresse, teamed up with Utah climber Ben Ditto and spent 13 days in early February climbing the first free ascent of the stunning 4,000-foot-high East Face of the Central Tower of Paine. The Towers of Paine, lying in Patagonia in southern Chile, are some of the world’s most beautiful mountains. The Central Tower, its centerpiece, is simply an astonishing granite tooth. The South African Route the trio climbed, originally graded 5.10 A4 after its two-season first ascent in 1973 and 1974, ascends a huge dihedral that splits the face.
After the climb, they reported on Xpedition.be, a Club Alpin Belge site: “There are some spectacular pitches up there on amazing granite with incredible moves! We had an absolutely awesome time. Jamming, climbing and hanging out!” On only two of the 13 days on the wall were they “locked up” on portaledges because of bad weather. Otherwise, even on marginal weather days, they managed to climb at least one pitch. They were lucky...the Patagonian weather gods were smiling on them.
For more info and photos from the ascent, check out the blog at Xpedition.be. Well done, lads!
Photographs above: The Central Tower of Paine with the route on its right side.
Sean Villanueva, Nico Favresse, Ben Ditto (left to right) on the Tower’s summit.
Photographs courtesy Xpedition.be
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