Cerro Apidame or Cerro Colorado (La Pirámide), Patagonian desert towers

When it rains in the mountains ones options are limited.

If your in North Wales you can sometimes avoid the rain on the coast at Gogarth or go sport climbing on the Orme. If you are in the Lakes and the weather's bad its harder.

Around Lago General Carrera however things are different. Looking out from the balcony the promised mountains were cloaked in cloud. Somewhere out there lay Mt St Valentine and its great unclimbed face. There was to be no climbing in the mountains today. Today we would have to go with Plan B.

This was Plan B.

La Pirámide above Chile Checo

Anywhere else Plan B would be Plan A.

After paying a trespass fee of a bottle of tequila to the local Gaucho we abandoned the pickup and strolled into the Jeinimeni National Park and up towards the geological feature dubbed la pirámide. We were not the first to climb here. Jim had brought others before and was keen to pit his new recruits against the route they had put up in 2010.

Our experiences carrying loads to the Torres Glacier made this feel like a path. The tussocks of grass and Huánuco paths proved preferable to mobile moraine and glacier and we soon crested the rise to the camping spot by some springs below the pirámide. After we erected our tent the setting sun caught the prow of the feature, a clear master line and enticed us into running our gear up the final talus slope to the base of the crag. In the fading light we peered upwards. This was amazing.

The next morning it seemed appropriate to repeat the existing line. It would be a nod to those before us and more importantly it would allow us to scope the cliff, to view those other cracks from above and below. Four pitches of steep jamming later we made easy ground and scrambled to the top in time to watch two condors catching thermal soar around us. We were impressed, the rock was good, the lines were good and the situation was amazing. Even better some new lines had leapt out at us.

John climbing on the Ultimate Basault Experiance

The main prow we had seen highlighted by the deepening shadows looked possible. It would involve escaping from the deep cracks and getting onto the faces of the hexagonal features. There did appear to be small seams between the columns to allow trad gear. The prow flowed upwards, slabby to start but steepening. The first proper ledge was at sixty meters height. After some debate we swung in and bolted a belay at thirty meters on a small foot ledge, the only possible stance available. I abbed down checking the gear and decided it would be protectable.

There was some talk of pre placing some gear to ensure a successful outcome but we decided that this would take something away from the route. John led the first pitch, this thirty meter pitch weighed in around E3 and was excellent with the slightly runout crux coming just prior to the belay. I then took over and managed to gain about five meters before pulling off a small crimp and taking the lob. Slightly spooked I continued upwards towards the crux moves guarding the wider upper crack. My nerves got the better of me and after fiddling in tiny wires I found myself again hanging on the rope. I pushed on ‘french free’ to the second belay.

John seconded and then offwidthed to glory and the top.

We returned a few weeks later and swapped leads, I led out pitch one and John dispatched pitch two leaving a three star offering weighing in at around E4 6a.

Many thanks for Jim Donini for taking us to such a phonominal crag X.

John leading the second pitch of the Ultimate Basalt Experience with David belaying. Thanks to Jim Donini for photograph.

Topo of routes on prow section of La Piramide

Topo of ledge section of La Piramide showing routes climbed. This area is distinguished by the prominent ledge at a quarter height.

Perfect Hands all the Way - North Six Shooter - Indian Creek

The west aspect of North Six Shooter

I arrived back to the Creek Pasture camping from my rest day in Moab to be greeted by a dubious plan from Ben. He had just returned from climbing the North Six Shooter by the Lightening Bolt Cracks. Whilst there he had spied a possible new line on the west face, branching out of the existing offwidth route on that face, halfway up the first pitch. I was quickly enlisted for an attempt the following day.

Ben posing in the sun prior to the climb

A leisurely start (we were only doing one route after all) got us to the base of the face by midday. I then racked up and launched up the relatively steep, but easy first pitch. I was soon at the hanging belay, dangling off some bombproof cams, eyeing the bolts and ledges of the adjacent routes belay with envy.

Dave leading the first pitch

Ben soon joined me and led through, establishing himself in the squeeze chimney, and then launching onwards and upwards into the "ringlocks" (a crack bigger than fingers but too small to hand jam). Strenuous climbing led him through a bulge to sandy face holds and a hand jam sized pod and good gear. Here he hesitated, upwards momentum stuttered as he hopefully caressed unlikely looking features. Eventually he committed to the moves and moved up, sidepulling creaking flakes and edges. The inevitable happened and he exploded backwards into space in a shower of debris from the now non-existent fragile holds.

Hanging on the rope a few meters lower he commented that we now knew which holds not to use.

Ben in the chimney

A second attempt was more successful and Ben moved upwards and became partially obscured by the bulge. Floating down from above I heard phrases such as, "Its no good" & "arghh that's terrible" as he moved onwards. The rope intermittently moved out as he negotiated the unknown ground above. Eventually, blind cracks above necessitated a desperate traverse right towards "good holds", "less steep rock", & "salvation". I cowered on the belay, attempting to make myself small beneath my helmet as rocks cascaded down. I could see Ben run it out to a hopeful looking crack, where he then frantically attempted to place gear whilst one hold after another disintegrated under his weight.

Calling up to enquire as to the quality of the gear resulted in obscenities I'm not going to repeat.

After a moment for composure upward progress was resumed, further optimistic gear was placed (and pulled on) and the summit ledges reached.

Ben passing the bulge

I followed, feeling slightly shocked by the difficulty of the moves upwards, and was soon at the last good runner before the traverse. After a good shake out I removed the protection and crimped sideways on tiny sandy holds. Brushing them only made them sandier. Hard moves led a highly optimistic yellow alien and a poor rest. Moving up from this the holds collapsed underneath me and I was off, hanging on a cluster of small cams and wires. I also pulled hard on these pieces to gain the ledge above, casually flicking them free of the rock from above.

Easy ground led to the summit where we posed for photos.

Ben & Dave on the summit

We thought an appropriate name for the route was, "Perfect Hands all the Way" as this was the phrase Jim had been sandbagging us with all week. There was that good hand jam at half height after all!

We climbed the route with a couple of falls and a pull on some gear at about 5.11+ C2 R and I believe it would probably go free at E6 6b. (just to mix grades).

All in all tottering horror show worthy of a place on the Llyn.

The west face of the North Six Shooter. The existing route climbs the continuous wide crack to the left of the face whilst the route we climbed ascended the middle set of discontinuous cracks before heading diagonally rightwards to the ledges at the top right of the face.