MTS Plan Your Own Expedition with GS3

The idea

Jordan, Sean, and I are the only 3 students left in the 3rd class at the Mountain Training School. After 9 months of classes together in backpacking, skiing, outdoor education, glacier travel, mountaineering, Wilderness First Responder (WFR), Rock climbing, and Alpine Climbing its time to do a trip with out instructors, just the students. We all like Rock climbing and had talked with our rock climbing instructors about the possibilities of establishing a new route in Cochamo. They thought it was a good idea and since there is sooooooooo much rock and its only been climbed since '98 there is alot of potential for good climbs that are not too hard.

Pre Trip

"The protests are will either get better or get worse, so you all need to get the F--- out, we'll help you make plane tickets tomorrow." Ben Gorelick, the director of the Mountain Training School tells all the students and instructors. The Aysen Region of Chile is have wild protests. There is no fuel at the gas stations, the roads leaving the citys are blocked, the grocery store says it has 3 days of fool left, and the streets are on fire and filled with protesters.

We all made plane reservations to Puerto Montt. Sean, Jordan and I already had plans to fly to puerto montt but not for another week, our trip just got extended by a week. In Puerto Montt we bought food, fuel, and a few miscelaniuous supplys we needed for 42 day trip into the Cochamo Vally with the hopes of establishing a new rock route. This is the story of our trip.

The Crew

Jordan Lamarche, Canada

Sean Post, Massachusets

Gabe Kelley (Me): Alaska

Outline

Day 1 (March 2): Left Puerto Montt and hiked in
Day 2-4: Day trips to Pared Seca (Dry Wall)
Day 5-8: Climbed No Hay Hoyes (There are no todays) 5.11-
Day 9-11: Rested and climbed at Pared Seca
Day 12-15: Started climbing new route and fixing ropes
Day 16-17: Rest/resupplied
Day 18-21: Got to the top of our route
Day 22-25: Cleaned/bolted route
Day 26-28: rest/resupplied
Day 29-33: Route Established
Day 34-39: Rest
Day 40: Climbed the route free
Day 41: Hiked down from high camp
Day 42: Hiked to town

Day 1-4

March 2nd:
The van pulled up the the hostel at 9 AM. We where there with 4 Large duffel bags, 3 large backpacks, and 3 other smaller bags, alot of junk for 3 people. We loaded up and drove 2 hours to the trail head where we arranged to meet and have 3 horses help carry in our gear. Each horse took 75 kg of gear so we were each left with a mid weight pack for the 4 hour hike into La Junta (the camp ground).

March 3rd:
We hiked 15 minutes to Pared Seca which translates to "dry wall".

This is the place to be for bad weather. It stays dry when its pouring rain, its close, and there are bolted single pitch routes. We haven't climbed rock in a over a month so we need a little time to get strong before we go out and try something new. After getting good and pumped we practice ascending ropes with our ascenders. It was raining pretty hard by the time we hiked back down

March 4th:
Woke up feeling pretty sore but we went back to Pared Seca for more. We practiced aid climbing, got much more comfortable with that. We went over it very briefly in the rock course but none of us really have any other experience with it.

March 5th:
The sun came out today, this place is so rediculasly gorgious. Everything was still wet so we went back to Pared Seca and hoped on some routes that we havn't climbed yet. They were just established this season. We all got a chance to lead. Fun day. After climbing we went over to the Refugio to chat with Daniel. Daniel owns the refugio, he is a climber who has alot of love for Cochamo and the people that come there. He was really stoked on our mission and suggested before we scout out a new route that we go climb a classic. I was into it but Sean and Jordan were a little skeptical. Daniel recomended Humpty Dumpty and No Hay Hoyes, both are 5.11- and in the Trinidad Valley. After a little chat we decided to go up with 3 days of food and climb both routes. There is a great bivy spot under a huge bolder in the valley. Its about 1.5 hours from the refugio

Day 5-8 (No Hay Hoyes)

March 6th:
Beautiful weather! We packed 3 days of food, bivy gear, 2 ropes, and a double rack to #3 cams (and a 3.5). We spent two hours hiking up to the bivy boulder. The hike is mind blowing, after an hour you get to the base of Trinidad where you look straight up the classic 20 pitch 5.11 Bien Vindeos a mi insomnia (welcome to my insomnia). There is also a great view across to the Gorilla which has some incredibly aesthetic cracks going all the way up it. From what I hear they are all unfortunately seemed and flaring.

March 7th:
We are up at 7AM for No Hay Hoyes. Its 6 pitches (5.9, 5.10, 5.10+, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11-). By 10:30 we have made the approach and are ready to climb. I lead the first pitch when I came to an unfortunate realization, one of our ropes is only 40 meters! I have to set up an anchor a little early, belay Sean and Jordan up then finish my way to the top of the 1st. Jordan takes lead on the 2nd. I didn't know until he was tied in that he and Sean haven't ever done trad leads yet. In our rock course we practiced placing pro, moch trad leads, lead on gear the instructors placed and low 5th class leads but no harder leads. Crazy!


Jordan starts up the lie back and is doing well. About 20 feet up he has placed to cams when his foot slips on some wet moss, but his pro is good. He climbs back up get another piece in and his foot slips again, but again good pro. The rest of the pitch Jordan climbs really well and sets up a bomber anchor. Both Sean and I fell in the same place when we followed, the rock was really wet and slippery.


I hoped on lead for the 3rd pitch. It starts with a crux power moved over a flake, I was not strong enough so I pulled on gear through the move. The rest of the pitch was as gorgeous as the rest of the route so far. The pitch tops out on a huge ledge. by the time Sean and Jordan get up there is it 4:00 so we decided to rap down and come back tomorrow. We got back to camp at 7:15.

March 8th
Early morning at 5:30 and out of camp at 6:15. Sean was on lead of the first pitch by 7:45, his first trad lead and he crushed. I followed next and was stoked to see a bomber 3 point anchor. I took second lead, it wasn't as pretty. On the long traverse I dropped a set of nuts, then nut I did manage to place pulled out when I moved past it. Sean followed next and on the traverse he accidentally unclipped both ropes, he could not reach down to grabs Jordan's rope so when Jordan got there the traverse was run out missing two pieces which left him with a pretty gnarly swing potential but he climbed through like a champ.

He continued on for lead on the 3rd pitch which we left an aid ladder on the first crux move. From the ledge at the top of the 3rd pitch we looked across the valley and spied a few possible routes, one in particular looked good. We have no idea if its been climbed, we'll have to wait till we get back to the refugio and check with the guide book.


Sean took lead on the 4th pitch and ended up with a ton or rope drag so he had to set up an anchor just short of the end of the 4th pitch then continue up the last 15 feet to the bolted anchor. Jordan took the next lead which was quite heady. He had to make a long easy unprotected traverse. One very committing move off the traverse was required to place the next piece. We were all holding our breath, this was not a good place to fall but Jordan killed it. From there there was great crack (hand and fist if I remember correctly) to the top of the 5th. I really enjoyed following and was glad I didn't have to lead it, but I am up next for the final crux pitch (5.11-). The 6th pitch started off continuing the great crack from the end of the 5th pitch. I had so much fun, not to hard until I got to the two bolt protecting a short slabby traverse to the bottom of a huge overhanging flake that reminded me of the beginning of the 3rd pitch. I was almost at the top and assumed that this flake was the crux, definitely a power move and I am not very strong so I put in the aid ladders on bomber #2 and #3 cams and quickly climbed over the flake only to find myself at a flaring fingertip crack which is actually the crux. I couldn't climb it, but I was so close to the top I figured I would just aid through it. Unfortunately I had left my aid ladders below me, but I still had my fifi hook so I just stepped on extra runners. I poorly placed 3 nuts (it was flaring) and was at a point where I could see the huge flat top out. I reached up for it but it was so slopy I couldn't pull up. All I needed was one more nut to step up on. As I looked down at my harness my hips pulled away from the rock causing the fifi hook to pull the nut out that I was hanging on. The nut below it blew but the first one a placed held. I fell about 12 feet on my first aid lead fall. It was crazy, I didn't see it coming so I didn't really know what was happening until I stopped moving. I grabbed one of the aid ladders and finished the pitch. Jordan climbed up then Sean followed.


We all made it! We were so happy. The view was gorgeous and the sun was hot, so we hung out on the huge table top summit for a half hour before we rapped down. We got back to the bivy boulder as it was getting dark.


March 9th:
We slept in, I ran up the the base of No Hay Hoyes to look for the nuts I had dropped on the 2nd pitch. I looked for about 20-30 minutes but could not find them, I was a little frustrated. My frustration went up 10 fold when I realized that on the way down the night before I dropped one of my shoes out of the pack. I knew I had them both when we reached the rock scramble which is good because it eliminated a lot of search area that I probably wouldn't have found it. I wanted to shoot myself. As I was searching for the shoe on the rock scramble I heard Jordan yell, he fond it near camp, Thank fuck! We had some friends we meet also camping at the bivy boulder from Yosemite named Josh and Maranda. They were going to climb No Hay Hoyes, so we mentioned that we had dropped a set of nuts, they said they would keep an eye out for them. We hiked down to la Junta and made pizza.

Days 9-11 Rest at La junta

March 10th:

Another beautiful day in the Cochamo Vally. We slept in. I went over to the refugio to look at the guide book, and it turns out no one has climbed the route we were oogaling from No Hay Hoyes. I came back to La Junta and spent the morning drinking mate.

At noon we went to the natural water slides with a few friends we meet here in Cochamo from Santiago, Pato, Javier, and FaFi. The water slides are only a 5 minute walk from La Junta and they are mind blowing. There is a river flowing over a perfect smooth granite slab with algee growing on it. The ride the slide you hike up the side about 60 feet then just sit down in the current and ride it down to the river.

After cleaning up in the river the six of us went over to climb at the Zebra Wall, Apnea (5.9 two pitches). Javier and Fafi and never climbed crack before, and the Zebra is a great two pitch intro.

The first pitch is harder starting out with a crux move off the ground, I hate when routes do that. I took lead. We brought a small rack and towards the top I got run out so I just juggled two cams for about 20 feet. I had got scared so I was really cranking on my hand in the hand crack and chewed up my knuckles, earned myself a few gobies (scabs on your knuckles). I yelled down to Pato and told him that when he leads he was going to want to bring a cam or two from lower down. Jordan followed me and left the pro in place. We tosse3d the rope down, Sean tied in and top roped to the top of the first where there is a nice big belay ledge.Pato forgot to grab cams from lower down and got rather run out and very scared. We very quickly had Sean but me on belay and lowered me to Pato. I grabbed the two cams I had juggled on the way up and gave them to Pato. He was able to rest for a while and felt a lot better. Pato climbed the rest of the pitch with no problems. Javier and Fafi followed the same way Jordan and Sean did, but they cleaned the protection.

The second pitch is an easier lower angle 5.7 finger crack. Very aesthetic, probably one of the funnest 5.7's I have ever climbed. Jordan lead it and loved it. Pato lead for his group then all 6 of us hung out on the big ledge at the top for a while enjoying the sun and conversation. We went back to camp. What a great day. Everyone at La Junta seemed to be in a good mood.


Hanging out at La Junta is really cool, there is an amazing community that forms, mainly between the climbers because they are all there for so long, the trekkers are usually only there for a few day but most climbers spend at least a week if not a month. Everyone goes out into separate valleys to climb or establish new routes, and then we all meet back at La Junta to drink mate, exchange stories and shoot the shit. There's no distractions from internet of phones so everyone is forced to get to know each other really fast, and I love that.


March 11th:

The first rain we've seen since the first few days we showed up in the Cochamo Vally. It was pretty shitty but we felt like being productive so Jordan, Sean, and I hiked up 5 ropes, the rack, 10 days of food, and a few other items to the bivy boulder in the Trinidad valley that we had been camping at for No Hay Hoyes. A very friendly man named Christian was camped there with his two friends that were sick. Christian is from a great climbing area just east of Santiago. We drank a few mates with him then we went back to La Junta to dry off. Josh and Maranda were at the fogon at la Junta and they had found the nuts I dropped, this made me very happy.

March 12th:

Rainy morning, so we took it slow. All the climber ended up at Parad Seca because it stays dry in the rain, it actually translates to dry wall. It was fun with all the poeple up there, everyone was climbing with everyone, like a said, really cool community that forms. When we got to Pared Seca Alex Harnold and Cerder Wright were there climbing (these guys are pro climbers Alex is famous for climbing half dome with out a rope). It was fun watching Alex struggle, good to know he is human though it was a 5.14.

Days 12-15, starting the new route

March 13th:

We went up to bivy boulder and managed to find a path to our proposed new route, it was actually really easy and only 15-20 minutes from the bivy boulder. Jordan climbed the first pitch while Sean went to start dinner. I followed and cleaned. We fixed the rope and repelled down. There was a feeling of gittiness shared by the three of us, we found a potential route and even got up the first pitch!

March 14th:

7 AM start. We jugged up the first rope then I began lead on the second pitch. I got into an area that looked like really fun climbing but it was so think with moss and dirt it was hard to know. I aided through, it was slow even for aid because I had to clean areas to place pro. From there Sean and Jordan jugged up then Sean took lead for the next two pitches which were relatively easy. We fixed ropes as we went. Jordan started up what we considered to be the 5th pitch but would end up being the 6th pitch. Jordan was out of sight when he yelled
Jordan: "Fuck, this isn't good"
Me: "Whats up Jordan?"
Jordan: "I'm supper run out above a ledge with no pro above or below me, I don't know what to do"
Me: "Okay well do what ever you need to do, but just don't fuck up"
Jordan: "I'm going to climb a little higher"
He climbs another five or ten feet
Jordan: "I'm holding on to grass, I have one nut in, I don't trust it at all"
Me: "Would the hammer and pitons help?"
Jordan: "Yes"
Me: "Okay Sean is going to tie you off so dont climb. He is going to belay me and I am going to bring you the hammer and pitons, got"
Jordan: "Yeah, I'm not moving unless I fall"
Me; "Don't fuck up!"

Sean tied off Jordan then put me on belay on the other rope. When I got about 20 feet below Jordan at his last good protection I didn't want to climb any further and end up stuck like him. He was able to lower a bunch of slings tide together and I clipped on the hammer and pitons. Jordan put in 2 pitons and while I had climbed to him managed to find another nut placement. So he now had four pieces. He tried weighting them slowly and the original nut popped. He had Sean lower him off the other nut and two pitons, he was very happy to get off that. We decided to make a modification to a famous saying "When in doubt, run it out, unless establishing a new route" we got back at 9:30

March 15th:

Jordan and Sean jugged up to finish up where Jordan left off. I hung out on the second pitch I had aided through yesterday and Spent a lot of time cleaning. Scrubbing moss and pulling dirt out of cracks. Turns out there is a lot of good crack on this pitch, I'm really excited about it. Jordan was able to successfully get to the top of the peak which is known as El Penon and has a route up it to climbers left called HomosaPIAS. When we got back to the bivy boulder new friends were sharing the camp, Emory from Boulder and Ryan from Yosemite.

March 16th:

We started the day having Sean top rope the first pitch. Then we all jugged up to the top of El Penon to clean out the area where Jordan got run out and freaked out a few days ago. It was my first time up that high and I was blown away. There is another peak about El Penon that has a ledge connecting it, there is a huge chimney that has to be climbed. We cant end it here. We spend the day cleaning the top of part 1, El Penon. There is a crazy crack system starting at the end of the ledge that connects the next part. All the crack have one focal point and spread out in all directions from there, its fascinating. Eventually we refer the this focal point as El Ojo (the eye).

Days 16 and 17, more rest

March 17th:

Rainy morning, we drank lots of Mate with Ryan and Emory until we were so buzzed we had to do something, so we hiked back to La Junta. When Jordan and I got back we decided to go do the water slides in the rain to clean off but we had to go right away while we were still hot from the hike.

March 18th:

The weather was marginal so we slept in then packed up the bolt gun, 27 bolts, and a gardening shovel. There is a really gross shit hole by the bivy boulder that is full and needs to be retired. When we got to the bivy boulder I dug a new shit hole, everyone was happy, I hope it lasts.

Day 18-21: Got to the top of our route

March 19th:

Jugged up and cleaned the first two pitches all day. This consists of sitting in a climbing harness and doing a few things. Sometime we use a metal brush to scrape off moss and loose dirt, this is relatively easy and satisfying because you can see your progress. Cleaning dirt out of cracks is the other part which is very difficult, it is slow and there are always some sort of root in there that is really hard to get out. However it is nice when you do get a crack clean and you can tell its going to be awesome.

March 20th:

Today we are going to keep pushing up the next part, to the chimney. Sean takes the first lead from the top of El Penon (about 40 meters about the traverse that goes to el ojo) and I take the second which are both easy and go smoothly. Jordan takes the 3rd lead and realizes that its not looking so good ahead of him, tough climbing and very little to no pro. He made a good choice to come down but he didn't quite feel as comfortable down-climbing it so he put in a good piton and we left it. Jordan was able to traverse around the face above him towards the chimney and set up an anchor there. The traverse was a bit scary to follow due to swing potential. From there we were able to wrap down to the big ledge and ascent to the top of El Penon and wrap down the back in a single rope. Now all the ropes are pulled to the top of El Penon.

March 21st:

We jugged back to the gully to the climbers right of the chimney where Jordan ended yesterday. I took lead there and ended up and a dripping #3, #4 crack. I aided up it and used the aid hook to pull over the top, it was a bit of a scary move but felt good. Sean and Jordan jugged to this anchor and Sean took lead from there. Sean was able to take it to the top out!

We jugged up then scrambled up to the summit just above the flat top out. The cloud came in and whited out. We were getting cold so we scrambled back to the fixed ropes and Jordan tried to rap into the chimney but couldn't find it in the white out so we decided to call it a day and go back to camp. We came back to the bivy boulder with a lot of energy, things are going so smoothly.

March 22nd:

I'm starting to really get over jugging up ropes. We jugged to the top then Sean was able to rappel 60 meters into the chimney and top rope back up. We all gave it a try, it was amazing, so fun! A lot of moss needs to be scraped but the cracks are not really clogged up which is nice. We got the ropes going down the chimney and then down to the ledge (2 more ropes below the bottom of the chimney).

Day 22-25: Cleaned/bolted route

March 23rd:

Scrubbed the top of the chimney.

March 24th:

We topped the bottom 3 pitches, the first two are below the chimney. The first one off the ledge is easy and boring, but the second pitch is fantastic and ends with a perfect #2 dihedral to a really cool belay ledge. The first chimney pitch has a tough move. The climbing above el ojo and the ledge is a lot harder then the pitches up el penon. Looks like we will divide the chimney into 3 shorter pitches. The chimney is 100m tall by the way.

March 25th:

Short day. Jordan and I jug up to put in a few bolts, we bolted anchors to the top of the chimney. Its now set, part 2 is 5 pitches, 3 of which are chimney.

March 26th:

We spent the day doing moch leads in the chimney to decide if we needed bolts and if so where. The second chimney pitch will need several, especially at the really fun part where your back is on one wall and your feet on the other just shimmying up. The top of this middle chimney pitch has the route crux at 5.10+.

day 26-28: rest/resupplied

March 27th:

Another beautiful day but we are almost out of food and are exhausted, we have been getting a lot done. We hiked down to La Junta and were stoked to see that Mono (a guy who lives in the Cochamo valley year round) left us a bottle of Old #7 and some fresh veggies! Of course with the beautiful weather I had to do the water slides.

March 28th:

Full rest day at fogon. We spent they day eating, drinking mate, and playing frisbee/ disc golf. At this point in time its getting slow and there are mostly only climbers, very few trekkers.


March 29th:

Kevin left today, he is the king of dirt bags, he hitchhiked to Patagonia from Las Vegas. At this point he is one of the few that has been in Cochamo longer then us. In the afternoon we hiked back up to the bivy boulder with 10 more days of food and fuel and more bolts.

Final Route Preping Days 29-33

March 30th:

Early morning and a productive day. Sean and I placed 6 bolts on the 2nd chimney pitch. Jordan cleaned the bottom chimney pitch and we think it goes 5.10. We also put a fixed line in attached to bolts connecting the top of the 8th pitch to the bottom of the chimney. The Chimney is all set and ready to be climbed free! We pulled the ropes that had been in place for quite some time now. There is way to much drag when pulling the ropes from the top (11th) pitch so we climbed up and drilled holes for a new anchor but we were all out of bolt, we when put them in when we send it free.

March 31st:

Cleaned the 1st two pitches below the chimney on what were are now calling Cerro Ojo. Bolted anchors and moved ropes down to El Penon. The top 5 pitches (all the Cerro Ojo pitches) are ready to be climbed free!

April 1st

Jordan finished cleaning the 1st pitch, I cleand the 2nd and Sean worked on the 4th and 5th. It turns out what were were planing on having as the 2nd pitch is a little too long so we chose to make the 1st pitch shorter and make an intermediate anchor. The 2nd pitch is really short and start with a bolted crux move at 5.10 then 3 more bolts on easy climbing. We placed 7 bolts today and drilled 3 anchors.

April 2nd:

Sean was about 15 meters off the ground ascending the first fixed rope when our Swiss friend Krischa showed up asking to borrow an extra #4. We gave it to him and he told Sean who is now 20 meters off the ground that if his elbow is bothering him that it could be tennis elbow or some other tendon issue and it can take 6 months to heal if hes not careful. Sean is going not going to climb or jug until we try to climb the route free. Jordan and I lead pitches 2,3,4, and 5. We cleaned about a metric shit ton of dirt out of beginning of pitch 6. We also bolted anchors for pitches 4 and 5.

April 3rd:

Sean took a full backpack of gear we no longer need to the fogon while Jordan and I finished up on the route. The 6th pitch needed one bolt and we drilled holes for the 6th pitch anchor. Literally the moment we agreed the route was ready to free it started raining. We started rappelling and pulling fixed lines as fast as we could. Though we are rushed to get down out of the rain we are both ecstatic to know that we have accomplished a big part of our goal, we have established an 11 pitch climb!. That night was crazy, the wind was blowing so hard. We built a fire and drank way too much mate way to late so we stayed up late listening to the wind blow which fueled our fire.

Waiting out the last storm Days 34-39

April 4th:

We woke up to four inches of snow on the ground and currently raining. Cold hike down to the Fogon. Pretty much just us at the Fogon.

April 5th:

Pancakes, Mate, Fire, Rain

April 6th:

Raining today. Krischa took off in the morning, now it is just us. After lunch two girls showed up! Its nice to have company, especially girls. They were gringas living in Chile, Janine lives in Puerto Varas, which is 20 minutes from Puerto Montt where we will fly out of. While we are talking to Janine and Elizabeth we heard familiar voices, it was Tao, Chris Ward, and Chris K, from GS4. We lost our marbles as we went out to greet them. What a surprise!. They had just finished their alpine course with MTS. We sat around for the rest of the afternoon and caught up with them, found out about their course and told them about our progress.

April 7th:

More rain. We all went to Pared Seca to climb. Sean, Jordan, and I left our harnesses and shoes cached at the bivy boulder so we had to borrow from GS6, fortunarly the shoes fit. Janine and Elizabeth showed up to hang out and watch, they had never seen people climb before.

April 8th:

Slept in, drank Mate and despite the rain we decided to go ride the waterslides with GS4, it had to be done. In the afternoon I went back with GS4 to climb at Pared Seca.

April 9th:

Beautiful day. We totally broke down our Fogon camp, and left 2 bags for the forses to carry down. The 6 of us hiked up to the bivy boulder to climb the next day!

Climbing it free Day 40

7Am up in the dark
10 AM first climber on lead. We have 3 ropes and 5 climbers. Sean is not coming because his elbow is bothering him alot. Tao climbed on the 3 man team with Jordan and I for the first 6 pitches then Chris K switched with Tao for the Cerro Ojo pitches.

Pitches
El Penon
1: 5.10 40 meters. Jordan and Chris Ward lead
2: 5.10-,25 meters. Tao and Chris K lead
3: 5.9, 50 meters. I lead for my team and Chris Ward lead. I climbed this on aid the first time when establish the route and did most of the claning on this pitch so I was glad to lead it, really fun pitch.
4: 5.7, 35 meters. Jordan and Chris K lead
5: 5.8, 40 meters. I lead and Chris Ward lead
6: 5.9, 50 meters. Tao and Chris K lead. We were waiting on the ledge eating lunch while Chris K was leading up the 6th to the ledge. The one bolt on this pitch is about 10 meters from the top anchor. We could hear him grunting then we heard a very calm "wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow" from Chris.
"Whats up Chris?:"
Turns out he took a 15 foot whipper onto the bolt, He was fine but hit his back on the rock kinda hard. We all had a quick lunch on the ledge, then swithced Chris K onto our 3 man team and put Tao on with Chris Ward.

Cerro Ojo start at 3PM
7: 5.8, 40 meters. Chris K and Chris Ward lead
8: 5.9, 50 meters (This is where the climbing gets really good). I lead, and Tao Lead.

9: 5.10, 30 meters. Jordan wasnt feeling so good, and Chris K was beat so I was about to commit to lead the last 3 pitches of Chimney but last second Jordan asked for the lead on this pitch. Chris Ward was on lead for his rope and had to Aid through the crux move. Chris Ward and Tao realized they were to tired to get the last two pitches so they rappeled down to the bottom of the chiminey and waited for us to finish. They need a second rope to make the rappels.
10: 5.10+, 40 meters. I lead, and I struggled through the crux move. I realized that most all of the bolts that we placed were good except two on this pitch protecting the hardest moves, they are both a bit high, so I ended up hanging on the draw while I clipped it. Chris K was so beat that he needed assistance getting to the top of the pitch and by the time Jordan got up it was dark. I took the one headlamp and started on the last pitch
11: 5.10- 35 meters: 35 very difficult meters. Though the stars were out bright, very little light made it into the chimney. I could see my hands well but it was almost impossible to see my feet so I franticly kicked until I found something to step up on. Adrenalin was powering me through every move I didn't think I had the strength to stop and place pro, so I ran it out a little bit until I had good stances. My right forarm started to cramp, I have never had that happen before. I made it to the top! Pounded the bolts into the predrilled holes and belayed Jordan up. I did my best to lean out and give him light. We gave eachother a quick high five, and a shout, now its time to get down, we wasted no time. When we got to the bottom of the Chimney poor Tao and Chris Ward were freezing. We staked rappels and who ever had the headlight would go first. We finaly got back to the bivy boulder at 12 midnight. Hell Yes we did it! Only Jordan and I got to stand at the top, I really wish Sean could have been there.

April 11th

Slept in then took all out gear to the Fogon.

April 12th

Up at 6AM, our bags were waiting for us at the trail head. Taxi to Ciudad Cochamo, and Bus to Puerto Varas where we meet up with Janine and partyed!

Images

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