New climb on Aguja Val Biois in Patagonia by Alessandro Baù, Matteo Della Bordella, Mirco Grasso

Taking advantage of the last weather window before the onset of strong Patagonian winds, the Italian alpinists Alessandro Baù, Matteo Della Bordella and Mirco Grasso managed to establish a new climb on Aguja Val Biois. The beautiful granite tower is located right next to Fitz Roy and it is on its east face, fairly sheltered from the winds therefore, that the team opened ¿Quién sigue?.

The trio reached the base of the mountain on the 9th of January after seven and a half hours of approach and, after opening and fixing the first three pitches, spent the night in a tent on the glacier. The next morning the climbers ascended to their highpoint with jumars and established the remaining 9 pitches, fighting against both the technical difficulties and the intense cold. Once they reached the south ridge they opted to descend. Talking to planetmountain, Alessandro Baù explained "there were strong winds from the west, but on the face we were fairly sheltered. We didn't continue to the summit because of the wind, because we would have been on the exposed arete."

The new route follows a crack system that runs parallel to La Torcida (Tom Ehrig, Felix Getzlaff, Lutz Zybell 01/2018) and shares only one belay with this climb, at the pendulum, while the rest is completely independent. The 500m line breaches difficulties estimated at 7a and A1.

"Commencing the season in Patagonia with this route was a good start, even if the weather didn't help us" explained Della Bordella. "We made the most of the good weather window, even if the conditions were very cold and difficult. The route was a real adventure, and our team worked well together". This is the first time that the three have climbed together. Bad weather has now reached the area, which is why the climbers are back in El Chalten.

Link: www.pataclimb.com

Della Bordella thanks: Karpos, Vibram, Ragni di Lecco, Kong, Ferrino, DF Sport Specialist, SCARPA, Evil Eye Eywear
Baù thanks: SCARPA, CAMP, Montura, Salice Occhiali, Reload Climb, EAT Freedom
Grasso thanks: Karpos, Wild Country, HDry, SCARPA