Torre Egger: Italians Patagonia bound

The preparations are in full swing, departure is imminent. Those who've never been on a big expedition before have no idea of what it takes to prepare all the gear for one of the most inhospitable peaks in the world. I usually wake up 10 minutes beforehand, pack my rucksack in the morning and then set off, but things are somewhat different now. Eight haulbags, two portaledges, 35 Friends, 165 bags of dehydrated meals etc etc... and we really mustn't forget anything.

We're about to set off for Torre Egger in Patagonia. The aim is to complete the new route we'd started last year up the centre of the "pear" shaped, incredible West Face. An 800m big wall, completely vertical or overhanging. Our progress last year averaged about two pitches a day (when the weather allowed us to climb) so in order to deal with long stints on the wall we'll now climb "capsule style" with our two "portaledge camps" , gear and food for up to 20 days of climbing.

Ermanno is used to this kind of adventure, by now he's almost lost count of all his expeditions to Patagonia and in El Chalten he wanders about like a rockstar. For Tomas and myself this is our third holiday in these mountains while for Nicola (who replaces Paolo Grisa) this is his first Patagonian experience, but we're sure he'll have no troubles at all!

Morale is high and we can rely on the best equipment, so for this we need to thank our technical sponsors. We're heading off slightly earlier than most (it'll be spring when we get there) because in November I need to finish my Mountain Guides course, and I need to thank my climbing partners for helping me out with the dates. I'm not going to say that we hoping for good weather because we know full-well that we'll have to battle against the elements and anyways, the terrible weather is part of the charm of places as unique as these. What we do hope for though is that we'll be able to light our cigarettes inside our jackets and that the wind will continue to blow in the right direction while we go for a wee!

The gear we'll use and our sponsors are: Ferrino, Zamberlan, Climbing Technology, Level, Beal, GM, Bliz, Dr. Zipe, Enervit, Ortovox, Trek'n eat, Marmot, Lizard, Rohner, Wild Climb, Cassin., Tecnica Group.

We would also like to thank: Cassa rurale di pinzolo, Gobbi mountain sport, Mountainfriends gruppo guide alpine Pinzolo, Gruppo guide alpine di Campiglio, Estancia Ricanor, cabanas Cerro Torre.

by Francesco Salvaterra

09/12/2013 - Ermanno Salvaterra and the Torre Egger attempt in Patagonia
Italian alpinist Ermanno Salvaterra recounts his recent attempt up the West Face of Torre Egger in Patagonia, carried out with Tomas Franchini, Paolo Grisa and Francesco Salvaterra in November. During the last expedition days Tomas Franchini and Francesco Salvaterra made the first ascent of the difficult and frightening Ruleta Trentino (650m M5 WI5) up the south face of Cerro Rincón.