'Eternal Flauta' added to El Mochito in Patagonia by Mati Korten, Ignacio Mulero

At the end of last year, Matías Korten from Argentina and Ignacio Mulero from Spain completed and freed a short new route on El Mochito, the granite wall located above the Niponino camp in the Cerro Torre group in Patagonia. Situated to the right of No Bad Weather (Jeremy Collins, Renan Ozturk, and Cedar Wright, 2009), Eternal Flauta is Korten's second addition to the mountain’s east face, following his first ascent of El Camino del Guerrero in 2019.

Mulero explained, "The route is located on Mochito, just below Cerro Torre and Cerro Mocho. It is one of the lower walls and quite protected from the wind, making it possible to climb in less-than-ideal weather windows.

Korten first attempted the route alone in autumn 2020, climbing the first three and a half pitches before deciding to rappel. After two summers, he returned with Facu Jios during a bad weather window with rain and wind, and together they finished pitch 4. This spring, Korten came back alone and opened pitch 5.

On the fourth attempt to complete the route, I accompanied him with the goal of finishing it and free-climbing the pitches that had previously been established with the use of aid. By the end of 2024, we finally managed to complete all the pitches, free climbing them all. Eternal Flauta is 220m long, graded 7a+, and, as Matías said, is dedicated to some musicians who sometimes walk through the valley...

Info: www.pataclimb.com