Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll completes solo Torres del Paine skyline traverse

Three years after his ground-breaking solo traverse of the Fitz Roy massif in Patagonia, and just a handful of days after the coveted first free ascent of Riders on the Storm in the Paine massif together with Nico Favresse, Siebe Vanhee and Drew Smith, Belgium's Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll added yet another hugely impressive milestone to his climbing career with an astounding enchainment of the four main Paine towers.

From 23 to 26 February the 43-year-old mountaineer followed the striking skyline of the massif, climbing Torre Sur, Torre Central, Torre Norte and La Peineta in a single push and on his own to complete what he has now called "Travesía Doble M".

While the south, central and north towers have been linked before in the past, this is the first time the entire skyline including La Peineta has been enchained. Villanueva spoke to planetmountain to provide more details about what local expert Rolando Garibotti has described as "the longest and most thorough traverse of the Torres yet."

Sean, when did the idea of this skyline traverse come to mind?
Well, after the Moonwalk Traverse I started thinking about it, then last December it came to me in a dream, while I was recovering from a broken elbow and it seemed I wasn't going to be able to go to Patagonia at all. After Riders On The Storm I didn't think I would have the opportunity to try, I had even let go of the idea, but then just as I was about to move to Chalten I saw a weather window in the forecast and I decided to stay on.

You climbed the four main towers, Torre Sur, Central Tower, North tower, then Peineta. Why in this direction? And how much of this had you climbed before?
I suppose because it's more difficult than the other direction, and more of an adventure. I had previously summited Central Tower via the Bonnington route, Riders on the Storm, the South African route and El Regalo de Mwono. 18 years ago I had also attempted the North Tower with Nico Favresse: La Ultima Esperanza on the West Face was our first climb in Patagonia and we bailed about 3 pitches from the top because of bad weather. Now I had topos of all the routes, but I hadn't climbed them before except for the Bonnington route, as I mentioned, 18 years ago. This time it was my rappel down the North Face of the Central tower.

How much gear did you take? And what style did you adopt?
Double rack to #2, one #3 one #4, nuts, 10m leaver cordelette, lead rope, tagline, clothing, sleeping bag, mat, 2 gas cannisters, stove, crampons, 2 ice-axes. I chose to rope-solo the rock climbing sections, jumaring with the backpack on the second, and soloing the scrambling sections with my backpack.

So you started your adventure on the South Tower. How was day 1?
It snowed and rained all night, I woke up wet, all the walls around were plastered in snow, so I was in no hurry. I left Campo Britanico at midday, walked up the De Agostini Valley on my own and reached the base of the South Tower at 5:30 pm. I was surprised by how clean it looked, so started up Il Lungo Sogno (900m 60˚ 5.10 A2) on the mountain's west ridge. Conditions were good and I climbed the first 3 pitches, until 9:00 pm. Then I rappelled down to the big ledge at the top of the second pitch, made water and food and slept for 6 hours.

The next day you continued to the summit of Torre Sur
In the morning the wall was covered in rime and ice, it was cold. I started climbing at 6:40 am and found it challenging with the rime. On the second pitch of the day, an icy-offwidth chimney, I had to resort to aid-climbing, which made progress slow. But then the temperatures went up and the rime quickly melted away, conditions were good after that. It's a very long voyage of a route, but superb all the way. I summited at 6:30 pm.

Then what?
I immediately started rappelling down the Aste (800m) to take advantage of the last light. The last few rappels were in the dark. I reached Col Condor by 11 pm and slept here for 5 hours.

That's not much! Next up, the tallest of them all, Central Tower
I chose the Kearney-Knight (850m 5.10 A2) on the southwest face of Torre Central. It's the most obvious line. I set off at 6:30 am and on the whole I'd say the climbing was difficult, I even had to resort to aid on some pitches. I reached the summit in the evening, at 7:40 pm. The conditions were perfect up there, much better than they had been over 10 days earlier, but I did not linger as I was worried about the bad weather that was forecasted for 24 hours later.

Then down a route you know well, the Bonington-Whillans
Well, not really as it had been 18 years ago. But I crossed 3 teams who pointed me in the right direction - grazias amigos! The last few rappels to Col Bich were in the dark.

From the col you hopped straight onto the North Tower, is that correct?
Yes, I decided to keep climbing up the North tower at night via the Monzino route, but then I started feeling slow in my decision making so I decided to stop and sleep a few pitches below the North Summit.

You must have been exhausted. Did you ever consider abandoning your climb?
No, never.

So then?
I slept for 2 hours, woke up before my alarm, and was excited to get moving again. I started climbing at around 5:45 am and immediately noticed that my decision making was much better and faster.

Onwards up North Tower, with its 2 distinct summits. What was the climbing like here?
Pretty easy. Mostly scrambling. I just made a mistake on the first pitch in the dark. I was 30 meters too far to the left... I lost some time to get back on route, and reached the summit at 6:25 am, and then the north summit (100m 5.9) at 7:37 am. From here I made the 450m rappel down Spirito Libero to the col below Peineta.

The last peak in this traverse. Certainly the least famous. What can you tell us about this mountain and the route you chose?
Rolando Garibotti had once told me that any traverse of the Paine towers should include La Paineta. It makes sense. I was going to climb an easier route called Billy The Kid, but then while rappelling the North Tower I ran into local guide Seba Rojas and he suggested I should go for Puro Filete (300m 5.11 A1). When he showed me the route, it made a lot more sense as it follows the closest line to the skyline, a crack from the bottom all the way to the top. There were a few difficult sections where I had to resort to aid, but it's an absolute king line.

And then?
For the descent I continued north into unknown terrain. It was scary because I didn't know if I would find places to put gear for rappels down the northwest face... I ended up in a huge overhang, unsure if my ropes would touch the gully below. When I pulled the rope and they touched the ground, I was relieved. And when my feet were finally on the ground I knew I had completed the traverse, as all I had to now was walk down the gully to Campo Japones. It was about 4:30 pm.

That's just under 3 days! That was quick! Speed vs safety?
Both were important, and in a sense speed was safety because bad weather was on its way.

Why solo once again?
For the adventure and to learn about myself.

How alone were you on this traverse?
I certainly wasn't lonely. I crossed 3 teams on the rappels of the Central Tower, 2 teams on the rappels of the North Tower and one team on the summit of Paineta.

So how do you rate it?
It was mind blowing to be able to walk into one valley, traverse over 4 towers, and then walk out a different valley, carrying all my stuff. It felt absolutely awesome to be up there on my own moving over this terrain.

You called it Doble M
Yes. I decided to call it the Doble M in reference to the famous hikes in Torres Del Paine, the W and the O, and because the shape of the traverse is in the shape of 2 M's.

Last question Sean: what about your whistle?
My tin whistle! I forgot to add the most important piece to the gearlist! I played at the bivies while melting snow for water, but unfortunately I didn't play on the summits because I was in too much of a hurry! Next time perhaps!

Sean Villanueva thanks: Patagonia, Petzl, SCARPA, Samaya, Julbo

Reference: www.pataclimb.com