Just back to El Chalten after a breath taking climb up Mate Poro on the North Pillar of Fitz Roy. Madaleine Sorkin and I had yet another Princess Cruise together. Pretty inspiring to climb a really big mountain with a great girl friend! Excellent hand jams were plentiful, and the Gringos Perditos variation was great fun, super cool sculpted holds. Lucky for me the 3 bivis were so much warmer then most I have had in this part of the world, and we had plenty of food!
Madaleine was game for anything and did super well on her first route here, WELCOME to Patagoina Mad, you’re a rock star. The wet snowy icy bits were a great challenge for me. Madaleine was generous enough to let me have all that terrain and I am proud to have navigated it with some efficiency. Not exactly my forte, but I am learning! It was a bit of a last minute decision to head up Mate Poro (our original plan was too frosty) and so we did not have ascenders which meant a bit of extra effort. Following with a heavy pack felt pretty extreme. Jumaring would have been much faster…. good training for the next adventure!
The weather is still so good, so this post is brief since I get to head back to the Mountains tomorrow morning! surte para las hypothermia princesses!