Austrian freeclimber David Lama audacious dream of scaling Patagonia's mammoth Cerre Torre – a granite needle with an elevation of 3,128 metres (10,280 feet) - comes one step closer to reality with his first assault on the beast...
"We hiked up to Cerro Torre with high expectations for our first attempt this year. Unfortunately, we achieved no progress. We made it up to last year’s highpoint, but no further.
"The night in the Bergschrund on the Col was short and cold, but first when we started climbing it got really shitty. There was a thin layer of ice in most cracks and also on parts of the rock. There was enough ice to make climbing with the hands really slippery but not enough to make good use of the ice gear. In hard-laboured climbing, we made it up to the bolt traverse, there the weather forced us to quit our attempt.
"So I’m still stuck in the same situation as last year, not having seen the upper part of the route and still lacking information on the headwall, such as rock quality or features for freeclimbing.
"I hope we will soon get a share of good weather and conditions to be able to make it to the summit. Then I’ll be able to see if there is a possibility to try out for a free attempt. As far as possible I would like to stick to the compressor route; I’ll refrain from bolting in rap-style. Should variations from the original compressor route be necessary for a freeclimbing attempt I will have to do that on lead - an intense venture only to be used for those short periods of good weather on Cerro Torre.
"At the moment, I’m frustrated that we were not able to achieve progress on the mountain. But we’ll take comfort in drinking some Patagonian beer and do what most people are so good at doing here... Waiting."
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