Fitz Roy: The first Alpine ascent
Jan 20, 2005 03: 17 EST
No luck on Fitzroy yet this season, except for a Romanian team, who successfully climbed Fitzroy’s East face on December 27. Big-wall climbers and a BASE jump attempt have all been halted by severe weather and rain.
Forty years ago, on January 16, 1965, Fitzroy had a remarkable climb by two young and totally unknown Argentinean climbers. Marcelo Eduardo Espejo from Argentina has their story.
Fitz Roy: 40 years anniversary of the first alpine style new route
By Marcelo Eduardo Espejo for ExplorersWeb
January 16, 1965 two climbers accomplished what is still today considered as one of the most remarkable climbs on the Patagonian spires. José Luis Fonrouge and Carlos Comesaña reached the summit of Fitzroy for the second time in History.
They had climbed the virgin Super-couloir known as the ‘Supercanaleta’. For summit proof, they retrieved a carabiner left there by the 1952’s French expedition and left an Argentinean flag in its place.
The straight path not always easy
The obvious and impressive 1800m/6000 ft long gully was first explored by Hans Zechner in 1974. It was the straightest way to the summit, but far from easy. Weiskopf would attempt to climb it in 1962 and 1964, but failed both times.
Jose and Carlos were part of a five-member team that split up even before reaching the foot of the wall. One year before they had attempted the huge NE Dihedral and knew well what to expect in the area.
3 days, 20 pitches
For warm up they made a first climb of the Guillaumet Spire, reaching the top in alpine style through the NW spur in 36 hours.
January 14, they went for the Supercanaleta. It took them only three days to summit and climb back in alpine style, fixing 20 pitches on the way. This was a big difference compared to the French expedition, the only ones who had summited Fitzroy before. The French team, led by the European climbing legend Lionel Terray, worked the route for a month and aid-climbed most of the wall to get to the top.
Winter repeat
Even today, the Supercanaleta on Fitzroy is considered a first class climb.
Another Argentinean team (Eduardo Brenner, Sebastián de la Cruz and Gabriel Ruiz)
repeated the route in the first winter climb of the granite tower.
Carlos Comesaña and Jose Fonrouge went on to other amazing climbs - the Poincenot spire, Aconcagua’s South face, Torres del Paine, South face of Cerro Catedral and climbs in the Antarctic Peninsula.
In 2001, the saga ended when Jose died in a plane crash.
Story compiled for ExplorersWeb by Marcelo Eduardo Espejo, from Argentina.
Images courtesy of Tecpetrol’s Cuadernos Patagónicos (Patagonian Notebooks). Top image, Supercanaleta’s front view. Bottom pic, Fitz Roy West face’s routes: 1. Afanasieff route; 2. Supercanaleta; 3. Czech route; 4. American (Californians) route
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