Rock Climbing at Otter Cliffs

Over Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-27) ACS will be offering two special courses. The first is an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course and the second is a three-day “Beyond the Basics” Course.

 The AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course is a three day intensive course for experienced climbers who want to get into the world of guiding or become more confident with there personal climbing and top rope management. Details on the course and its prerequisites can be found HERE.

 ACS is offering a 15% discount on this three-day course making it the cheapest AMGA SPI Course in the US. Give our office a call for more details and for registration.

 ACS will also be offering a “Beyond the Basics” Course. This course is designed for climbers who are looking to become more confident in a top rope setting.  This course will cover in detail: Belaying and rappelling techniques, anchor building, top managed and bottom managed top rope set ups, haul systems, assistance skills, rope management and problem solving skills.

 The cost of this three-day course is $325.00. Spaces are limited. Call today to make a reservation and to receive the pre-course materials.

Make a reservation today!

207.288.2521

ACS owner Eli Simon at the base of Cerro Fitzroy

If alpinists are moths then Cerro Fitzroy is the flame. Year after year hundreds of climbers from all around the world fly to Argentine Patagonia to spend time in these beautiful mountains, and if the weather cooperates get a chance to climb Cerro Fitzroy.

In last five years four ACS guides have reached the summit of Cerro Fitzroy!!!!

Pete Fasoldt and Eli Simon on the Summit of Cerro Fitzroy in 2008

ACS guide Grant Simmons on the summit of Cerro Fitzroy!

ACS guide Joel Enrico on the Care Bare Traverse with Fitzroy’s north face in the background.

The Afanassieff (#17) is the line ACS Guide Grant Simmons climbed over three days. This monster of a route is 1,600 meters long and is one of the biggest routes in Patagonia!

This massive traverse is the route ACS guide Joel Enrico took to reach the summit of Cerro Fitzroy!

Below is some information about Cerro Fitzroy  taken from Pataclimb.com

General Introduction

Long before the ascent of any these impressive peaks was envisioned and the western explorers discovered this land, the king of this land was the wind, who shared its kingdom with the original inhabitants of this land, the Tehuelches. They referred to this mountain as “Chaltel” or “Chaltén” meaning smoking mountain, a name no doubt inspired by the clouds that so often trail from the summit. Unfortunately the western newcomers had their heads too full of heroes to celebrate and appreciate the poetry of the original Tehuelche name.

It was Francisco Pascasio “Perito” Moreno that renamed the peak after Robert Fitz Roy, an English astronomer and sailor (1805-1865), who was partly responsible for the first accurate mapping of the intricate watersheds and shorelines of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. On his second trip to Patagonia in 1834, together with Charles Darwin, Fitz Roy set out to explore the Río Santa Cruz in hopes of reaching the Andes, but after sailing 140 miles up river they were forced to turn around, resigning themselves to a very distant sight of the snow covered mountains. (1)

Of the mountain he later christened as Cerro Fitz Roy Moreno writes: “Los Tehuelches me han mencionado varias veces y con terror supersticioso, esta ‘montaña humenate’. Es el ‘Chalten’ que vomita humo y cenizas y que hace temblar la tierra…” He later on explains his reasons for renaming the peak “Cerro Fitz Roy”: “…como el nombre de ‘Chalten’ que le dan los indios lo aplican ellos también a otras montañas, me permito llamarle ‘Fitz Roy’, como una muestra de gratitud que los argentinos debemos a la memoria del sabio y enérgico almirante inglés…” The reasoning seems in accordance to the principles of the early explores, who felt they were discovering a land that had in fact been inhabited for almost 12.000 years. (2)

The clouds that so often trail the summit tricked everyone, from the Tehuelches to Moreno, into thinking the peak was a volcano. It was not until 1899 that German naturalist Rodolfo Hauthal visited the area and clearly established that the peak was in fact granite.

This ravishing peak epitomizes the beauty of Patagonia; Carlos Comesaña, responsible for the second ascent of the peak wrote: “As if the Pampa, tired of meekness, were kicking up its heels to shake off its century old pace, the fantastic pyramid of Fitz Roy rears up and pierces the sky under glimmering sun or fleecy storm clouds. This ideal of all mountains casts a spell on the climber and is worthy of his greatest efforts.”

From a climbing perspective this stunning peak is best described in the words of American Doug Tompkins, who after a successful ascent in 1968 commented “Fitz Roy was the peak to climb, the terrible Cerro Torre one to have climbed”. This short description of the very diverse character of the mountains in this area still holds true today. Fitz Roy provides some of the most enjoyable and high quality climbing to be found anywhere in the mountains. Its steep golden walls offer clean and mostly ice-free rock, perfect for free climbing, without the added difficulties of the snow mushrooms that cap the Cerro Torre group.

Each of Fitz Roy’s many flanks is particular in a different way; its east face is a big-wall like feature, while it’s north and west faces offer excellent alpine free climbing opportunities and its southeastern side, being it’s shortest, is it’s most popular. The best rock Fitz Roy has to offer is in it’s east and north face, particularly in it’s north pillar.

About 90% of the ascents of this peak have been accomplished by either of its two “normal” routes, the Franco-Argentine and the Californian. Only recently has there been an increased interest in the more obscure, longer and more difficult lines, many of which are still unrepeated. The future holds a vast repertoire of adventures, with countless unclimbed lines and alpine style ascents to be enjoyed.

Climbing history

The first serious attempt to climb the mountain was by three distinguished Italian mountain guides, Ettore Castiglioni, Giovanni “Titta” Gilberti and Leo Dubosc. They were part of an expedition led by Count Aldo Bonacossa. In early 1937 they reached the saddle just south of La Silla, since then referred as “La Brecha de los Italianos”. They had intended to attempt the southwest buttress, the line that much later become the “Californian” route. It was there where they had thought they would find lesser technical difficulties, but they were unable to continue past “La Brecha” because they did not have crampons, having left them somewhere in the couloir leading up top it. (3)

After an early visit to get to know the area in 1947, Argentine resident of Austrian origin Hans Zechner made two serious attempts to climb Fitz Roy, in 1948 and 1949, by the southwest and west faces. Aware of Bonacossa’s team failure on the south face, he decided to try via the opposite side, in hopes of finding a more reasonable route to the summit. It was Zechner who first envisioned the possibility of climbing what would later become the “Supercanaleta”.

In 1948 Zechner attempted the SW face (heading up the Poincenot couloir) and the west face (up “Hombre sentado” from the Torre valley) with Mario Bertone and Nestor Gianolini but they were forced to retreat by falling debris and later on due to lack of bivouac equipment. (4)

In 1949 Zechner returned with Rodolfo Dangl, Roberto Matzi and Agustine “Guzzi” Lantschner. Although they all lived in Argentina they all had been born in the Alps and were well versed in the art of climbing. Unfortunately the first impression marked the rest of the expedition: “…fantastic, grandiose, but much more difficult than we had imagined…”. They made three different attempts from the southwest and west face, reaching the top of the Hombre Sentado ridge twice. In hopes of getting a better look at the possibilty of climbing what would later become known as the “Supercanaleta” they made the first ascent of Cerro Pollone. As the writer Saint Loup pointed out, “this last expedition from Zechner departed with a great handicap, they intended to make a film. However, alpinism does not allow contradictory objectives, and therefore they returned home with a great film.” Saint Loup copntinues, “…Zechner est venu par amour, et revenu avec persévérance, persuadé que cette escalade justifiait les plus grandes sacrifices.” (5)

In the year 1950 the salesian priest Alberto Maria De Agostini, with the guide G. Gambaro made an attempt to climb Fitz Roy. Apparently they were forced to give up the idea due to bad weather. “It is unclear if De Agostini, an experienced explorer, had underestimated the difficulties of the mountain, or if he had overestimated the abilities of his guide, who was not known in the Italian mountaineering circles.” (6)

For those who have never rock climbed in Acadia National Park below are some of the best pictures we have gathered from twenty years of guiding and climbing in the area. I hope these photos convey the beauty and uniqueness of these amazing climbing  areas. These photos show climbing and guiding at Great Head, the Precipice, the South Bubble, and Otter Cliffs. These are the four most popular climbing areas in Acadia and host some of the best routes in the country. From 5.3 to 5.13 Acadia National Park is a climbers paradise.

Imagine a group of hungry lions that traveled across a massive plain stocking a gazelle. Just before the lions attack and can finally satiate their hunger the gazelle enrolls in a ten-day wellness clinic just for gazelles. The lions are left at the front door frothing at the mouth with hunger and bewildered by being so close, yet so far away from what they wholeheartedly desire. That is what the last 11 days here in town has felt like; the community of alpinists being the lions and these amazing peaks being the gazelle.

We had all been waiting and waiting, checking the weather three times a day hoping for the weather to clear so we could climb. On February 9^th the wind, snow, sleet and rain ceased for 24 hours and every climber in town fled to the mountains with heavy packs and huge smiles. It looked as though the lions were going to get the health conscious gazelle after all. We just needed to be patient.

Our goal was to establish a new route on the east face of Aguja Mermoz. We had most of our gear stashed at a high camp called Piedras Negras so our long approach was eased by the luxury of light packs. We arrived at our high camp around 8:00pm and set up our tent. The forecast called for a night of high winds and that is exactly what we experienced. With the nylon walls of the tent smushed in our faces by the endless whipping of the wind, we slept very little before our 5:00am wake up call.

With the rising sun we began our approach up and over Paso Guillaumet and on to the Fitzroy Glacier. We roped up on the glacier and picked our way through a sea of crevasses until we were finally looking up at the east faces of Aguja Mermoz and Guillaumet. Looking up at our intended line it seemed as though crossing the bergschrund would be squirrellier than we anticipated so we started to look for other options. We spotted a line of weakness on the neighboring Aguja Guillaumet and decided to shift our focus to this appealing line of continuous granite cracks.

I started leading up a beautiful gray corner system. Three long pitches of superb 5.10 free climbing brought us to a small ledge. Here Pete took over the lead and we continued upwards. Some pitches were better than others but overall the climbing was terrific. Pete’s final pitch was a steep hand and fist crack through a bulge, Pete referred to it as one of the best alpine pitches he had ever lead. From the top of pitch eight I took over the lead once again. Soon the steepness eased and we simul-climbed the final 200m to the summit snowfield. We stashed our gear at the snowfield and soloed the third class terrain to the summit. 

This was our third time on the summit of Guillaumet and each time I am blown away by the beauty of these mountains. We sat for a while and fully enjoyed the serenity of our position.

We ate the last of our food and began our descent back to the glacier. We staggered back to our base camp under the cover of darkness and in no time at all we were back in our wind-blown tent enjoying the simple beauty of rest for the first time in 17 hours.

We named our new route Dirigo, which is Latin for ‘I lead’ and is the Maine state motto. Dirigo is a great route on an amazing peak and we are psyched with our effort and our experience. We are once again back in town waiting for the weather to clear so we can return to the mountains and find whatever it is we are all looking for.

Eating and sleeping dominate the town scene. Sprinkle in some sport climbing, bouldering, and tons of dudes talking about climbing and weather and you have a good picture of the day-to-day here in El Chalten. For over a week now we have been waiting in town for the weather to clear, and it looks like it is going to happen. If this weather window stays solid we will be hiking in to the mountains tomorrow! Here are a few pics from life in town.

My travels seemed endless. Two buses, three planes rides, thirty eight hours in layovers, 11,000 kilometers, ninety five degrees of latitude and ten pieces of fruit. I arrived in El Chalten after 72 hours of traveling and I was psyched to stop moving, see some good friends and focus on climbing.

Once we arrived our friends informed us that we had caught the tail end of a good weather window and that we should get in to the mountains ASAP. Every year folks come to these mountains to climb and sometimes a month can go by without a chance to do so. We were not about to let this weather window pass us by.

We slept for a hand full of hours and then it was down to business. Our goal was to climb the Red Pillar on Mermoz. This route was established by a German hard man Kurt Albert in 1999 and is said to be one of the best alpine crack climbs in the world. The route is very sustained for 16 pitches with three pitches of 5.12.

We hastily packed our bags and began the long slog into the mountains. Eight hours of hiking brought us to a bivy spot at the beginning of the Fitzroy glacier. We set the alarm for 3:30am and got a few cold hours of sleep.

The quiet, pre-dawn hours were spent navigating the glacier and making our way to the base of a 200m steep snow slope that marks the beginning of the route.

We ascended the snow without any trouble and stashed our ice tools, boots and crampons at the beginning of the rock. We started to climb just as the sun was rising over the glacier. I was so psyched to be back in this range and to be climbing such an amazing route. We made good time up the first few pitches until we hit the first 5.12 pitch. Here, I was slowed to a snail’s pace but was able to climb the pitch without falling. The route continued up laser-cut crack systems and we did our best to free every pitch. By pitch four the sun was engulfed by clouds and the classic Patagonian winds began to blow. The temperature plummeted and we quickly became very cold. We shivered our way up some of the most amazing hand cracks I have ever seen. We arrived at the top of pitch 10 and we had a discussion about what to do. We weighed the pros and cons of continuing and decided that it was far too cold and windy to continue. We began the long descent back to our ice gear and back on to the glacier. We hiked back to our bivy and then all the way back to town.

We arrived in town to where some good friends had cooked an amazing feast for us and we all enjoyed the comforts of a warm house, a cold beverage and great company.

Despite not making it to the summit our first trip in to the mountains this year was awesome. We are now all waiting patiently in town for the next weather window to appear, so we can begin yet another adventure in the mountains! Until then – Bananagrams, empanadas and sleep!

Pete below the north pillar of Cerro Fitzroy

The Torres shrouded in clouds

In four days I will head south for my fifth Patagonian climbing expedition! I am extremely excited and I am as ready as I can be. My partner in crime is former ACS owner and all around hard hitter Pete Fasoldt. 

Pete in an alpine wonderland!

This trip will be our third time climbing together in the Fitzroy massif. We have many objectives and now we can only hope for good weather. We will spend one month based out of the small town of El Chalten.

Two other ACS guides are also spending the winter months climbing in Patagonia. Both Grant Simmons and Joel Enrico are presently in Chalten being blown around the mountains by the ceaseless Patagonian winds. I am very excited to spend time with these guys and have an ACS party at the southern reaches of the globe.

ACS guide Grant Simmons guiding at the South Bubble

ACS guide Joel Enrico all smiles in Yosemite.

I have spent countless hours organizing and packing and trying to take only what is needed. For me that leaves a lot of wiggle room. (ex. Bannanagrams)

STUFF!

I want to thank Sterling Rope and Cadillac Mountain Sports for their support and for providing me with world class gear for this trip. Below are some photos of previous trips to the area. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more updates from down south!

Pete leading a beautiful hand crack on a new route we established in 2010.

ACS owner Eli Simon on the summit of Mermoz

Pete leaving the mountains at sunrise.

Eli at the base of Cerro Fitzroy

The summit of Cerro Torre

Pete and Eli on the summit of Fitzroy in 2008

Here  are some great pictures from my trip to El Potrero Chico located in northern Mexico. El Potrero is one of the greatest winter climbing destinations in the whole world. Here you will find endless sport climbing on beautiful limestone, great food,  and super nice people. Despite the news broadcasts that are discouraging folks from traveling in this area, I found it very mellow and safe. The locals were kind and helpful and there was no sign of drug wars, cartels, or violence of any kind. I would highly recommend this area for anyone who loves climbing and comfort. Enjoy the photos!

Tophie Kane on Watkins with Half Dome in the background

I was lucky enough to spend the last five days climbing in Yosemite with Chris Kane (who started ACS in 1994), and Pete Fasoldt (previous Co-owner of ACS).  All that was missing from our ACS timeline was good ol’ Jeff Butterfield.

Team ACS at the base of El Capitan

Our first objective was the North American Wall on the South East face of El Capitan. Our plan was to fix the first four pitches of the route and then spend two nights living on the wall. Toph arrived a few days before us and rope soloed the first two pitches of the route. The next day Pete and I arrived and we  spent the daylight hours fixing the next two pitches and getting packed up to climb. We had a very questionable forecast calling for cold temps and a 70% chance of freezing rain predicted to hit us on our third and final day on the wall. The last six pitches of the NA Wall are very exposed to the elements and getting caught in bad weather up high on El Cap is about as enjoyable as a root canal. For hours we discussed if it would be wise to head up on the wall knowing that our last day would be a suffer fest. We slept at the base of the climb and hoped for an better forecast in the morning. Unfortunately the weather did not improve and we pulled the plug on the NA Wall.

Team ACS before bailing

We quickly changed our plans to make the most of the short weather window that remained. Our new goal was a light and fast ascent of the south face of Mt. Watkins

 Our plan was to to spend the rest of the day relaxing…… ie.  retrieving our gear off of the NA Wall, repacking for Watkins, hiking the four mile approach, climbing the four approach pitches, fixing the first two pitches of the climb and sleeping at the base. After lots of calories burnt, too many Cliff Bars and not enough water, we found ourselves at one of the most beautiful bivi spots any of us have ever seen. Far removed from the hustle and bustle of the valley floor we watched the last of the suns rays light up half dome.

The following morning we woke at 3:00am and we were climbing by 4:30am. We climbed the route in 14 hours and overall things went very smoothly. We had some light snow flurries and a few scary sections with loose blocks and old fixed gear.

Pete on exposed 5.9R

Team ACS reaches the summit!

The summit was cold, dark, and beautiful. We wandered around the summit ridge for a while in a light snow looking for the trail down to the valley floor. We eventually found the trail and begun the grueling 8 mile descent back to the valley floor. We made it back to our car 19 hours after we began climbing. Overall we had an amazing day in the mountains.

First and foremost thank you all so much for making 2012 the best year in ACS history! We had a blast sharing our love of climbing with all of you this summer. We are still guiding here in Acadia and have been enjoying some sunny days at the Precipice.

So far the fall has been amazing. I spent the last three weeks in the Red River George located in eastern Kentucky. Here I was doing some guiding, some AMGA training courses, and clipping a ton of bolts. During my time in KY I got to see some of the worlds best climbers make history! I saw an 11 year old girl flash a 5.14c, and I also saw Adam Ondra flash a 5.15. It is wild to think of how climbing has progressed so much, and what it will be like in 20 years.

  In just a few days I will be flying to Yosemite to climb El Capitan with some good friends (Toph and Pete both former ACS  owners)!

After some granite big wallin’ I will be heading down to El Potrero Chico, Mexico for some guiding,  and some sunny sport climbing in paradise!

After the holidays I will be heading back down to Patagonia for my 5th winter!

Stay tuned for a report of our time in Yosemite! Thanks again to everyone for a great season! We look foreward to climbing with you all again next year.

Cheers,

Eli Simon