What could possibly live up to the big granite domes of Cochamo. Well we were off to the world class rock climbing venue of Frey near the town of Bariloche in the beautiful Lake district area of Argentina. This meant crossing the border from Chile back into probably my favourite South American country. Seb had previously visited Bariloche and promised us great ice cream. Whilst our esteemed espedition leader sorted out the mules for our day trek up to Frey we had the opportunity to test ourselves on some of the local volcanic sport crags. Having worked out the stupid buses which refused to accept cash we climbed above beautiful lakes on solid rock. This was also an area with an excellent local scene with many local climbers joining us at the crags which was really enjoyable.
After three days we were all ready for the trek up to Frey. Having waved goodbye to Ernie and our driver who would spend the week fishing we started to trek along Lago Guturriez and up the valley to Frey.We walked past lovely waterfalls, through forests. After about 3 hours we emerged from the forest and saw the first granite spire marking our arrival at Frey. As soon as we arrived at the refugio the infamous wind hit us. OUtside the refugio we were able to sit nin deck chairs and watch climbers completing the climb up the aguja de Frey next to the refugio which filled us all with excitement. Having taken a number of detours I arrived at the back so thought I would not get the best of tent spots which was important in this windy place. However after a bit of poking around Steve and I found the best little spot in a hollow in the forest completely out of the wind. We had the afternoon free so made some home improvements making a small kitchen, a bench out of the granite slabs and cutting away some of the intruding vegetation.
Could not wait to get started on the first day. After the walk in the previous day I teamed up with Pete, a highly knowledgable and experienced climber and we went to the closeby Aguja de Frey and climbed the 90m 5 pitch Sifuentes Weber climb which followed cracks right up the centre of the spire. Absolutely brilliant climbing was had and then completed two more single pitch routes following the sun round the crag, amazing crack climbing.
The second day Pete and I decided to make the big walk in to the Aguja principal , the highest peak in the area at 2450m. We opted for the 150m 5+ route called Clemenzo. The first 2 pitches were most disappointing before Pete led a difficult and sustained offwidth crack which I actually had to jam on. My next pitch led to the summit via a crazy pitch up through a cave and along a supremely windy ridge. Had a bit of an epic getting down as we failed to find the abseil bolts so had to leave some trad gear behind and hope there were additional belays down the route.
After another day on two nearby needles called the Grandfather and M2 I teamed up wioth Canadian Mckay to tackle the second highest summit Campanille Esloveno. I wanted to go for something a bit more ambitious so chose the route described as the 'best route in Frey´ called Imaginate , a 5 pitch 6a+ up the North west face of the spire. A lovely walk over the col and into the adjacent glacial cirque and then up past the impressive Banana crag led us quickly up to the spire full of excitment. The climbing was amazing up huecos, big pockets, edges, hanging aretes and cracks with a belay in a cave halfway up the route in a very exposed position. In addition the wind was extremely strong adding to the seriousness of the climb. At times on the aretes you could not move, just had to cling on and wait for a gap in the wind. On descent the wind made abseiling a nightmare as the ropes were blown horizontally across the crag leading to them getting stuck in many of the granite knobs and cracks.
We had one final day on the old man, a very impressive needle giving great slab and arete climbing. From the summit of Esloveno I had spotted the beautiful old volcano Mt Tronador and Mckay and I decided to leave a day early and walk down to make an attempt at the 3450m mountain. After a cracking barbecue and some ice cream in Bariloche to boost energy we made an 18km walk in to the refugio at the foot of the glacier Alerce leading down from the summit.Apart from the return of the dreaded horse flies the walk up was pleasant switchbacks up through a forest before a lava flow ridge led up to the refugio. Tronador means the thunderer and having arrived at base camp we knew why. The wind again was very strong and we were lucky to be able to rest in the lovely refugio and drink great hot chocolate. Having found out some beta on the route and established we had a good weather window we got to bed early. Arose at 130 am and sprinted up to the glacier and found our way through an intricate web of deep crevasses and onto the ridge which led to the summit of the Argentine peak. After a steep snow plod and a short ice pitch we stood on the summit, well we laid down on the summit as it was far too windy to stand. Getting cold we made a quick retreat from the summit and back to the glacier where we were able to finally relax and enjoy some sarnies. We followed tracks back to the refugio in good time and spent the afternoon recovering by sleeping and eating. A good day before the walk down the next day.
This marked the end of our first patagonian destination and after a couple of days restocking in Bariloche we were off to the Patagonian steppe and climbing in a gorge by a big standing stone.
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