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2009
Mugs Stump Award Winners:
Beckner/Anderson/Spaulding—East
Face of El Lonko, Argentine Patagonia
An
American team comprised of Josh Beckner, Jared Spaulding,
Dave Anderson successfully completed a first ascent on
a 3,000 foot wall in the remote Piritas Valley of the upper
Rio Turbio drainage in Argentina. In 2008 Beckner explored
the region and caught a glimpse of a large granite wall.
On February 26, 2009 the team crossed Lago Puelo by boat
and hired a local gaucho to transport their gear 20 miles
by horseback. "Suffering" from sunburn, due to
the exceptional weather, the trio established a gear cache
and the convergence of the Rio Turbio and Turbio Quatro
Rivers. They spent the next week hauling their gear along
the Rio Turbio through the dense stands of bamboo-like
cana colihue which required the use of machetes to negotiate
the rugged terrain.
After
reaching the base of the formation, the Americans chose
to ascend a striking line on the right side of the wall.
They started their ascent on March 9, but before reaching
the proper base of the tower they had to travel through 1500
feet of "approach" terrain which included several
5th class pitches up to 5.11 and a small steep snowfield.
The route initially followed a sweeping dihedral that turned
out to be the crux of the climb (5.11). From there the team
followed a series of cracks on the left side of the wall.
When the crack system ended a short pendulum provided access
to a splitter hand crack and another corner system. The cloudless
sky and sunny aspect of the cliff caused temperatures to
rise close to 80 F, necessitating the third climber to jug
while hauling extra water. Due to the lengthy and complex
approach, the trio was caught by darkness four pitches from
the top and bivied on a tiny "butt" ledge for the
night. Fortunately the weather held and Beckner, Spaulding
and Anderson topped out the next morning. After one rappel
down the south side of the formation the team was able to
scramble around to the north and down climb (4th and easy
5th class) a series of complicated slabs, rappel across a
snow field and returned to their high camp in 6 hours after
summiting. Overall the Americans ascended 2,200 feet of roped
climbing. The rock was excellent fine grained granite with
a host of cracks systems mostly tips to hands in size. They
named to route Voces en la Noche, V 5.11 A0 (Voices in the
Night) for the unexplainable human voices heard by all the
climbers during the ascent, most likely produced by the hundreds
of waterfalls echoing throughout the valley.
Heavy
rain on the hike out provided challenging river crossings
and the mandatory use of a sketchy tyrolean. Back at their
base camp the Beckner, Spaulding and Anderson packed up
their gear and loaded it into 2 tiny "K-mart" style inflatable
rafts, equipped with hand made paddles, and floated out along
the Rio Turbio to Lago Puelo to completed their adventure
in 17 days.
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