Frey, March 26, 2009
This time I went to Frey in a day with my friend Pablo, with the goal of conquering some adventurous trad. multi-pitch climb! Above, I am atop the 2nd pitch of some unknown route I´m calling Visteme!
Pablo and I, atop Pitch 3, about to lower and downclimb in the coming darkness! Great feeling to be in Patagonia with a friend, atop a long climb with the sun setting on the nearby towers!
Small panorama of Pablo working Pitch 1.
Pablo, exhausted but with me at the anchor system built after Pitch 1, Laguna Toncek and Refugio Frey in the distance! Unfortunately, I placed one piece of pro, my Omega Pacific pro #2 ¨too well¨ such that, after setting the next anchor system, Pablo could not remove it. After fifteen minutes of trying, I used my studies for rescue systems to tie off Pablo and lower myself to his postiion and try and rescue not Pablo but my euipment! Sadly, it´s still there now. It wouldn´t budge a nanometer! Oh well, better safe than sorry! Not again! I´ll be more careful for now not to wedge a piece of equipment into a stuck position! Lesson learned! Now, onwards and upwards on this adventurous climb that may very well be a FA, if not a first climb in a lot of time! It´s not even in the guidebook for all of Frey!...
Panorama of Pablo working the 2nd pitch, navigating some little plants in the cracks. In the background you can make out the other Torres and the agoyo leaking from Laguna Schmoll, directly across the way.
Pablo climbing Pitch 3, by far the easiest pitch. I only placed two pieces of pro the entire pitch!
Pan of Pablo climbing pitch 3 - or should I say hiking?!
Here´s Pablo with the two ropes (one hauling/rescue rope; one climbing rope) atop our 3rd pitch! Success in sight!
I had to capture something of the sunset on Frey from Pitch 3!
Pablo breathes a sigh of relief on top of his first trad climb, and his first multi-pitch - what a day!
Frey in a Day 2, Climbing!
Cerro Ventana Again!
Cerro Ventana, March 25, 2009
So, this is more of a photo post regarding another pre-work trip to Cerro Ventana with my buddies Josue (from my hostel) and Pablo! I led-climbed a few routes and remained at the anchors to snap some action toprope shots!
Action shot of Josue reaching for a jug near the anchors of the 6a on Pared Abajo, Cerro Ventana.
This route should be named Triangulo for the likely crux move to the triangle, oh so far away!
I can´t stop taking panoramas. Here you can see Josue climbing in front of the trees, famous Ruta 40, and Lago Gutierrez!
Close-up of Josue on a 6b.
Here Pablo´s working out the moves on the 6a, Pared Abajo; another pan!
Pablo working out the 6b!
Me, pumped and trying to finish a 6c flaring crack sport climb on Pared Cinco, as I call it! I have to hurry to climb it before work starts! And that´s the end of our climbing day on the 25th!
Climbing Buddies, Guiding Job
The last few weeks I have been the fortunate recipient of some great new climbing buddies and a new side-occupation of guiding for rock climbing! Below are some cool photos taken by my friend Oscar from Brazil at Cerro Ventana, a great climbing destination reported earlier on this blog, where we occasional drive to in order to climb our hearts out before some of us have to work at 4pm.(Note: all pictures in this post were taken by my friend, Oscar)>Luz climbs on toprope and practices lead climbing, while Josue belays toprope and Pablo practices belaying for the mock lead climb.
Luz higher up, Pablo belaying for the mock lead climb!
Instruction before practicing lead belay and lead climbing techniques!
Josue enjoys the nice vista at Cerro Ventana as the sun starts to peak around the corner of the rock!
Pablo and Luz have switched places!
Refugio Lopez
Sebastian from Germany with bicycle met Nathan from the U.S. with sandals and started running and biking from Colonia Suiza´s entrance in Bariloche, Argentina, to the 4x4 road´s start and all the way up to Refugio Lopez. This entire trip, concluding with a dip in the frigid-at-first waters of the Seven Lakes District had to be completed prior to 4pm. In fact, much before since my work schedule in the center of the city begins at that time. Here is the account of the day abbreviated in pictures.
Sebastian near the refugio, expressing his happiness at arriving!
The refugio from behind.
Me doing a handstand through the window of the refugio.
The refugio from the front!
Stunt-time! This is a building that was maybe halfway up the trail-road.
Enjoying the water, although my blistered feet hurt walking on the rocks to enjoy the frigidness!! What a great day! And it´s not even 4pm yet! Wahoo!
More from this landescaper, n8, soon!
Frey and Laguna Schmoll for Day Off
For my Thursday day off before Alisa's work started, we decided to hike up to Frey to enjoy it the right way: by camping out! On the hike up, Alisa got hungry and ate some quick sandwiches while I bouldered a little!
At the top we set up our tent and put on our warm jackets! It's pretty and it's cold! We're excited by the stars that start popping up all around us within the circle of spires!
Before the sun sets and the moon takes over for the night shift, we hike up to Laguna Schmoll, a really serene location located just over a portion of spires up at Frey. After enjoying the new site and snapping some photos, it's time that we headed down since we left our headlamps at the tent below and it's getting dark!
The pictures are stunning and not to be forgotten soon! What a great day!
Now, back to work! Speaking of which, as I type this post it's Monday, March 9th, and Alisa is about to have her first class teaching English in Argentina. Meanwhile, I've been climbing daily for five days now, including a chance run-in with Randall Tate, a professional photographer who very kindly snapped me for an hour up at Frey to end my day off! What great times! I hope all is well with everyone else! Let me know!
Last but not least, I´m looking forward to coming back to the U.S. sometime in late July and early August, to see friends, family, and what´s that? My sister´s wedding?! What?! Jon Lala Larner-Lewis-Conroy?! Haha (Je Je)! For more information about this, checkout www.momentville.com/jonandnicky ! Wahoo!
-Your landescaper, n8
Good News!
There is much to celebrate here in 
1) We just had our good friends Becky and Olivier visit after meeting them in
2) Alisa quit a bad job just in time to have 9 free days to prepare for an excellent teaching position here, this time with a great boss and educator!
3) I just got my 2nd job at a hostel, which is really my only job now since the 1st didn’t quite count due to nonexistent working hours.
4) Awesome high school friends of mine, Kevin and Darrell, will be visiting in late March! More to come on this wild trip of theirs!
5) Given that Alisa has no work up to 4-hour days and my current schedule of 4-hour days six days a week, we now find ourselves in the midst of some extracurricular activities. For instance, making friends, going to parties, and enjoying the nature of and around the city of 
More to come! (Parting shot is taken from the top of a route at El Trebol.)
Posts
