4 months in Cochamó

The 2009-2010 season in Cochamó has come to an end. I will write more later on this subject. Suffice it to say, it was an excellently productive and rewarding time and wouldn't have been possible without the ongoing inspiration and strength of my partner, Alisa Gragert, nor the love and support of my parents. I would also like to extend a big thank you to Silvina and Daniel Seeliger and all of those who made my stay educational and enjoyable!


More updates and information pending regarding changes in the valley!

Restock, Recuper8

I´m taking a week off from the mountains. That means no bamboo, no waterslides or lagunas for fresh, snow-melt water and washing, no redundant dinners, and culture shock. I should change my tall rubber boots for regular, now beat-up trekking shoes. I should find a shirt that isn´t dirty after I clean it. I should eat for 40 hours straight to gain back energy and weight that has been constantly on demand for the last two months in Cochamo.

I came down to Puerto Varas with Joshua Cook and Vishel Patel, two friends I´ve made in Cochamo, climbing and whatnot. Having heard word of an incoming torrential storm, and having a lack of food supply, we decided it was a good time to make a quick run down from our route opening in Cochamo. Run, we did!

It´s been relaxing here. I´ve eaten curanto and had ice cream. Restocked on gear and food. Read about my wild girlfriend´s couch-surfing and hitchhiking adventures and how successful and happy she has been! Been in contact with each of my family members and some great friends. It´s been really nice.

Now, it´s time to get back up there to the valley above the valley and improve the trail I made and finish some new routes as well as begin opening more!

Love to all, can´t wait to share more stories!

-n8

Return to the Wild

It was my honor and pleasure and privelege to return home to see the rest of my family for the holidays. We held the recently coined annual Christmas cookoff; although this year my better half, Alisa, spent the holidays in Argentina, I had my brother Sean to save me and cook an amazing fruit pie dessert! We played games like Settlers of Catan with the booster pack, watched movies like Avatar and Into the Wild, and of course had odd occurances, too (SEE: hospital visit, crossfit workouts).

I would like to say thank you for that. I had a great time and would bottle those memories to drink again later if I could.

What it also gave me - besides great times with people for whom I care the world about - was a chance perspective on a large project of mine in Valle Cochamo, Chilean Patagonia. I´d already spent a practically continuous 3 weeks in the valley, opening trails, climbing, and planning my grande climbing project for my 4 month season there this year. This break allowed me to gather my surveyed information, take a step back, and really think about how I wanted to go about spending my time there in Cochamo. A gift.

Before I say goodbye again for the next 3 months, I´d like to say happy holidays and hope that each one of you are enjoying yourselves; doing what you love and sharing it with your loved ones; expanding you who are by living out your dreams in ways you may not have previously imagined; seeing the world in a new and positive light; drinking a root beer float; passing on the good vibes and letting smolder the others; taking in a bit of weather, no matter what type it is.

Happy Holidays and see you in Aprilish! 2nd Best to all!

Love,
-n8

Before Cochamo

I want to say one last goodbye to everyone, my family and friends, new and old, before heading into Valle Cochamo tomorrow. Especially, to Alisa Kozu Gragert, the love of my life. To my family and friends, thanks for the love and support for this journey thus far, for letting me grow and helping me learn; this chance exposure to culture and language and more via patience and laughter has been remarkeable. And Alisa, you´re a beautiful thinker and I couldn´t be happier thanks to you.

Love to all,
That we meet again someday soon,
-n8

Good Bye Argentina

Will update blog in April or so. Hang tight! Have photos from my last trip to Frey and my last Argentinean asado with good friends, but have been unable to post them!

I am leaving today with my good Australian friends, Marcus and Cerin, along with sister and friend and the wonderful and rambunctious Alisa!!! On to Chile and lack of electricity!

Take care everyone! Can´t wait to catch up afterwords!!!

Best,

-n8

Frey, Nov. 14th, 2009!!!

Friday, November 13th and Saturday, Nov. 14th, 2009.

SHORT STORY: Made a successful, brief climbing trip to Frey where I was almost eaten by a dinosaur, or pterodactyl of some sort, mid-climb!!!

LONG STORY: I planned to meet my Swiss friend Lucas in Frey. He had planned to reach Frey’s refugio via the next refugio over, namely Refugio Jakob. If you are not familiar with the area and the trailhead, it can be difficult to find. That’s why I found him waiting for me at the trailhead to Frey when I arrived at Cerro Catedral at 12:30 or so! His trekking day had started at around 8am and he still had a good 2 ½ hours left!

My challenge was to be to climb a route on Torre Principal. We were both so tired upon arriving at Frey that we soon decided to aim lower and with more accuracy at a climb on the tower called El Abuelo! My good friend Hernan from Refugio Frey gave me the recommendation of doing the route “Del Techo” mixed with “Hay Que Entrar Para Salir” instead of doing “Ñaca Ñaca Crunch Crunch” as I had planned. This took a 5+ and made it a 6a. About 110 meters of climbing it seemed to be. Already now there is much less snow to arrive at the nearby walls! You can almost do it without getting your socks wet in normal shoes! Yahoo!

So. The next morning, Saturday, I get up at 7:45 and start eating my cereal. Hernan tells me where I can find an old harness to lend to Lucas, as I had forgotten to bring him an extra! Oops! After we finished eating at around 9:30am, we headed off to the wall! Thanks to the Guia de escaladas, by Rolando Garibotti, we found our route just fine and started off! Two easy pitches of 4 led to more fun and interesting 5+ and/or 6a pitch that Lucas and I broke into two, thanks to a lack of gear.

The story of the day was here at the midpoint of the pitch, where I made an early anchor because the fall potential had become too great as it wasn’t easy climbing and I had already used most of the gear below! Safer to make an anchor than run it out and risk having no gear to make an anchor higher up!

After making the anchor and managing the rope, I began to belay Lucas. A sudden wooOOSH nearby, as if that made by a distant airplane displacing air, forced me to look away from Lucas and to my side, at a condor! The Patagonian king of the skies, measuring in wingspan much greater than myself at 6’1”, seemed to be sizing me up for lunch! It passed one meter above me, examining huddled, makeshift anchor-forced location on the rock, its feathers practically caressing the rock a mere arm’s length above me. I quivered in my squatted position, drawing my arms in, clutching the Grigri, and looking for a spare large BD Camelot “just in case”, of which, of course, there were none! I shouted down to Lucas in Castellano (See: español), <> <> he says, plucking a Camelot out of the crack some 20 meters below me.

Some 15 Condor passes later, and my breathing relaxes enough to take out a camera and take a few photos. At one point our Condor, Nahuel as I call him now, passed by me face to face so closely that I could have brushed his wingtips without even fully extending my timid arms! Incredible! I thought I was making lunch! Two pitches later, after switching turns lead-climbing, we arrived at the walk-off point. After attempting the final pitch, finding it too cold to our liking, we walked over and did El Perfil de la Mujer, the short tower behind El Abuelo with a fun and quick 20-meter 4 climb!

Our trip finished well! We planned an asado in Frey for the upcoming weekend with Hernan and Alan, the two refugio friends I’ve made there who are finishing their months of working there soon! I met up with my friend Luciano “Nano” and Matias for the hike down! What a great, brief trip to Frey! I hope the weather can hold up for some more trips before I head over to Chile and Cochamó on the 4thish of December! Two weeks and a bit more! Wow!

Cheers, big ears, -your landescaper, n8

Weather

The last three weeks, Bariloche and I have been under the weather! Call it spring cleaning, call it allergies for the first time, but I have cabin fever!

It has come to my attention that I have posted pictures about Valle Encantado but have said nothing about its current rules and regulations as a result of the owners. As it currently stands, there are very strict rules as follows: No fires allowed; no camping allowed; no one is allowed on the property who has not signed their name on what I have been told is the equivalent of a liability waiver, and this includes Valle Encantado´s both sides of the river; word on the rock is that it will be closed to all from December, 2009 until March, 2009. In other words, for the climbing season. This is a result of the rules above being broken, as well as trash being left in previous years and a growing concern of the owners due to the rising popularity and consciousness of this unique climbing area.

In my opinion, all of this could be worked out if the climbing community organized itself and came with one united voice to the owners of Valle Encantado. However, as it stands there are individuals and small groups, whether under a banner such as Club Andino Bariloche - I do not mean to pick on any one person or group - or just as climbing friends, who have not taken the initiative to gather and unite. Also, money is more of an issue here as it is in, say, the States where the Access Fund is a viable option. So, sadly we wait out this issue and the weather! For now...