Wind, Snow, and Torre Principal

"Its snowing sideways dude! LET ME IN!" This was my wake up call to Jake yesterday morning. For the last four days we have been living up in the Frey attempting to climb. Who knew Patagonia was so cold and windy? It seemed like a great idea to have seperate tents to give us each our own space. I guess a 3 season REI tent isnt made for a Patagonian summer. My own (Brandon) wake up call was the wind blowing blowing my tent and one of the poles smacking me in the face. Although, the weather hasnt always been so bad and the hike up is amazing.



Before hiking up to the Frey we met a frenchman named Jerome with whom weve been hanging out with ever since. His french-ness and tireless sense of humor have kept Jake and I from killing each other. He has conformed quite well to the stereotype of french climbers loving sport climbing and not understanding why we would "tradclimb" yet enjoys ice climbing and has climbed big mountains around Europe and even in Kyrgistan. Our first attempt to climb together as an international 3 man super team started in a snow storm and ended in defeat (and a snowstorm). After one pitch of sideways snow and wet cracks all three of us decided that the numb fingers and toes were no longer enjoyable and bailed (later found out this was likely the windiest climb in the area). After this, hiking and reading occupied our time until night came. The next day dawned much nicer and soon our plans to climb a lower tower were changed when one of the local argentine climber asked if we would like to climb Torre Principal, the tallest peak in the surrounding area and a sweet looking tower in itself. A hour plus hike with some snow traversing led to the base of the route. Five pitches of fun climbing, including a unique "ice-cave", led to an incredible summit with spectacular views of the massive dormant volcano "El Tronador", the mountains of eastern Chile and the approaching snowstorms. The next day(yesterday) we hiked back down to Bariloche to resupply on food,wine, and stoke. After the weather passes, it looks like we will return to the Frey then head to the sport climbing areas of Piedra Parada and Valle Encontado with Jerome and an Aussie.