Parting of the Pizza Boys

"Alright, lets just run at them screaming like banshees..." Said one scared hippie to the other as they looked up and began sprinting towards their oppenents... shockingly this plan didn´t work and the game of hackie sack that became the pizzadudes first game of rugby was lost in a cloud of dirt and a final score of 3-1 favoring the seasoned Argentines... America we apologize for letting you down! This hackie game gone awry was just one way we found entertainment during a 5 day spell of miserable weather in the Frey. Other activities included eating, talking about eating, planning what to eat next, waiting for people to have extra food to eat, learning some spanish, learning some harmonica, hoping someone doesnt try to learn the harmonica in the shared kitchen, losing at card games to 15 year olds, playing card games that have no winners, going on hikes and talking (read: lieing) about what we would´ve climbed if it wasn´t raining. Thankfully for our sanity and ears the weather soon improved and we were able to climb a few more things we had been waiting to try. We had dinner at the refugio for our last night in the Frey and exhanged lots of laughs and drinks with our friends as we bid them farwell to begin our new travels... Brandon to Chalten with Jerome and Claudio; Jake back to SLC, Utah via Las Vegas where he plans to double his money and fly back to Argentina...

Dinner by Maile.

Around noon most of us get motivated to climb...

Lot of parties below M2

Brandon leading Abrojos y Centellas

Stray dogs are everywhere. I named this one Reymundo.

Maile regretting her decision to come on a hike with us.

The endless possibilities of pate and crackers.

Alpine kitty that we watched take down a bird. enough said.

Drinking tea with Maile and Claudio in the Refugio.

Jake giving his mating call to the local wildlife

Surfing atop of dinosaur rock with Maile as a storm was coming in

The super top secret frey bouldering superproject

I promise a lot more uber cool cruxing out action shot climbing pictures of the gang really soon! I was just too lazy to post them this time.

Stacking Rocks and Wacking Bushes

This is who we hang out with everday... and you thought the climbing was scary!

"Dude, we have more food than we did a week ago." said Brandon as we were sorting food to figure out what to pick up on our next town run. It recently occurred to us that we are now the longest standing guests to the Frey...and also the most pathetic looking apparently. In our time spent weve made a lot of friends, many of whom left this week. Gil and Carl both left for school and a job, respectively. Good luck guys!

Another week in the Frey has been filled with adventures. Good weather has allowed us to tick some of the most classic lines in the area. After 6 days of climbing we spent a well deserved rest day hiking down into the forest. After spending about two hours expressing our artistic sides through rock stacking (good enough to have hikers stop and take pictures! haha), we decided to follow the Campanile River to its beginnning in a cirque adjacent to the Frey. Unfortunatley there was no trail. The fun rock hopping along the river quickly turned to heinous bushwacking through the forest. Every once in a while we would arrive at a gorgeous waterfall that would be absolutely miserable to get around. Swarms of tabanos and frequent ant hills kept us on our toes the entire way. Luckily, the steep flowing river turned into an open marsh, sinking us up to our ankles in mud. After slogging through this for about an hour one of us had the great idea to head straight up the steep talus slope to the ridge that eventually brought us back to the valley weve been camping in and thus ending our ´rest day´.

There really isnt too much else to say in this post. We go climbing all day and spend most of that time talking about what we will cook for dinner. Sadly, our time in the Frey will be coming to a close in the next week and we will be continuing our trip elsewhere. Apparently El Chalten has some epic bouldering and Cochamo has tabanos two or three times the size of those in the Frey. Jake needs to hurry up and figure out his plans.

Helichopper! This is how several tons of food, refrigerators and beer are brought up a 10 kilometer trail

After waking up at 7:30 the campers are tricked into carrying supplies for the rufigio keepers, and our reward for such hard work... a handful of sundried tomatoes...

Objectivo Lunar! Jerome and Gil climbing somewhere on high on the excellent Objectivo Lunar

"El Cumbre!" Gil on the wild summit pitch of Objectivo Lunar

Jerome, high above the Campanile River on the summit pitch of Objectivo Lunar


After watching Jerome and Gil on Objectivo Lunar, we had to get some of our own. Jake somewhere on high on Objectivo Lunar

The Banana with the tower of Objectivo Lunar on the left, awesome climbing, awesome name

"Choss Rappeling!" Brandon on the first rappel on our way to Sinestro Total

Looking up at the start of Sinestro Total after rapelling the loose gully from hell
SPLITTER!! The awesome (and hard!) second pitch finger crack of Sinestro Total

Broken SPLITTERS!! Jake on another sweet pitch on Sinestro Total

Brandon sending the sweet fist crack on pitch 5 of Sinestro Total

Jerome and Jake belaying as Brandon climbs the fist crack

"How is this graded 6b! it feels 7b for me!" The French sport climber Jerome enjoying his first "splitter" crack on pitch 5 of Sinestro Total

Chossy Traversing!! Jake belaying Brandon across the first of two traversing pitches at the end of Sinestro Total

Jake and Brandon chillin in a sea of white and orange granite...

Brandon Hungry! Brandon Eat!... chillin at the start of the rappels after finishing up Sinestro Total

"Duct tape is just like the force, it has a light side and a dark side and holds the universe together" Rappelling Torre Principal after climbing Sinestro Total

We counted some 50 tents on this day at the Rufugio Frey

Another sweet sunset


Jake and Jerome enjoy a sunset in the Frey... ummm yeah, maybe it time to get back to the lady friends...

Huge volcanoes dominate the view into the Central Andes

Chillin with friends at camp... thinkin about what to eat

Beast-man Jerome carrying two packs... helpin out an injured friend

Chillin on a rock in the lake, singin american rock songs and spanish hits... life doesnt get much better

Style... Jake´s got it

Awww... Refugio keeper Anita shows her love for badass Argentine climber Sylvanna after a long day of climbing

Jerome preparing for his first climb featuring a big cam!

Good-bye Gil! good luck in nursing school, hope the bedpans don´t stink too much!

Lord of the Tabanos

"Ahhhh get away from me! get away from me!" Brandon viking calls as he runs past Jake in a futile effort to get away from the "demon flies" as they have become known. These demon flies, or tabanos as they are known locally, and their constant buzzing have characterized life in the Frey for the last week. Unlike mosquitoes, their bites are immediately painful and require "the double tap" to kill. The days are spent trying to raise the "kill count" and developing the zen-like calmness needed to let one land on you for the smacking.

New Years eve dawned foggy for Team America (Brandon, Gil and Jake), but creepy in a beautiful way as fog hung throughout the valleys and cirques of the Frey area. A few hours of hiking through mist and five pitches of rockaneering bring these three man-boys to the summit of Campanile Esloveno... "you guys hear that buzzing?!" a wide eyed Gil whispers. More tabanos!? up here!?, 500 feet above the ground, how did they follow them! As they waited a minute for the demon fly to land it slowly occured to each member.. Wait no, thats not the tabanos...as a tingling sensation was beginning in their hair under their helmets and on their arms. Whats on the highest point in the area and covered in metal? they think as a dull roar is heard and the rain begins to come down a little harder. Following these thoughts were what is likely the fastest descent of Campanile Esloveno (or any tower for that fact). A shaken Team America is back on the ground, away from the electrified summit and pretty happy to begin the slow descent back to the refugio to enjoy some drinks, lamb, homemade goodness and some late night dancing...

Crazy sunset after rainstorm

"Look mom, no hands!" Brandon practicing his belaying on pitch 2 of the Normal Route up Torre Principal

Yay! Jake Gettin his bronze on near the summit of Torre Principal

Looking down on Gill and Jerome coming up pitch 2 of the Normal Route

Brandon rides the summit of Torre Principal in true gaucho form

Mmmmmm...zapatillas

Gill "The Goucho" multitasking

Jake in zombie mode after a big day of climbing

Waking up after heavy rains the night before New Years Eve

Campanile Esloveno

Brandon leading pitch 3

The Goucho leading the crux pitch


Brandon the toprope hero

Jake scoping the ultra-runout-uber-beastwarrior-last pitch of Imaginate

Serious Climbers doing serious things (note Jakes no handed belay technique). On the summit of Campanille Esloveno after completing Imaginate

crazy summit views!

you can drink out of all the streams here!

The last week has been spent up at the Frey doing more of the usual: climbing, eating, and sleeping. Its finally come into the high season and each afternoon brings in a new procession of tourists, trekkers, and climbers all coming to enjoy the Frey. Each day we all wake up to choose our own adventure and try to make it back by nightfall to share stories. Somewhere along the way we met a local Argentine climber named Sylvanna and have been climbing with her a lot ever since. Her inexaustable excitement to climb seems to overshadow any of the bad weather, hangovers, scorching heat, and anything else that gets thrown at us. The Refugio threw a huge asado (bbq type thing) for the New Years celebrations, grilling five lambs and cooking many other dishes for the 40 odd people which set the stage for a memorable night. The 2nd brought us back to Bariloche to resupply, recharge, and figure out our next move. Our frenchman wants us to head to Valle de Cochamo (a place notorious for its heavy rains and swarms of tabanos flies!...oh yea theres good climbing too) in two weeks then to El Chalten for some sightseeing. Who knows what will happen at this point though. Happy New Year everybody!

Feliz Anos! Sylvanna, Jerome, Jake and Gil... drunk! Also the last sighting of our pitcher of Fernet.

wasnt the first bottle and definately not the last!

Dance party in the refugio!

Brandon gettin his dance on, but where is the pitcher of Fernet!?