Climbing, for me, has always been about exploring. That can mean a few meters of virgin rock or an unclimbed peak in some remote corner of the world.
Not easy to find virgins anymore but if you go to the right place and use some route finding cunning and a little elbow grease you can still stand where no one has before.
Aysen Patagonia is one of those places. Angela and I have a little house on a lake that makes a perfect base camp. We're heading there next week so I thought I would throw out a little teaser to get your exploratory genes flaring.
A new dirt road has been pushed thru the virgin rain forest of the stunning Exploradores Valley nearly to the sea.
This road has, for the robust, opened a lot of previously unexplored terrain.
Getting to the peaks, usually not visible from the road, requires a number of maneuvers.
There is always some rain forest bushwhacking involved.
Effort has it's rewards with attractive, and virgin, peaks coming into view.
There are those frustrating times when you're standing where no one has before and there is an unexplored DEEP valley between you and that tantalizing peak that you feel you can almost touch. Now how do you get from here to there?
Since my wife and I came to this area I've done six previously unclimbed peaks. One had some 5.11 on it but mostly the real challenge has been finding them and then GETTING there.
Come explore and enjoy....the Third Pillar of Dana isn't going anywhere.