SAMAYA x MAGDA & LEO
PARAGLIDING AND CLIMBING COMBO IN SOUTH AMERICA
In February 2023, Magdalena Mittersteiner and Léo Gheza travelled across South America in search of granite walls and thrills. New paragliding launches, route openings and convivial moments in El Chaltèn punctuated their journey. For Samaya, Magda and Léo recount their most memorable moments.
Magda: The first time I went to Patagonia was last year. I fell in love with the place. When Léo told me he wanted to go, I jumped at the chance. We went with quite different objectives. Léo had a big project in mind that he wanted to realize with Fabian Buhl, whereas I went with a very open mind, a bit to see what I could do there, depending on the conditions. I went with a spirit of exploration. The weather there is quite special, extremely changeable and unpredictable. You have to have a plan A, B and C. When we arrived, we had 10 days of bad weather. That got us in the mood. Then came the first weather window. Léo and Fabian hesitated a lot and a gap opened up.
Léo: Going to Cerro Torre was a very spontaneous decision. In the end, Fabi didn't come with me as he had other objectives, but two Italian friends joined me to climb the Ragni route. The great thing was that this route was first climbed exactly 50 years ago. Every year, we have to reopen the route at the start of the season, to make it easier to climb the following passages. This year, we were the first to reopen it, on the same date, 50 years later. It was pretty special.
Magda: Meanwhile, I went off on my own with some Chilean friends to climb some magnificent routes. It was fun to see the contrast between our two activities: I was out in the sun, wearing a T-shirt, while Leo was out in the cold and ice, wearing winter gear. At the end of our two respective days, we all met up in El Chaltèn for a burger, a beer and to talk about our different experiences.
We weren't very lucky with the weather: it was the only weather window we had. Once again, we waited and waited, impatiently. We finally decided to head further north into South American Yosemite. We crossed the valley with horses to reach a base camp. From there, we start climbing, and off we go again.
It started to get bad again, but the weather was fine in Cochamó. We headed there and were able to do some paragliding combos, as well as opening up new take-offs. Taking off from majestic flat granite peaks was truly magical! Léo was also able to open a new route there.
Léo: With Angelo Contessi and Diego Diaz, we opened "Nunca say Nunca" on Cerro Trinidad Central, an 800-metre monolith. The line we initially had in mind was Cerro Trinidad Nord, which we thought was still untouched. When we arrived, we were astonished to find that it had already been freed! The information in the topos is sparser than we're used to in France and Italy. During a paragliding flight with Magda, I was able to spot our Plan B. After transporting our gear to the foot of the wall, we took advantage of a 4-day weather window to open up the first 500 meters winding between technical slabs and cracks. Diego fell, fortunately without breaking anything. We took him back to base and endured two days of bad weather. Angelo and I regained our strength and set off on the second section of the route, adding another 450 metres of climbing through a system of vertical cracks, sustained and never direct, offering thrilling sensations! We managed to free all but one of the sections, which we nicknamed the "changing corner of Trinidad". This will undoubtedly be an interesting target for future climbers. We reached the summit around 9.30pm and were rewarded for our efforts by a full moon and clear skies all night. We bivouacked and, the next morning, I took off by paraglider. Within 15 minutes, I was back at base. What more could you ask for? On expeditions like this, the equipment makes all the difference. It has to be both light and strong, whether it's the tent or the backpacks. This is particularly true in Patagonia, where it's a game-changer because we had to carry all our climbing gear, food and bivouac equipment for many kilometers, even while climbing.
Magda: While Léo was opening up his new route, I headed for another magical spot in Patagonia: the Torres del Paine. Their appeal was simply too strong for me to resist: it's one of the most beautiful places to climb in South America!
