SAMAYA X COLIN HALEY
SOLO ASCENT OF FITZ ROY VIA ITS NORTH PILLAR
More than forty years after Renato Casarotto, Colin Haley is making mountaineering history. In September 2022, he successfully completed a solo ascent of the North Pillar of Fitz Roy, in alpine style, unlike his predecessor.
A great lover of Patagonia, he usually spends three to four months a year in El Chaltén, a small Argentinean town and perfect starting point for any expedition to the Fitz Roy, the emblematic massif on the border between Argentina and Chile. Colin knows Fitz Roy like the back of his hand, explaining that " this was [his] fourteenth ascent of Fitz Roy, and the person who held the record before [him] is a resident of El Chaltén, who has climbed it eight or nine times ".
For Colin Haley, this expedition will be the most memorable of his months in Patagonia. With pensive eyes and a smile on his face, Colin tells us about his adventure, proud and happy.
"How can I describe this feat? I'd say it's the first solo ascent in alpine style of Fitz Roy via its north pillar, known as Goretta (after Renato Casarotto's wife), which is a lot of words. Usually, when you need so many words to describe a first ascent, it's because it's something stupid. But in reality, I think it was a great goal. So many words are needed to describe this ascent because the first ascent of the North Pillar was made by Renato Casarotto solo, which represented a mythical feat in the history of mountaineering. The pillar is 1500 metres high and extremely steep. The idea was to follow in Casarotto's footsteps, but when he made the first solo ascent, he used fixed ropes and spent two months putting the ropes up, coming down and climbing back up again. Even today, making the ascent in alpine style remains a real challenge.
The expedition begins with an approach hike and the setting up of base camp at the foot of the Fitz Roy routes. The heaviness of the rucksack required for a solo expedition, and Colin's desire for self-preservation, prompted him to carry out the approach hike in two days instead of one, as was his custom.
Shortly after midnight, after sixteen hours of climbing, he finally reached the summit. The weather, mild until then, began to turn. Fearing gusts of wind, Colin hurried to organize his abseil, lit only by his headlamp. Safely on his way back, the weather report confirmed that it was time to return. "The lenticular cloud of the "smoking mountain" on Fitz Roy confirmed my decision to set off the day before," he confides.
He reached his base camp at the foot of Fitz Roy, tired and confused by his achievement. These feelings stayed with him for a few more weeks, before being replaced by pride and the dream of a new expedition.
Before leaving Patagonia, Colin and Tyler, his friend and climbing partner, attempt to climb El Corazon. After thirty pitches, the two climbers were forced to give up. Weather conditions had deteriorated considerably, making it too difficult and dangerous to complete the remaining four pitches. Enough to make the two climbers want to return to the region to complete this unfinished ascent.
Photos by Colin Haley
