Planetmountain.com - From 11 September to 15 November Ermanno Salvaterra, Tomas Franchini, Nicola Binelli and Francesco Salvaterra will return to Patagonia to try and complete their new route, which they started in November 2013, up the centre of the West Face of Torre Egger.

 

The preparations are in full swing, departure is imminent. Those who've never been on a big expedition before have no idea of what it takes to prepare all the gear for one of the most inhospitable peaks in the world. I usually wake up 10 minutes beforehand, pack my rucksack in the morning and then set off, but things are somewhat different now. Eight haulbags, two portaledges, 35 Friends, 165 bags of dehydrated meals etc etc... and we really mustn't forget anything.We're about to set off for Torre Egger in Patagonia. The aim is to complete the new route we'd started last year up the centre of the "pear" shaped, incredible West Face. An 800m big wall, completely vertical or overhanging.

 

Our progress last year averaged about two pitches a day (when the weather allowed us to climb) so in order to deal with long stints on the wall we'll now climb "capsule style" with our two "portaledge camps" , gear and food for up to 20 days of climbing.Ermanno is used to this kind of adventure, by now he's almost lost count of all his expeditions to Patagonia and in El Chalten he wanders about like a rockstar. For Tomas and myself this is our third holiday in these mountains while for Nicola (who replaces Paolo Grisa) this is his first Patagonian experience, but we're sure he'll have no troubles at all!

Morale is high and we can rely on the best equipment, so for this we need to thank our technical sponsors. We're heading off slightly earlier than most (it'll be spring when we get there) because in November I need to finish my Mountain Guides course, and I need to thank my climbing partners for helping me out with the dates. I'm not going to say that we hoping for good weather because we know full-well that we'll have to battle against the elements and anyways, the terrible weather is part of the charm of places as unique as these. What we do hope for though is that we'll be able to light our cigarettes inside our jackets and that the wind will continue to blow in the right direction while we go for a wee! Read more..