
2024's summer of historic climbs at Torres del Paine.
By Paula Fernandez
The 2024 summer climbing season in Torres del Paine produced two of the most exceptional climbs in history on Chile’s legendary crown jewel: an incredible climb of one of the most famous – and challenging – routes of the central tower, dubbed "Riders on the Storm," followed by the most complete traverse ever made of the entire Torres del Paine massif, and all in only 70 hours.
The 2024 summer climbing season in Torres del Paine produced two of the most exceptional climbs in history on Chile’s legendary crown jewel: an incredible climb of one of the most famous – and challenging – routes of the central tower, dubbed "Riders on the Storm," followed by the most complete traverse ever made of the entire Torres del Paine massif, and all in only 70 hours.
History made
After 18 days that included 140-kilometer-per-hour winds (90-mile-per-hour), snow, ice, rockfalls, and a week of fierce storms on their portaledges, on February 9th Belgian climbers Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll, Nicolas Favresse, and Siebe Vanhee and America’s Drew Smith became the first to successfully free climb the mythical Riders On the Storm (7c+) and its 1300 meters of ascent.
The 38 pitches on this route, that goes up the Central Tower on its east face, and in a fairly straightforward line, has known other remarkable ascents. The route was first opened by the Geman team of Wollfang Güllich, Bernard Arnold, Kurt Albert, Peter Dittrich and Norbert Bätz in 1991 but since then big wall climbers around the world have aspired to be the first to free climb it.
However, befitting its name, stormy weather has thwarted climbers for decades.
In 2016, two notable female climbers, Germany’s Ines Papert and New Zealand’s Mayan Smith-Gobat, together with Swiss photographer Thomas Senf, did free climb up to 5.13a but they opted to bag the summit with the use of aid for much of the rest of the route with deteriorating conditions imperiling their final days on the rock. Smith-Gobat returned with American female climber Brette Harrington and Drew Smith the following season but were met with unpassable weather conditions. In 2023, Harrington returned to the wall, this time with two top male climbers, Italian climber Jacopo Larcher and Siebe Vanhee, and, yet again, the weather gods were not welcoming.
Determined
Vanhee was denied last year but he would not rest easy. He made a plan to return with Larcher and Harrington to the indomitable wall but just a few months before the 2024 attempt his teammates had to cancel. Vanhee quickly looked for a new team and called his friends Sean Villanueva and Nicolas Favresse with whom he had already shared several climbs, including a prior free climb of another route in Torres del Paine, El Regalo de Mwono, in 2017. The two Belgian climbers did not take long to reply in the affirmative that they would be there.

Their climb was certainly not easy, Most difficult were the intense days hanging on the portaledges while a storm raged outside. Indeed, when asked what was the hardest part of their achievement, Vanhee responds that it was “trying to do battle with the weather. Trying to free a long route that was so wet…and with so much ice.”
As well, there was a time limit imposed by the amount of food they could carry. In this regard, they got lucky. On the way up, they found abandoned food from previous climbers who returned without carrying it out. Vanhee says the extra food helped them to last a couple of extra days on the wall.
A solo traverse
Days later, Sean Villanueva soloed the most complete traverse ever made on the four main towers of the Torres del Paine massif.
Starting on February 23, he climbed from southwest to northeast, starting on the west edge of the South Tower, following the edges of the Central, North and Peineta towers.
Concerns about bad weather on the horizon pushed him to complete the traverse in less than 3 days. He named it Travesía Doble M, which he says pays homage to the famous hikes in Torres Del Paine, the W and the O, and because the shape of the traverse is in the shape of 2 M's.
The traverse began by climbing the Il lungo sogno route on the west ridge of the South Tower, where he encountered a lot of snow and ice. Despite the difficult conditions, after sleeping six hours, the next day he continued climbing until he reached the summit of the South Tower, and then rappelled down, slept a similar amount to the previous night and continued to the Central Tower, where he had been a few days earlier with the Riders on the Storm team. He then continued on to the North Tower until he reached Peineta Hill, where he climbed the “Puro Filete” route, reached the summit and then as stormy weather conditions loomed he beat a hazy retreat.
A solo traverse
Days later, Sean Villanueva soloed the most complete traverse ever made on the four main towers of the Torres del Paine massif.
Starting on February 23, he climbed from southwest to northeast, starting on the west edge of the South Tower, following the edges of the Central, North and Peineta towers.
Concerns about bad weather on the horizon pushed him to complete the traverse in less than 3 days. He named it Travesía Doble M, which he says pays homage to the famous hikes in Torres Del Paine, the W and the O, and because the shape of the traverse is in the shape of 2 M's.
The traverse began by climbing the Il lungo sogno route on the west ridge of the South Tower, where he encountered a lot of snow and ice. Despite the difficult conditions, after sleeping six hours, the next day he continued climbing until he reached the summit of the South Tower, and then rappelled down, slept a similar amount to the previous night and continued to the Central Tower, where he had been a few days earlier with the Riders on the Storm team. He then continued on to the North Tower until he reached Peineta Hill, where he climbed the “Puro Filete” route, reached the summit and then as stormy weather conditions loomed he beat a hazy retreat.
Three years after Villanueva completing the first, historic solo traverse of the Fitz Roy massif, he has astounded the climbing world again. “It was mind blowing to be able to walk into one valley, traverse over 4 towers, and then walk out a different valley, carrying all my stuff. It felt absolutely awesome to be up there on my own moving over this terrain,” he says.