Vuelo de Condores - Emilie Pellerin

It’s February 20, and we’re gearing up to try the famed 5.13b pitch “Vuelo del Condor” that was freed in a day last year by Siebe Vanhee. I had heard about it in advance of arriving in Cochamó and was super excited to see how it would feel, and in our first week had heard through the grapevine that Sean Villanueva and Tommy Caldwell found it quite hard. Well, that sounds exciting, albeit a little intimidating!

Our plan was to blast through “La Aleta de Tiburón” as two parties of two for a casual romp to access the top, then rappel into the pitch… well that’s where the adventure truly began! As soon as we arrived, we saw 3 parties with 7 people all clustered on the starting pitches. Fiona and I were quickly hanging out on the ledge at the start of the 4th pitch, while Rhaude and Rufio hung out on top of the third. It was clear that while we were excited for these folks doing some beginner leading, we were going to need to pull some shenanigans to pass politely through hanging belays. With a few smiles and laughs, we pulled it off and were on our way - or at least I was with Fiona… Rhaude and Rufio might’ve had another hour(!) and a simul climb through to try and catch up with us. Amidst all the shenanigans, “La Aleta de Tiburón” was a super fun and worthwhile climb if you find yourself in vallé Anfiteatro.

Fast forward a little bit with an accidental detour to the summit of Cerro Laguna overlooking vallé Trinidad, then back down to find the top of “Entre Cristales y Condores”, we met up with our counterparts after their adventure. To my astonishment as we were about to descend, I saw a familiar face below us. Mathieu Miquel - who I had met last year in the middle of “Le Voyage” in Annot - was once again hanging on my project, all by himself 10 pitches up, and just about to put a rope solo attempt on the pitch! Only a few days earlier, he got the first repeat of Picaflor on Cerro Capicua since the FFA team last year!

One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that we had a rapidly closing weather window, and as the evening wore on, the weather got MOODY. Clouds began descending off the surrounding summits, while the wind began whipping harder and harder up the walls. The sky was even dark and blue when we expected it to be gold. The idea was for both Fiona and I to take at least one burn, but as the time and weather began closing in, I decided to do my best on a flash attempt and Fiona (recovering from being super ill) would second. On a related note, I would say that my favourite conditions to try hard would be 15C, and sunny with a mild breeze, which lies in stark contrast to what we were working with.

I sussed out the moves to see if it was something I wanted to come back to. I tried hard, went numb, got pumped, and whipped.

What a magnificent and HARD pitch of climbing. I think it’s a huge sandbag and I’ve definitely climbed 8b’s that felt much easier!

I determined that for something that’s 3 hours of steep hiking from base camp, and 10 pitches up, I need to be much stronger. 5.13b would typically be a short project for me, but this particular line seems more like a long term project that multiple factors need to be aligned for!

For Fiona’s turn she had her own adventure with it after the haul line sailed up in the wind and didn’t take her small haul bag with it, leaving her to climb while wearing it. I even 1:1 free hauled her and the bag up for a few metres near the end! 

At that point, all 4 of us were in survival adventure mode and descended the mountain shivering, excited for the comforts of camp. It’s super important that on an adventure like this, make sure to bring good people to shiver and cuddle with!