Until now, no one has been able to conquer Cerro Murallón, the capricious massif in Patagonia. Not even extreme climber Stefan Glowacz and his crew. Not YET, anyway.
Stefan Glowacz, Robert Jasper and Klaus Fengler had made their way along 2500 meters of the North Face of Cerro Murallòn when a decision had to be made, and a tough one at that. “We had to turn back, with just 300 meters left to our target. We were bitter about it. However we not only lost, but also won,” reflects Stefan Glowacz, the leader of Murallòn Expedition 2004. “The route to the summit that we’ve worked out for ourselves is unique. We can build on it further next year.”
And when it comes to routes, Stefan Glowacz is as qualified as no one else out there. This German is one of the world’s best extreme climbers – his list of conquests includes assaults on Renard Tower in the Antarctic and on Mount Harrison Smith in Canada.
Cerro Murallòn, located in the middle of the Patagonian inland icecap, is Stefan’s most menacing opponent so far. Already back in 2003, on their first trip to Argentina, the 2800-meter mountain won the duel against Glowacz and his longtime climbing partner, Robert Jasper. Along with photographer Klaus Fengler, they managed to scale the north face of Murallòn to an altitude of 1000 meters until icy snowstorms forced them to retreat.
For their second attempt, they wanted to open up a new route to success: the path over the north face, which is partly vertical, and partly projects out over the icecap like two breaking waves. “In 2003 we also experienced equipment breakdown. But the experience showed us that we alone don’t determine success or failure. The weather conditions in Patagonia are unpredictable, and at Murallòn there’s no protection against them. All you can do is be perfectly prepared, and then hope that nature plays along with you long enough.”
Glowacz understands the term “play along” a bit differently than the usual wayfarer. When nature “plays along” on Murallòn, that still means snowstorms. “We had the weather pretty much under control. When the wind was too strong for our tents, we dug holes in the ice and spent the night there, where we waited for the wind to let up.” For five weeks and 2500 meters nature played along, as the extreme athletes trekked for hours through the expense of inland ice and overcame degrees of difficulty that they estimated at M8/7+. But just before the summit, nature stopped playing along – the snowstorm was joined by gale-force winds that even managed to destroy the fixed ropes. “We had no chance,” says Glowacz. “But that’ll be true just this once.” The preparations for the fourth assault on the summit of Cerro Murallòn are already underway. And Glowacz already has a very clear idea as to who’s going to win the fourth round of this duel.