Cerro Mojón Rojo - The perfect conditions
After 10 days of rain and fierce winds, the forecast was finally showing signs of relief. A short weather window with no rain and minimal wind was on the horizon. Like a swarm of busy bees, climbers from all corners of El Chaltén emerged, flooding the trails into the mountains. Everyone who had seen the forecast was determined to make the most of it. Our plan was to attempt two peaks: Cerro Mojón Rojo and Cerro Madsen.
From El Chaltén we hiked to the moraine just below Laguna Sucia. This would be our starting point for next day’s summit attempt. We know from two American climbers, who had climbed Mojón Rojo the week before, that this would be a good spot to pitch our tent. When deciding where to pitch your tent, there is a trade off between how far you want to carry your heavy backpack and how short you want to make the ascent day. Making the ascent day short increases your chances of success but it comes at the cost of carrying your 25+ kilo backpack further up the mountain.
At 03.30, the mountain was glittering with headlamps. Lights swinging from left to right illuminating the path in front of the climbers. It’s a magnificent sight. Seeing other teams already high on the mountain, I was struck by a moment of doubt. Were we starting too late? Were we being overly ambitious or even unrealistic? Our plan was to get up at 03.30 and leave at 04.30. By the looks of it, these teams had been on the move for multiple hours already. Additionally many of them had started from a higher camp than us. After thinking through our plan once more, I agreed with myself that our plan was solid. Now we just needed to execute on it.
We left the tent and started making our way along the southern shore of Laguna Sucia. As you make your way through the moraine, the path turns left and begins making its way up the mountain. It’s a typical climbers path. Not officially marked but the path is used frequently enough that it’s easy to follow.
Two hours later, we reached the Swiss Bivy. A massive boulder the size of a truck, forming a cave large enough to sleep 10-12 people, depending on how cozy you want to make it. A dozen tents were pitched around the bivy. We refilled our water bottles and continued on our way. As we progressed, the path went from being mostly gravel and dirt to actual rock. No actual climbing but a bit of scrambling was required. An hour later, we made it to the end of the first rock section. The sun had now risen above the surrounding mountains, beautifully illuminating the landscape in front of us.
From the edge of the rock, we had a short, relatively flat piece of snow-covered glacier to cross. No more than a few hundred meters. We roped up and prepared for the glacier crossing. Both to the left and right of our path there were multiple large crevasses visible. A crevasse emerges when the tension in the ice gets too high, forcing it to break open. This mostly happens when the underlying rock is concave or the glacier is turning. Our path across the glacier followed a gentle, rather constant incline making the risk of significant crevasses smaller.
Stepping onto the glacier, we could enjoy the distinct crisp sound of our crampons biting into the firm top-layer of snow and we immediately felt the ease with which we could walk. It had been a night with beautifully clear skies, resulting in subzero temperatures on the glacier. A stark contrast to the conditions on Cerro Electrico. These were truly perfect conditions. We crossed the snow-covered glacier with ease, only stopping a few times to take in the view and make a few pictures.
Safely on the other side, we stowed away our glacier equipment. From here it should be a fun scramble to the top. The first part of the scramble crosses a section of relatively exposed and poor quality rock. Nothing too difficult but it takes time to navigate safely. Once on the ridge, the rock consists of mostly medium sized boulders which makes for a fast traverse of the ridge. Before making it to the summit, the route turns right around the summit plateau. Here, the route makes its way through one of two gully’s. Either one will get you to the top and whichever one you choose is a matter of preference. The gully is somewhat more technical but it never gets above UIAA Grade-III. Once at the summit plateau, you’re rewarded with a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains.
Sitting on the summit plateau, we took our time to enjoy the view and refuel ourselves with an excellent selection of cookies and nuts. To our pleasant surprise, it was completely windstill even on the summit and with the shining sun, we were in no hurry to start our descent.
We shared our moment on the summit with an American couple who had climbed up the same route as us. In total, I think there were 10-12 teams on Mojón Rojo that day. After the Americans had started their descent we waited for about ten minutes before starting ours. There are a lot of loose rocks on the route, making the risk of kicking something loose and causing a rock fall rather large. The best way to minimise the risk of rocks hitting anyone below, is not to climb right on top of each other.
Making our way down required full focus. When moving downwards your forward momentum makes it more difficult to stop and it increases the energy with which you hit the ground. This increases the risk of a piece of rock loosening under your feet. The steeper it gets, the slower you need to go. In a few places we had to down climb short sections of rock because there was no obvious way to walk it down. Down climbing is always more tricky than climbing up. When down climbing it can be a challenge to see where your hands and feet should go and it can be difficult to make good contact with the rock.
We made our way down the mountain in good time and without any issues. Heading down we decided to extend our route over the glacier. With the snow and ice in this good condition, we could easily continue over the glacier further down. On our way up we climbed via a rock formation which we now bypassed on the right.
Once off the glacier, it was just a matter of cruising down the mountain until we got back to our tent. That was at least the expectation. But then, to ensure a memorable day, Britt took a dive into the icy river no more than 300 meters before our camp. Just before camp there is a small river you have to cross by jumping 4-5 washing machine sized stones. Together they form a path through the water. Getting from stone to stone requires a light jump and as Britt pushed off from one and landed on the next, her foot slipped, resulting in an unexpected cold plunge.
I had crossed the river already and was happily on my way down the path on the other side when I heard a yell and a large splash. Luckily a hiker was waiting at the river to cross after Britt. He quickly gave her a hand, making sure that she got out of the water after no more than a few seconds. In the fall Britt lost both her trekking pole and sunglasses. Standing on the side of the river, I saw the trekking pole making its way down the river at full speed. I quickly dropped my backpack and ran down the river all that I could. A bit further down, the river is somewhat wider causing the water to flow slower. Jumping from stone to stone I got to the middle of the river, hoping that the trekking pole would pass by within arms reach. Luckily, the pole made its way down the river right next to the stone I was standing on. Sometimes you get lucky. I recovered the trekking pole but even after a long search the sunglasses were nowhere to be found. Annoying but a small price to pay. Back at the tent Britt rushed out of her cold wet clothes and jumped into her sleeping bag. Glacial rivers are incredibly cold and combined with the low air temperature, hypothermia is a real concern which needs to be mitigated fast. After a few minutes in the sleeping bag Britt had regained her normal body temperature. We spent the rest of the day drying Britt’s clothes, relaxing in the sun and enjoying the magnificent view from our camp. As darkness fell, we once again saw the glittering lights of climbers finishing off the day’s climb.
The following day we spent in our tent, mostly eating and listening to audiobooks. We knew from the weather forecast that it would be a rainy day so we had anticipated staying put for the day. You can really make some good progress on your audiobook, if you have an entire day to listen. I must admit, after half a dozen hours of listening, the story starts to blur a bit…
On the fourth and final day of this small adventure we planned to climb Cerro Madsen, a smaller peak lying in front of Fitz Roy. The view from the summit should be spectacular. According to online resources, it should be an easy and straightforward hike with a short semi-technical section just before the summit. The first 90 % of the route was indeed a straightforward hike. The last 10 % forced us to reconsider. The route turned out to be significantly more exposed than what we had anticipated. Not highly technical but made up of poor rock with a large drop of. After having attempted a few different options, including traversing to the other ridge, we decided it was time to turn around. We could probably have finished it but the honest answer is that we were too tired and not at all mentally prepared for the difficulty of the climb. We had mistakenly prepared ourselves for a nonchalant hike to the top. In those cases, turning around is never a mistake.
As we headed out of the park and back to El Chaltén, we looked back at four days of great adventure. For us, climbing Mojón Rojo was a shining highlight. A beautiful day with perfect conditions.