Opening Apollo 13 (7b+) | Rio Turbio IV Valley

Five women with very different backgrounds, united by their shared passion for climbing and their love for Patagonia.

A story about Caro North, Belen Prados, Fay Manners, Julia Cassou, and Rocio Rodriguez Guiñazu and their goal to establish a new route on the previously unclimbed wall “El Cohete.”

Patagonia is famous for its impressive mountains and incredibly harsh weather. However, in the shadow of iconic peaks such as Cerro Torre and Cerro Chaltén (also known as Fitzroy), there are other remote valleys hiding secret treasures. The stories of the first ascensionists Leo Viamonte and Seba de la Cruz, who together with other locals were the first to explore and climb in the Turbio IV Valley in Northern Patagonia in the 1980s, sparked our curiosity to discover this part of Argentina.

At the end of January, we started our expedition: two days of hiking and horseback riding with several tricky river crossings brought us to the place where Turbio II, III, and IV meet, “la horqueta.” Higher up, deep in the rainforest, lies the Don Ropo hut, a rustic wooden shelter built by Osvaldo and Gabriel Rapoport. This became our starting point for entering the Turbio IV Valley.

From here, we had to transfer the loads from the horses onto our own backs and hike another full day to reach the upper hut, Don Chule. Following small trails through dense forest and crossing two cable bridges, we arrived at this charming and welcoming hut, built by members of the local climbing community, including the climbing legend Sebastian de la Cruz. It became our basecamp for the next month. On the many days of heavy rain, we were grateful to have such a luxurious refuge.

We used the first days to explore the valley, scout different rock walls, identify the few existing routes, and repeat several pitches to get a feel for the granite. Then we decided to set up a bivouac at Mariposa Lagoon to attempt a first ascent on the unclimbed wall “El Cohete” (the Rocket).

We began by equipping the first pitches, but heavy rain forced us back to the hut to take shelter. Fortunately, the rainy periods never lasted more than two days and were always followed by good weather windows that we immediately used to make progress on our line. From time to time, we had to descend to fetch supplies brought by horses to the Don Ropo hut. During these visits, we enjoyed Osvaldo’s fantastic “tortas fritas” and the heated wooden shower that he and Fede prepared for us every time we arrived. Their warm and welcoming atmosphere always made it hard to leave again.

Our goal for this first ascent was to leave behind a route that would be enjoyable and safe to repeat. This meant a huge amount of cleaning work: cracks were filled with plants and deep roots, while slabs were covered with lichen. As we pushed our line further into the unknown, pitch by pitch, we constantly cleaned the lower sections to ensure enjoyable climbing. This was a lot of hard work, which we shared among the five of us. While the equipping required technical climbing, the cleaned pitches offered amazing, varied, and sustained free climbing up to 7b+. The rock quality in each pitch, and the diversity of corners, cracks, and slabs we encountered, was outstanding.

Most of the route consists of sustained climbing in the 6c/7a range, mainly protected with trad gear. We only placed bolts where strictly necessary.
600 meters, divided into 13 pitches (most of them 50 meters long), led us to the summit of the Cohete rock pillar. From there, we continued along a 650-meter AD 4a line that brought us to a snowy ridge and the first snow-capped summit.

After more than a month of hard work, logistics, and tactical decisions, our efforts paid off, and in the end we completed the first ascent of “Apollo 13, 7b+, 600 m.” The route is equipped with 10 mm bolts, with two at every belay station to allow rappelling. On some pitches, we placed bolts to avoid dangerous runouts.

The name Apollo 13 refers to the rocket that was sent into space, whose oxygen tanks exploded, but which still managed to return safely to Earth. This reflects our expedition, where there were a few “explosions,” but in the end, we all came back safely.

With the completion of the route, the adventure was not yet over. In addition to the descent and carrying all our equipment out, which is standard at the end of expeditions, we faced the challenge of paddling the entire Rio Turbio down to Lago Puelo using packrafts (river grade I). Navigating through this untouched landscape tested our skills on the water, but after five weeks cut off from everything, we all returned safely to civilization.