Trip Report
Compressor Route of Cerro Torre, Patagonia - February 2008 (pre-chopping)
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Wednesday November 25, 2015 9:23am
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Many people have an opinion about this historic route, yet relatively few have even stood at its base. I'm not trying to defend the style of the FA, but will simply let people see what this climb was like.
Certain routes become iconic in climbing history, like the Heckmaier on Eiger's North Face, which a lot of climbers have great respect for. I happened to have climbed that route too about half a year before my ascent of the Compressor Route, and can honestly say that the Eiger felt easy in comparison to Cerro Torre.
Here is a visual trip report of the infamous Compressor Route before the bolts on the head wall were chopped:
KristofferSzilas
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About the Author
Kristoffer Szilas is a mountain climber from Denmark. |
Comments
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 25, 2015 - 09:43am PT
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Beautiful pictoral account! By the time We got very high a BAD storm had moved in. We pushed thru it to within 60 meters of the summit but with nightfall coming and our headlamps weakening we bailed in an intensifying storm. It was pretty much an epic descent.
Patagonia weather completely changes the game.
.
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Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
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Nov 25, 2015 - 09:49am PT
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Great photos!
I had as much fun during my season on the Compressor Route as I've ever had in my climbing life (1995-1996). 14 attempts spread over two months, great friendships either made or cemented -- Alex Hall, Jim Donini, Stefan Hiermaier, Charlie Fowler -- capped by the most beautiful sunrise I will ever see in my life after bivying on the summit.
I wouldn't trade my Compressor Route experience for all the money in the world.
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Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
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Nov 25, 2015 - 10:00am PT
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PS: That f*#king old Joe Brown helmet I'd been using for alpine since I first went to Scotland for spring break in March 1987... threw that f*#king thing down a crevasse on the backside of Mount Bradley after doing the Bourbon Bottle Route four months after coming home from Patagonia that year. Haven't seen it since.
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Gene
climber
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Nov 25, 2015 - 10:04am PT
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Kristoffer,
Thank you. Beautiful pictures.
Please post a report of your trip up the Eiger.
Gene
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John M
climber
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Nov 25, 2015 - 10:18am PT
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Wow! Way cool..
Armchair climber here, but loving every minute of it. Thanks for taking us along.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
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Nov 25, 2015 - 10:56am PT
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FINALLY some killer climbing content and even better, it's somewhat historical! Great post thanks for the holiday gift!
Peace
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Gagner
climber
Boulder
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Nov 25, 2015 - 11:07am PT
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More great shots, and a stroll down memory lane.
Scott Cole, Walt Shipley and I did the compressor route in 1987 (before doing the Super Couloir). We arrived in El Chaltan to splitter weather, and while our original plan was to climb the west face, we changed our plans to the Compressor Route so we could start climbing right away and take advantage of the good weather. We summited in a storm - we had only been in the country for 10 days - and had an epic all night rap in the tempest.
Fun times!!
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Nov 25, 2015 - 12:42pm PT
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UN frEEKING believable!! Wow, just wow. Great job you two.
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Crag Q
Trad climber
Louisville, Colorado
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Nov 25, 2015 - 12:46pm PT
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Hardcore. Great TR.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Nov 25, 2015 - 12:57pm PT
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The most photogenic walls on earth...
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Radish
Trad climber
SeKi, California
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Nov 25, 2015 - 01:24pm PT
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Great Photos! It took some feeling cold to take them it looks like! Nice close up of the compressor that caused SO much news in the Alpine Climbing Community around the world, all from way up there! Thanks!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Nov 25, 2015 - 02:00pm PT
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This is the best (bar none) TR of Patagonian delights I've seen since 1970 when I and my climbing partner Jeff Mathis attended an AAC event in the Visitors' Center in YoVal, featuring a lecture by Norman Clyde and A Galen Rowell slide show of the Harding/Rowell rescue by RR on the SF of Half Dome the winter before.
Also on that night, we were informed by Dick Dorworth's comments on his showing of the film of Fritz Oy on the classic Funhog Expedition. That was the first time that most of us gathered there in the VC were exposed to the possibilities awaiting us in the area of the Massif Central.
This is my favorite of all the above shots.
Old Maestri himself might could have loved this TR.
donini, you seem to thrive on adversity. Keep on truckin', young man.
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Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
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Nov 25, 2015 - 02:36pm PT
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Wish I was down there now, trying to summon the courage to face the massed field pieces of Patagonia
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
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Nov 25, 2015 - 02:23pm PT
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Oh stop. I can barely contain my joy and excitement on this trip report.
You so captured and shared an incredible experience.
My great appreciation for sharing it!
Susan
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Roots
Mountain climber
Somewhere Fun
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Nov 25, 2015 - 03:23pm PT
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Excellent!
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Nov 25, 2015 - 03:36pm PT
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Great Report. Big thanks.
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KristofferSzilas
Mountain climber
Denmark
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Author's Reply
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Nov 25, 2015 - 04:02pm PT
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Thanks for posting your photos Jim and Gregory.
Looks like you had to endure really grim conditions on the mountain!
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Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
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Nov 25, 2015 - 04:39pm PT
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All part of the fun, KristofferSzilas! I always used to say that it's not Patagonia unless you hang on the cross for awhile. It does look like you had a really dry season. I look at your photo that shows the approach wall being almost completely dry, whereas I recall climbing snow and mixed the whole way to the Col of Patience, crampons on all the way. Love your pics of the Compressor.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Nov 25, 2015 - 05:01pm PT
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What a thread! It's hard to overlook the pictures, but I think my favorite is the caption: "Bivouac: French for being slow."
This trip report and the other posts is a marvel.
John
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Nov 25, 2015 - 05:31pm PT
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Thank you Kristoffer for all your wonderful photos, & Jim & Greg, thank you so much for adding comments, content, & still more wonderful photos.
A great ST thread.
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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Nov 25, 2015 - 05:38pm PT
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Badazz!
Cool to see the route in both conditions.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Nov 25, 2015 - 07:14pm PT
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when men were men!
thanks for sharing
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namascar
Trad climber
Pasadena, CA
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Nov 25, 2015 - 07:28pm PT
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Thanks. Great pics
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Nov 25, 2015 - 08:31pm PT
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Beautiful!
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Nov 25, 2015 - 08:57pm PT
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Beautiful, hardcore, inspiring.
Thanks for the shares.
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overwatch
climber
Arizona
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Nov 25, 2015 - 09:38pm PT
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Yep, me too
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jemtuck
Sport climber
Johannesburg
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Nov 26, 2015 - 08:27am PT
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That summit mushroom is unique to Cero Torre. What an awesome TR and climb, great pics from everyone. Why bother with Himalaya when got such incredible rock in South America?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 26, 2015 - 08:38am PT
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Unique to the Torres....Cerro Torre, Torre Egger and Cerro Stanhardt all have summit mushrooms.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 26, 2015 - 09:01am PT
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I have no idea Randisi.....it changes season to season and even within a season. In 1976 on the FA we left a carabiner, that I found the year before when I discovered on Toni Egger's remains, on the summit. One wonders under how much ice it now is?
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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Nov 26, 2015 - 09:26am PT
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Amazing TR and photos. Thanks to everyone who has shared photos of the ultimate alpine area on the planet. . . still in my dreams to get there.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 26, 2015 - 09:35am PT
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A few more photos of the Torres.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:41pm PT
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Great thread everyone!
How strange it must have been to be in that environment listening to the compressor motor and breathing exhaust fumes. Have Maestri's partners maintained their silence as this saga has unfolded?
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toejahm
Trad climber
Chatsworth, CA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 04:22pm PT
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Wow, your photo documentation is just incredible.
Congrats on your successful summit.
Peace,
kr
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Nov 26, 2015 - 07:09pm PT
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Wow another great tr. That is one beautiful place. I must go someday. Hopefully while I can still climb at a decent enough level to have a chance of getting up something.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Nov 27, 2015 - 09:12am PT
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Thanks, Kris for a beautiful TR. And thanks to Donini and Crouch for additional photos of this amazing place.
I hope to get a chance to look at the rest of Kris' TRs over the next couple of days. It's great to see climbing content on the front page.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Mercy. Just f*#king outrageous. The Torre, holy sh#t, nothing like it. Thanks so much to everyone who posted here.
Every time I see Donini's photo I get a dagger of ice in the heart. Equal parts beauty and pure horror. You can hear the howling coming off of this thing.
Here's Donini's pic with some contrast. Yeeeeeeesh.
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Woody the Beaver
Trad climber
Soldier, Idaho
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Thanks for the trip. Thanks, thanks!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Pure badassness. Thanks for letting us tag along.
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Grippa
Trad climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Chalten inspiration!
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Solid gold!
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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That Donini pic of the wind blowing snow over the top of CT is amazing. He should sell it!
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johntp
Trad climber
Punter, Little Rock
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Missed this until now. Kick ass TR and comments.
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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What a great TR, and pictures that are unbelievable.
Great input by Donini and Crouch. Thanks to all.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Didn't this Donini pic end up on a Climbing mag cover or something? It looks familiar. Beautiful photograph.
There was a beautiful photo of the ice route on the back side in a Rock & Ice issue a few years ago. I think that Hayden Kennedy took it, or his partner did. It is called the Ferrari route, yes? Also the FA of the mountain used that route. The pic showed these wild ice formations along the route. Unlike any normal ice route. It looked like a fairy tale route. So beautiful.
Straighten me out if I am wrong.
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Apr 21, 2016 - 08:50pm PT
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Sure hope we can lure out Mikey Schaefer to talk about free climbing the headwall this past season with Josh Warton and a guy who was basically new to crampons and cold weather (or so the story goes.)
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