This month, Fer Ferrandez and Matthew Tufts of the U.S. made the first ascent of a beautiful subpeak in Southern Patagonia’s Cordon Ilse von Rentzell range. They named the mountain, set in the heart of the Southern Patagonia Icefield, Aleta de Tiburon (”The Shark Fin”).
Ferrandez and Tufts entered the Southern Patagonian Ice Field through the Rio Electrico Valley and Paso Marconi, according to Patagonia Vertical. From there, they headed northwest, covering nearly 50km to reach the Cordon Ilse von Rentzell range in the heart of the Icefield.
Years ago, they glimpsed this unnamed subpeak from 100km away and vowed to climb it one day.
“A seemingly dreamy ski peak, the upper face is, surprisingly, overhanging, and the col directly below — which seemed like the straightforward line of ascent — was [steep] glacial ice,” wrote Tufts on social media.
Three-day window
With a short weather window of three days, the duo approached from the southwest, followed a glacial slope to the ridge, then traversed north up the striking summit pyramid, with angles of up to 65º and several mixed pitches (M4).
Fer Ferrandez on the ridge. Photo: Matthew Tufts and Fer Ferrandez
According to Tufts, they were able to summit by linking another col further east to the ridge. They descended briefly down the backside. Ferrandez then led two pitches of easy mixed climbing to the top of the original col. From there, they followed a steep arete to the summit.
Tufts skied down from summit to col. Here, they both rappelled down and made it back to the original col. They then skied back to camp.
Climbing history of the area
Camilo Rada and Natalia Martinez Marin first summited the 2,408m main peak of the Ilse von Renztell range in 2021. The pair approached from the Greve hut, which they accessed by helicopter.
In 1959, Hugo Corbella, Pablo Schiffini, and Marcelo Costa named this massif after Ilse von Rentzell Atkinson. A German-born Argentine writer, photographer, painter, botanist, and explorer, in 1932-3, she became the first woman to investigate the Patagonian Icefield.
Von Rentzell reported that on that expedition, ”We saw to the northwest…a chain of mountains that did not yet appear on the maps.”
Ilse von Rentzell Atkinson. Photo: Culturademontania,org.ar
You can find more photos from Ferrandez and Tufts’ 20-day expedition on Patagonia Vertical’s Instagram.
