American Tommy Caldwell and Siebe Vanhee of Belgium have returned to Patagonia to free climb the 1,200m South African route up the Central Torres del Paine in a single day.
“The first time, it took us 19 days, the second time, it took us 18 days…Now we are trying to get it done in a 24-hour push,” they reported.
Vanhee made Patagonian climbing history in 2024 when he teamed up with Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll and Nico Favresse for the first free climb of Riders on the Storm, also on the Central peak of Chile’s Torres del Paine.
Tommy Caldwell has just climbed the Platinum Wall on Yosemite’s El Capitan with his good friend and climbing mega-star Alex Honnold. Caldwell has often climbed in Patagonia, but never before on the famous Torres del Paine.
First attempt last week
The pair, accompanied by photographer Felipe Tapia, launched a first attempt on the face during a short weather window last week, mere hours after Caldwell landed in Chile. Determined not to waste a single minute, the team started up the South African route on the East Face of the Central Tower of the Torres Del Paine at 6 pm, planning to climb through the night.
It was hard from the first move. Vanhee describes difficulties finding the route, questionable rock quality, and some wet slabs. After 10 hours of climbing (with a 90-minute rest on a ledge), the climbers turned around at the 14th pitch, at the section known as the Waterfalls.
“The send wasn’t for that day, but it sure was a great reconnaissance mission,” they said. “Next time we aim to make it to our previous high point in six hours…and under 24 hours to the summit!”
First ascent took 3 months
The South African route on the Central Torre del Paine is a 1,200m, 30-pitch line that follows a dihedral system up the tower’s east face. It was first climbed on a three-month expedition between November 1973 and January 1974, by Paul Fatti, Roger Fuggle, Michael Scott, Merv Prior, and Richard Smithers of South Africa and American Arthur McGeer. It was the first route opened on the tower’s east face and the third overall ascent of the peak.
Topo of the South African route up the east face of the Central Torre del Paine. Photo: Planet Mountain
Those first climbers graded the new route A4/5.10 (6+/7- on the UIAA scale). The first free climb came in 2009 by — again — Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll of Belgium, together with Ben Ditto.
“The trio spent 13 days freeing the route and stated that the 1,200m line contained some of the most amazing free climbing in their big wall career,” Planet Mountain reported. The free-climbing team assessed the overall difficulty as 7b+/5.12c.
