Matthew Tufts and Thor Retzlaff have made the first ski descent of the north face of the 3,580m Lautaro volcano in Chilean Patagonia.
Tufts and Retzlaff headed to the volcano two weeks ago. They approached it via Paso Marconi through Valle del Milodon, where they met three friends who helped them to carry extra food, according to Patagonia Vertical.
On the next afternoon, the pair crossed the 30km plateau to the base of Lautaro. They then had to wait four days for the weather to clear before beginning their climb. They topped out in windless sunshine.
With only one reference photo of the descent route, they skied down Lautaro’s north face. The 2,200m vertical descent included a short but very technical crux of 55º. It took them 17 hours to cover the 33km from base camp to base camp.
Tufts and Retzlaff spent 11 days in the area and covered a total of 180km.
Lautaro doesn’t get many ascents. It was first climbed in 1964 by Pedro Skvarca and Luciano Pera via the southeast ridge.
From the first ski descent of Lautaro. Photos: Matthew Tufts and Thor Retzlaff
