On December 29, Sebastian Pelletti and Hernan Salas free-climbed a new route on the southwest face of 2,300m Cerro Mascara in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.
Pelletti and Salas did their new route (600m, 5.11+) in a two-day push from car to car. The line roughly parallels the South African route (500m, 5.10, A3) that David Cheesmond and Phillip Dawson opened in 1976.
The Cheesmond/Dawson route of 1976. Photo: Patagonia Vertical
The new Pelletti-Salas route, which they called Alborada, ascends the first pitch of the South African route before continuing up a series of steep corners of wind-blasted golden rock.
”It was only while approaching the route at sunrise that we were truly able to connect the dots with a pair of binoculars,” recalled Pelletti on social media.
After summiting, the pair rappelled down the Cheesmond/Dawson route, leaving theirs clean.
Hernan Salas and Sebastian Pelletti on the summit of Mascara. Photo: Sebastian Pelletti/Hernan Salas
Alborada came shortly after the duo had climbed another new route, also in Torres del Paine’s French Valley — 700m on the south face of Trono Blanco (AI3, M4).
Salas and Pelletti’s new route on Trono Blanco. Photo: Sebastian Pelletti/Hernan Salas
