Whitney Clark and Nicole Lawton spent the latter part of February stringing together big-wall lines and scrambling up Patagonian granite. Reportedly, the two women climbers not only ticked the 900m Thaw is not Houlding Wright, 6b on Aguja de l’S, they linked it to the 750m Chiaro di Luna, 6b+ on Aguja Saint-Exupéry.
Clark said the linkup and adjoining scramble provide “almost 2,000m of (nearly) perfect granite, some rather plush alpine bivvies and those dreamy windless days that made this an adventure I’ll never forget.”
The near-2,000m-long Clark/Lawton linkup in Patagonia. Photo: Damian Llabres for ‘Patagonia Vertical’ Guidebook
The link was part of a longer climbing trip that began in early February and consisted of sketchy alpine adventures and a bailed summit attempt on Patagonia’s fabled El Chalten.
Aguja de l’S and Aguja Saint-Exupéry reside in the El Chalten (or Fitz Roy) Group. Thaw is not Houlding Wright and Chiaro di Luna are on the north face of both peaks, respectively.
Photo: Whitney Clark, Nicole Lawton
