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Climbing in Patagonia is a lot of things but lightweight is not one of them. The granite towers of the region include a ton of technical climbing (Big Rack), including some amount of ice and snow travel (cramps, ax), and there are many hours from the road or even days (good luck is climbing most of them without a bive gear). As a result, the gear you take, it holds more weight than climbing in the lower 48. “I always thought [area’s] It was a bit foolish to pay attention to the ultralight and was deprived, “My California -based Buddy Thomas read me during his first Patagonia season in 2023.” And then I started climbing here and now I am one of the silly crazy people with ultralite everything. ,

I learned many things while walking around L Chelten last December, but the most important was how to lighten my pack. Climbing with more experienced partners more than myself, I learned how to reduce my wife gear. This in turn takes advantage of the brief mantras of the clear weather – and climb some of the greatest paths of their life. After spreading in two sessions in the range after 10 weeks, I am not an expert on a alpine climb in Petagonia in any way. ,

I. Large spoon or little?

My first earth no bullshit My journey came less than a week. I was rarely growing behind the Shikhar Cerero Counten, combined with the American expat Kiff Alkokar to climb a mixed route on Sero Polon. While packing in the city, Kiff very carelessly mentioned that I did not need to bring a sleeping bag in my high camp, despite that we are camping at a glacier, and despite that it is a spring time in Argentina. I quickly agreed, did not seem prudent, but wonder if I was going to freeze my nut that night.

Kiff must have felt my hesitation. He told me about the sleeping bag that he will bring for us to share: one he used on a delay. Edella peaks and Sero Torre’s Traveers Ragani route (Wi5+; 600 m) with Quentin Roberts. The sleeping bag was very wide, he promised, and we would use it as a blanket. If it became very cold, we could do spoon. We can also bring untouched pants.

I slept a lot that night. And as I provoked the glacier in the next morning pre-don Elpenglo, I realized that it would be painful for some and would be fully mind-up for others: not only two sleeping bags are heavy twice, but individual bags are very disable to maintain your body’s heat. What Is skilled? Two humans with hot heartbeat are trapping the heat of each other in a bag. I could not believe that I had not shared a sleeping bag earlier.

Ii. Just don’t stop

When Kif and I returned to the city after climbing on the polon, I felt as if I had discovered some kind of mystery. I will effectively cut the weight of my sleeping bag in half, yet somehow heated it. I could not wait to share my findings with other friends.

Unfortunately, my big revelations of my “search” will have to wait, because the next day Colin Haley- is also known for her climbing speed, which is also included Torre Traveers In one day– If I climb Aguja Guilumate with him. The clear weather of less than 24 hours was on the horizon, with high winds from the west. Colin suggested that we completely save the wife gear and dash the pre-of-pre-honor Amy-Videlhet Colar (Wi 3+ m4; 300 m) In a day – 6,000 feet height and 18 miles, all told. I first climbed the mountain, through a separate but similar route from the city of three days to the city. But I agreed to the idea that one day approach was the only way we could safely climb into the window. Furious winds must have made camping absolutely heinous.

Colin and I started hiking at around 5 pm at a connivance. After taking several snacks and stretching breaks, we balanced Guilumate’s uncertain summit at 2 pm and balanced the cumulative fatigue of several days in the mountains at 2 pm, I saw that my feet still feel fresh and stagnant. I fed well and was hydrated. If it was a good weather, I would have climbed for hours. It was a day’s push a year ago to my tired summit, when I was at the top of my second full day afternoon in the mountains.

An argument is made to go slow while climbing alpine. You essentially see more beautiful sunrise and sunset. You share moments of calm satisfaction with your partner. You can lounge into a incense boulder or a glacial tarn, then traps through a alpine grassland. But if you are working with a very low weather window, you have to lift the speed. Eventually, our weather-doding, superlite strategy, colin and I only were those who met that day to enjoy Guilumate.

Iii. Squeeze them

Till December last December, I had never done more than the recommended number of people in a climbing tent, as two people in a “two people” tents leave very few spaces for cooking, stretching or dressing. (Or maybe I’m a prood!) But clearly I had a lot to learn about the Alpine Camp, because when my local friend Tomus odel Suggested that we try Tore Agar Martin-o’liel (5.12 m6 Wi 4; 3,100 ft) With Bouty Gregorini, it all looked like, but one was given that we would squeeze the three in our small two-person tents.

I cannot say that I slept well during our night on Tore Agar. But I got out for a while until we found the alarm at 3 o’clock. Giving employment to strategy number one, our collective one and a half sleeping bag kept us warm, while we indicated the excellent situation we found ourselves: Stretch in the midhight snowfield of Egger, 1,500 feet above the glacier. I like to think that our light pack helped us reach there with energy – especially Botti, which Route Crux sent 5.12 slab The next morning without much difficulty. Nevertheless, due to my route-khose error, we were forced to grant bail just 100 feet from the summit when an forecast storm came two hours ago. And as we rubbed the exposed headwall of Agar in the winds of 40 mph, I understood that it would not matter if we had a tent with us. We could not live there. We needed to go down.

Sharing a two-person tent is something in three ways that I have done many times since Agar, but I have realized that even a slight increase in the width of the tent can increase someone’s comfort. (again: no bullshit.) On Agar, I used Samaya Astu 2 (Allegedly 43in/110 cm wide, but due to a design the floor decreases up like a tub, feels very small). For this, all three of us did not need friends especially bad to sleep on our sides. Four days later, I tried Sero Tore through a 30-meal Paso Marconi approach-Easy climbing, too much walk and camp-and therefore a little heavy black diamond first light tent was opted to bring, which is at least five inches wide. The width benefits are theoretically small but feel largely in practice. I felt as if I fell asleep, and recovered, much more in the broad tent.

Iv. Use your mind

Looking back, I learned about the wife gear in Petagonia last year, I realized that whatever I am teaching here is general knowledge. Bring less. share over. Do not bring anything. But, in practice, each experiment downwards felt like a real resulting leap – only more than putting a sharp ticket to driving without a seatbelt.

The decisions taken in Petagonia have more gravity than the boundaries of low-vendors such as high Sierra, Bugabos or Alps. Bivy gear can act as a temporary island of safety amidst a living storm, which may roll quickly or unexpectedly. One of the reasons is that every time I planned a bivi in this season, I did not do this in a waterproof tent – no A Capella,

But I don’t think the moral of this story is “to be careful”. The lesson is actually to enjoy the company of those with whom you are climbing. Because whether you are not putting your friend in a sleeping bag or not sleeping, you are going to know each other very well.