First ascent in March 4th 1958 by Cesarino Fava, S. Bassini y A. Vincitorio by East face. The second ascent was done in February 19 1961 by Gino Buscaini, Silvia Metzeltin, L. Candot, W. Romano y S. Sinigoi. In February 1978 the american Jim Bridwell y australian Bob Staszewski climbed the first route on its step West face. They got access to the summit by a mixed gully. Written by Marco Dura y Guillermo Dura
El Mojón Rojo is located south of Aguja de la S and north of Cerro Techado Negro within Fitz Roy range. Our proposed route is climbed on the east face.
Enjoy the low technical ascent with amazing views of Cerro Torre Valley and the huge south faces of Aguja Poincenot, la Aguja de la S y la Aguja Saint Exupery.
Guides and group sizes
Ratio is 1 guide/assistance per 3 guests. Maximum group size is 6 guests 1 guide and 1 assistant guide
Difficulty and prerequisites
Guest must be comfortable using crampons to flat foot and front point on moderate angle ice up to 35 degrees.
These are all physically demanding days and participants must be in good hiking shape.
Guests are required to carry a backpack with their personal gear (clothes, sleeping bag, pad, etc), group (tents, pot, stoves, etc) and food. About 15 to 20 kg. Personal porters could be arranged in advance, if needed.
No mountaineering experience is required, however if you have had some, it helps a lot.
Transportation
Participants are responsible for their own transportation to El Chaltén, Argentina. Your travel agent should be able to arrange this for you. You can get there by flying to Buenos Aires, and then to El Calafate, and from there, a bus to El Chaltén.
Accommodation & Meals
Tents will be provided for the ascent. Accommodation in El Chaltén is not included. However, we can help you making your booking.
Please let us know of any special dietary requirements you have when booking. All meals are included during the ascent.
Weather consideration
The fame of the area regarding wind and fast changeable conditions are not a legend. Be ready to experience nature and all its beauties and power.
Itinerary
Day 1
9:00 hs. We meet our guide and we run through gear, food and last minutes details. We start our approach towards Poincenot camp, about 2 ½ hours. We hike on the most visited trail on the National Park. We keep moving following upstream Rio Blanco up to Laguna Sucia. One of the most spectacular places in the park. From la Laguna, we go up for 700 meter up to “La Cueva” the cave, where we are going to spend the night. The views of Glacier Sucio are just great; also we will hear the ice falling all day long.
Day 2
Early in the morning or maybe night, we have breakfast and we kick off the day. We also want to take advantage of the overnight freeze. We scramble through a short section of rock up to the glacier’s snout. We rope up here and we keep moving up towards the feeding zone of the glacier. The early sun hitting the granite needles with its first light with all this white glacier background is just amazing. The last bit of a climb is a 3rd/4thclass on the French scale. Where we might have to use our hands to progress. Our Guide might assist us with a rope where needed. Once in the summit, after some pics and good handshake, we return to our bivy site “La cueva”. Depending on time and/or fatigue, we pick up our gear and keep going to El Chaltén or spend one more night here.
Day 3
Back up day. We will use this day to return to El Chaltén slower in case we are too tired.