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Strong European Team Frees Big Wall in Patagonia

Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, Siebe Vanhee and Nicolas Favresse have sent a El Regalo de Mwono up the east face of the Central Tower of Paine in Patagonia. The route is 1,200 metres and was first climbed in 1991 and 1992 by Simon Yates, Sean Smith, Paul Pritchard and Noel Craine at 5.10 A4, VI.

"Torre Central Belgian Attack!" – "Learning from the old crows" It has been only 5 days since we've left Belgium and yesterday we were already climbing on the wet and snowy entrance slabs of Torre Central. The vibes are great since the moment we got on the plane, I got a good feeling about this trip! Two days of plane hopping and bus driving, one day buying our food supplies, one day of permit hassel and hiking… and yesterday we were on the wall in real patagonian weather! Wet cracks and snowy faces, I'm a virgin at climbing in these conditions but until now I love it! Apperantely this Patagonian 2016-2017 season has been very bad until now. But some small weatherwindows will come! Luckily I'm with these 'old' experienced Patagonian veterans that do not consider things too much and we can just 'attack'! Two days of carying loads up to basecamp now, some bouldering if possible and then we're ready to continue our climb! @thenorthface @petzl_official @fiveten_official @avventuraoutdoor #neverstopexploring #nicolasfavresse #seanvillanueva #patagonia #torresdelpaine #torrecentral #freeclimbing #bigwall #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #climbing

A post shared by Siebe Vanhee (@siebevanhee) on

This big route climbs up next to Riders on the Storm, which has been attempted by a number of climbers as recently as this year. There The team climbed their free variation in between 20 and 25 pitches and graded it 5.13c. Of the 19 days on the wall, they had only three good ones to climb due to the weather. Sonnie Trotter ran into Favresse at the airport and bought him some apple pie.

You're never gonna guess who I ran into at the airport on my way home from Calafate – None other than long time friend and personal climbing hero Mr.Nico Favresse!! This Belgium bad ass (along with friends Sean Villanueva and Siebe Vanhee) just got down from spending 19 days on the steep walls of Central Tower of the Torres Del Paine. That was the entire length of my trip to Chalten they spent on a big wall? He was looking pretty skinny so I bought him a slice of apple pie, ha ha. SUPER HUGE congratulations to their team for making the first free ascent of "El Regalo de Mwono" 8a, 5.13c all linked together over 20 – 25 pitches. Holy Crap! Wish I had more time to hear his stories, but he's off to France, and I can't wait to see my family in Canmore. Inspiring stuff guys. Looking forward to seeing some pictures? @patagonia_climb

A post shared by Sonnie Trotter (@sonnietrotter) on

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