German alpinist Fabi Buhl, 29, recently climbed the Ragni route up the west face of Cerro Torre and then paraglided off the summit. Buhl is the first climber to paraglide from the summit without using a helicopter to reach the top.
He climbed it with Laura Tiefenthaler and Raphaela Haug, who helped to carry his Susi 3 16m2 AirDesign paraglider. Along with a French team, they were the first up the classic route this season and kept busy clearing heavy rime. Buhl bivied below the summit and took off at dawn to avoid thermal winds with a tangled line. It took him 17 minutes to fly to the Torre Glacier below.
In 1988, Michael and Matthias Pinn flew from the top of Fitz Roy after climbing Supercanaleta. They then paraglided from the top of Cerro Torre after getting a ride to the top in a helicopter. In 1991, Roman Tschurtschenthaler also paraglided from the top of Cerro Torre after a helicopter lift.
Many top climbers are currently in Patagonia, including Brette Harrington, Colin Haley, Alex Honnold, Quentin Roberts and others.
The Patagonia season has been plagued with poor conditions and small weather windows, but it seems things might be improving which will give climbers a chance to go for their bigger projects.