American Dies From Rockfall in Patagonia
John Bolte was rappelling after a successful summit of Fitz Roy when the accident took place
On Feb. 23, American climber John Bolte was killed by rockfall while descending Fitz Roy, also known as Cerro Chaltén, in Patagonia. He was 26 years old.
Bolte and Adam Martos had climbed the 1,500-metre Afanassieff, a classic 5.10 up the northwest ridge over two days. They spent the night of Feb. 22 on the summit before descending the following day.
In the morning, they began their rappels down the Franco-Argentina route, stopping at the La Silla col under the conditions improved on the lower rappels. On one of their final rappels, rockfall from a gully above forced them to take cover. Martos survived the rockfall, but tragically Bolte did not. Martos managed to descend to safety on the glacier below before informing other climbers about the accident.
In January, top climber Korra Pesce died descending Fitz Roy, and Bavarian alpinist Robert Grasegger died in an avalanche on Aguja Guillaumet. Our deepest condolences to Bolte’s family and friends. Anthony Walsh wrote a touching tribute to Bolte, which you can read here, and Bolte’s friend Tyler Karow shared thought about Bolte in an Instagram post, which you can read below.
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