El Flechazo is New 5.12 WI5+ on Patagonia’s Aguja Standhardt

Belgian climbers Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll have climbed a route on Patagonia’s Aguja Standhardt they called El Flechazo, an 850-metre 5.12b M3 WI5+.

The new line up climbs up the southeast pillar of Standhardt and starts close to Motivaciones Mixtas. They climbed the route onsight, except for one crux pitch they sent on their second go, bivied twice and finished up Exocet.

They carried the new inflatable Grade 7 portaledges, that were released last year from the Squamish-based company. Favresse told planetmountain.com, “They allowed us to have the comfort of a portaledge but without the inconvenience of its weight, bulkiness and difficulty to rig. It made the climb much more enjoyable and gave us the chance to stop climbing whenever we wanted to and enjoy the exposure from a comfortable hanging cocoon!”

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A few day ago @seanvillanuevaodriscoll and I stood on the top of Cerro Standhardt. It was the first I had summited any of the Torres! I had actually not imagined how unique it is to stand up there on any of these summits! With its snow mushrooms, the immensity of the hielo continental on one side and on the other side the majesty of the Fitz Roy group, it really makes these mountains like no other I have climbed and this is where we celebrated Sean's 39th birthday with a all-you-can-eat mushroom ice cream party! ?? We have spent two nights on the wall in ultralight @grade7equipment inflatable portaledges (thanks to @rogerschaeli who let us use his) which was absolutely amazing to have! It allowed us to have the comfort of a portaledge but without the inconvenience of its weight, bulkiness and difficulty to set. It made the climb much more enjoyable with possiblity to stop climbing whenever we wanted and enjoy the exposure from a comfortable hanging cocoon! You can find on @patagoniavertical all the technical info written by the sensei of Chalten/ @rolo_garibotti ! @patagonia @patagonia_climb @arkose.climbing @scarpaspa @petzl_official @lyofood @julbo_eyewear @agripp_climbingholds @hard.bar #noplacetoofar

A post shared by Nicolas Favresse (@nicofavresse) on Feb 18, 2020 at 10:51am PST