Success!

Full trip report to come, but for now just a quick note:

Blake and I have returned to El Chalten from a six day mission out to the Marconi Glacier, up the West Pillar of Cerro Pollone, over the long summit ridge tagging both the West and East summits of Pollone, down the East face to the Fitz Norte glacier, back over Paso Cuadrado to the familiar basecamp of Piedras Negras.

Pollone is the double summit in the center left of the photo.

In the process, we made the second ascent, and first free ascent, of the West Pillar. We mostly stuck to the route "A Fine Piece", which was put up by Jim Donini and Greg Crouch in the late 90s, but we might have been on new terrain for the first 4-5 pitches. Though each summit (West Pillar, Main summit, East summit) had been reached individually, we made the first integral traverse of the ridge.

All of the climbing went free, onsight, up to 5.11+.

More soon,

Paz y Cumbre!