BURSTCaro North, Fay Manners and Julia Cassou have made the first ascent of Apollo 13, a 600-metre 7b+, 13-pitch 5.12+ in the remote Turbio IV valley in northern Patagonia.
“Three days of approach on horseback and by foot crossing dense forest, rivers and ziplines brought us there,” the team shared on social media. “We explored the valley and decided to establish a bivy at the Laguna Mariposa from where we started opening a new route on El Cohete, an unclimbed wall. Over the next weeks we opened 13 pitches in amazing granite offering sustained and challenging climbing.”
The three experienced climbers spent several days scrubbing the slabs and cleaning out cracks so that future teams can enjoy the route. They also bolted the anchors and added protection bolts where needed. “To end our adventure, after nearly 5 weeks we packrafted out and back to civilization,” they said.
Turbio IV was first explored by climbers in the 1980s, but only a few modern big wall free routes have been established. The area has Yosemite-line walls over the Turbio River. In 2023, a 10-pitch 5.11d A2 called Soft Hammer was opened.
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