A Historic Act of Madness at El Chalten
At the end of March 2019, the mountaineering world was shaken in disbelief by an epic climb: the 25-year-old Californian Jim Reynolds made both an ascent and descent of Mount Fitz Roy (3.405 m) (11,171 feet), free soloing — with no safety equipment other than his own hands and feet — one of the most iconic peaks in Patagonia and, indeed, the world. In an ascent lasting more than 15 hours, Jim climbed more than 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) of vertical granite, where one slip would have meant immediate death, and carrying just one cord in case of emergency. He never had to use it, relying only on his skill and confidence, a chalk bag, a
little more than a liter of water, and some power bars.
“This i s an astonishing achievement […] Jim has made a bold statement. We are going to be talking about this for a long, long time,” said Rolando Garibotti, renowned guru of the Chaltén massif and author of a legendary climbing guide about the area. And it is no exaggeration. Although Jim was not the first to free solo climb the “smoking mountain” – the deceased American climber Dean Potter did it in 2002 via the Supercanaleta route – Reynolds climbed down in the middle of the night, the same way he went up, passing over smooth rock and taking this adventure to a whole new level.
The route taken by Reynolds, the northwest edge of the mountain (via Afanassieff), reaches difficulties of up to 10.c (6a+), considerably easier in technical terms than, for example, the 12. d ( 7c) challenge that Alex Honnold had to contend with in his legendary free solo climb via Freerider on El Capitán. But it is not just about the technical grade. In Patagonia, other elements come into play. At the gateway to the Patagonian I ce Fields, where the weather is fierce and largely unpredictable, the likelihood of getting help in case of an accident is minimal and attempting any type of solitary climb requires a tremendous act of determination and conviction.
As he himself has acknowledged, Reynolds arrived in Patagonia without any plans to attempt free solo climbing, but after several weeks he succumbed to the irresistible call to free climb in the mountains, a technique he had already tested in Yosemite. During the almost three months he stayed in the town of El Chaltén, which he was visiting for the first time, he had plenty of time to make a series of preparatory ascents, climbing the St. Exupery (2.558 m) (8,392 feet) and Rafael Juárez ( 2.450m) ( 8,038 feet) spears using the same style he would use for Fitz Roy. He then embarked on the main event, where he was finally able to express his art to the fullest.
“I never felt that I was going to die, although I knew very well that it was a possibility,” Reynolds told the Argentine newspaper La Nación. What motivated him to do it? “It is difficult to explain,” the climber said. “I do it for personal reasons, without expectations of any kind. It is the purest and most beautiful expression of climbing […] Whatsmore, I like to be alone on the mountain.”
Jim, who works for the Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) team, is not a new face in the world of big wall climbing. In 2017, he was already making news with Brad Gobright when both broke what was then the record for the fastest climb of “The Nose,” the renowned route of El Capitan, completing it in 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 44 seconds. Subsequently, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell succeeded in cutting that time to 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 7 seconds. But Reynolds’ latest feat has surely catapulted him to greatness in the climbing world.