travelling-blogger

comments

A young British man has become the first climber to scale the biggest unclimbed rock face in Patagonia.

Calum Muskett, 20, went on two expeditions to conquer sections of the 14-mile-long mountain range in the Torres del Paine National Park.

The range is famous for its staggering rock faces, several of which had previously been unconquered.

Peak performance: Calum Muskett is pictured during his ascent on Aguja Guillaumet

The climbers tackled a section of the 14-mile-long mountain range in the Torres del Paine National Park

Calum, from Bethesda in Wales, made the first ascent of the South Face of the South Tower of Paine - the then biggest unclimbed rock face in Patagonia.

The young climber spent a month camping in the Bader Valley in the Torres del Paine National Park of Patagonia in Chile.

Don't look down! The ground below is obscured by mist as Calum pauses to take a photograph on his ascent

Harsh conditions: The climbers had to climb in sub-zero temperatures every day

Then Calum, with Scottish climber Dave Macleod, 36, completed the first ascent of a difficult route on a peak called Aguja Guillaumet in the Fitzroy national Park of Patagonia, Argentina.

Isolated: The climbers spent a month in the Bader Valley in the Torres del Paine National Park of Patagonia

The mountains of Patagonia are the first thing that any weather hits after travelling over the Pacific Ocean

Calum, who started climbing at the age of 13, said: 'We were climbing in sub-zero temperatures every day and the sun would only hit us early in the morning.

'We got to the top of the wall and had only a couple of hundred meters of easy ground to cover to reach the summit when a storm hit us and we were forced to descend.'

The climbers spent a month camping in the Bader Valley in the Torres del Paine National Park

Sheer effort: The climb is one that only the most experienced of climbers could tackle

Calum continued: 'Patagonian weather is particularly bad as they're in a latitude of the earth known as the 'Roaring Forties'.

'The mountains of Patagonia are the first thing that any weather hits after travelling over the Pacific Ocean and it is normal for the wind speed to be in excess of 60mph and often over 100mph.

'Wind speeds of over 60mph are dangerous as well as difficult to climb in so you have to wait for weather windows to go out and climb in - it requires a lot of patience.'

Remote: A climber tackles the South Tower of Paine, the then biggest unclimbed rock face in Patagonia