Thomas Huber: Cerro Torre, an unfulfilled dream to push me even further

Thomas Huber has a special relationship with Cerro Torre; for the last ten years he has tried several times to fulfill his dream of completing the traverse from Cerro Standhardt to Cerro Torre. In early 2015, Thomas was back in Patagonia. This time, he and his team were able to complete a large section of the traverse, but poor weather finally put an end to their ascent. Thomas Huber tells us the story about this latest attempt…

There are those mountains that you want to climb and that bring meaning to your life, and then there are those mountains that you just have to climb, and which change your life completely! One of these mountains sparked in me an unexplainable passion and desire, a mountain located on the other side of the world. Fierce, full of character, an Argentine mountain or rather a rock spire that rises 1500 meters from its base, fervent, demanding, always engulfed in storms. Her name is Cerro Torre, a name that rings like a declaration of eternal love in the heart of every climber. This is the case for me, and I have maintained an intense relationship with the mountain for ten years. She guides me, inspires me to dream, shows me my limits, causes me to fail, and encourages me to take the next step.
 

A dream: to climb the most beautiful route...

Ten years ago, I came up with the idea to climb Cerro Torre via an incredible line. My goal was not to follow the straightest route to the summit, but to climb the most beautiful route; and the longest. I wanted to climb the knife-edge ridge forming Cerro Torre's horizon line, by way of Cerro Standhardt, Punta Heron, and Torre Egger.

2005: my first season in Patagonia

At first, we were alone in our idea. Andy Schnarf, a young climber from Switzerland, and I climbed all the way to Torre Egger, where one of the area's all-too-familiar storms forced us to retreat. The only problem, I was addicted, I wanted her - the traverse, I wanted to live the Patagonian life.

It was heartbreaking when I learned that an American-Argentine team became the first to complete the Torre traverse. And yet the dream of completing the traverse is now a part of me, and whether first, second, the fastest, or whatever, it is now of such little importance. What I want is to experience the moment, to take that final step, to succeed! I have now spent ten years traveling to Patagonia on a regular basis, but still have yet to finish the traverse. Over the course of all these attempts, I have stood three times on the top of Cerro Standhardt, once on Torre Egger, two times on Punta Heron, once on Cerro Torre (in winter!), once on Fitz Roy, La Silla, Saint Exupéry, I have eaten asados with Don Gerra, I have made new friends, and I have experienced Patagonia!!
 

Uncooperative weather...

It is now early 2015, and just like ten years ago I am en route with Andy Schnarf; Argentine Tommy Aguilo has also joined our team. The weather forecast gives us a sliver of hope to be able to complete the traverse I have been dreaming about this moment for so long. Motivated by the clear weather window we head up at night to Col Standhardt and the large chockstone that marks the start of our first route. Seven hours later we reach the top of Cerro Standhardt. During the rappels to Col Sueno, a brutal wind blasts our faces. We descend the east face, out of the wind, and find a small ledge of ice to set up an awkward and uncomfortable bivy. Hurricane force winds gust above us, pounding the Torre summits and knocking down chunks of ice as big a fist onto our bivy. Later it starts to rain, what a night! 

In the morning, the wind finally dies down after the stormy night and dawn slowly eclipses the starry sky. We take advantage of the calm to sleep an extra hour until the first rays of sunlight motivate us to get moving. We start climbing as quickly as possible. Three hours later we are standing on the summit of Punta Heron, and at three in the afternoon we set foot on top of Torre Egger.
Just like the day before, the wind picks up. The rappels to Col Conquista turn into a stormy nightmare. We have a hard time keeping the ropes under control, and finally reach the pass two hours later. The storm is in full swing, with gale force winds making a bivy here next to impossible, and climbing the north face is not even an option. Once again we descend the east face to escape the wind and all quickly agree that our adventure stops here.

At six in the morning we are back in camp. The Torre glows in the spectacular morning light. Higher up on the mountain everything appears calm, but no one even thinks of asking the question as to whether or not we could have finished the traverse. We crawl into our sleeping bags and fall asleep. When we wake up around noon, the first clouds are already starting to form around Cerro Torre. A few hours later the mountain is no longer visible. Our decision was clearly the right one. Thank god! Andy and I look at each other and then explain to Tommy how we went through the exact same experience almost ten years ago to the day!