Cochamó / Frey / South America (January - March 2017)

I've been given the winter off to hibernate, so I was thinking about South America. Anyone interested in climbing down in El Cochamo for a few weeks?

Safe, gear equipped, fine with devastatingly long approaches, not a dick, generally a fast and efficient climber, starts pulling on gear at 11+, schedule flexible. PM if you want to talk about potentially hooking up for some rad trad climbs. Cheers! Shino

good chance I'll be in Chile most of December and looking to climb....

Ill be in Cochamo / Frey Jan / Feb.

I´ll be in South America, Patagonia, Mendoza from end of November to end January. My schedule is very flexible and open to fix with the plans of others. Send me a message if you are interested in climb together.

PMs sent to you all. Sorry for the delayed responses; didn't select "notify me when climbers reply". Dummy move.

If anyone also has general safety beta for females traveling alone, I'd appreciate the info.

Hey Shino - I think that Chile in general is a mellow and safe place to travel. That comes with all the standard caveats, but relative to other destinations it's a largely safe place. This is particularly true outside of Santiago, and doubly particularly true of the south of Chile. Amazing and kind people galore.

I was up in Cochamo twice and would say that you're very likely to find partners at the climber's basecamp there even if you go without a partner lined up. Daniel used to be the owner, a climber - not sure if he's still there, it's been a few years.

Hey Shino,

I'm planning on heading to Chalten/Bariloche/Piedra Parada/Cochamo in Jan/Feb. Pretty tentative plan at the moment, and I'm open to new plans/itineraries/ideas.

Cheers

As far as I know, Daniel is still running things at La Junta in Cochamo. He's got a great setup there and odds are pretty good to just show up and ask around for a partner. Still, it is a fairly long ride and walk to get there, so definitely better to arrive with a solid partner if you can. Bring some bug repellent for the tabanos -- they can be pretty bad in January.

Things are easier at Frey. Bariloche is an awesome and beautiful town, there is regular bus service to the trailhead and a pretty short approach, and it is never a problem to find partners up at the refugio. Rolo G. has a new full-color Frey guidebook that is extremely well done. Frey has some of the most fun and beautiful climbing I've ever done anywhere.

In my experiences, southern Chile and southern Argentina are both extremely safe places, both by Latin America standards and also when compared to most of the USA. Outside of urban areas, opportunistic theft is about the worst that might happen.

What Sullivan says is true, I've done both sides of the Andes there. Cochamo is awesome for sure, but being on west side of Andes, the chance of rain-out is greater. Frey is great,climbing, scenery setting, etc. For some out-there desert climbing, go south from Bariloche to Piedra Parada, rain unlikely, tons of routes and a great desert hike behind the canyon with petrified tree trunks and cool formations for your off days.

Little rusty on the extended international dirtbag lifestyle, so I really appreciate the beta. Thanks, guys.

Got my one way ticket to Santiago for mid-December. If you find yourself in El Chalten, Frey, Cochamo, Piedra Parada or the sorts from then until March, send me a PM!

Still undecided about gear, but likely 2 half 60s + standard rack. If it proves more beneficial to come with speciality offset and OW pro to supplement racks of climbers that are already traveling around, message me.

PM sent

Looking into being down in Cochamo solo from dec 28th-Jan 18th ish. Safe multi pitch leader, positive psych in hairy situations, many routes > 1000ft and solid leader on 5.11-, hoping to be stronger by the time the trip comes around. Please PM me so I can get an idea about whether I should pull the trigger!