Cerro Torre

OVERVIEW:
HEIGHT:	3,133m
LOCATION:	Patagonia, Argentina/Chile
MOUNTAINS:	Andes
FIRST ASCENT:	1959 Cesare Maestri and Toni Egger (disputed) 1974 Casimiro Ferrari and comrades (first recognized ascent)

General:

Cerro Torre is 3133 meters high and is located on the Argentina-Chilean border. This granite mountain shoots out like a flame from the Patagonian glaciers.
This granite pillar is known as one of the most difficult mountains in the world and that is precisely why it is so popular.
The mountaineering teams face extreme challenges on their way to the summit. You have to move on smooth concrete granite and sometimes have to face snow and sleet or hurricane-force Pacific storms.
The frost is particularly worrying for the mountaineers. It is extremely brittle and offers no support for the ice screw.

The first ascent is said to have been accomplished by the Italian Cesare Maestri on January 30, 1959.
Unfortunately, this could not be proven because his climbing partner Toni Egger died during the expedition. He died on the descent due to an ice avalanche and the summit photo was lost with him.
There were too many critics and nobody really wanted to believe the descriptions of Cesare Maestri. Therefore, the mountain was still considered unclimbed.
However, in the winter of 1979, Cesare returned after 11 years.
This time he also took a compressor with him up the mountain to drill holes in the granite for his heels.
This method caused displeasure, especially among the alpinists, as this behavior was not fair to the mountain.
He successfully climbed the southwest face and on December 2, 1970 he reached the bottom of the rock just below the summit.
However, he did not climb the summit snow mushroom, for him the mountain was already climbed and his honor restored.
But precisely for this reason there were again a few cynics who did not recognize his ascent, since he was not on the top of the mountain either.
Maestri`s compressor still hangs just below the summit today and the route he took then became known as the Compressor Route.
In 1974, however, the first recognized ascent of Cerro Torre took place by Casimiro Ferrari Expedition.