MOUNTAIN LOG COCHAMÓ EXPEDITION 61 Nature that we had wished for … the aesthetic crack was well disguised and turned out to be a blank seam. Without hope for aid climbing up the overhanging feature, it was obvious our new route plans had not worked out. So, we abseiled off, stripping down the static ropes as we went. With just under a week remaining, we decided that trying yet another new route plan on a 1,000m wall wasn’t realistic and so we climbed on a few excellent established routes, including EZ Does It (E1, 10 pitches to the summit of Trinidad), Manos del Dia (E3, 11 of 12 pitches), Camp Farm (6c+ variant, seven pitches) and Apnea (HVS, two pitches). THANK YOU! We would like to say a huge thank you to Mountaineering Ireland and the Mount Everest Foundation for partially funding our expedition. Thanks also to our friends Kirsten Kremer and Tim Stephens for their support, knowledge and companionship; to their friends Brandon and Stephie for their kind hospitality at the start and end of the trip; to our arrieros, Cristian and his family, for transporting all our stuff on their horses; and to the lovely people at Camping La Junta for a very welcoming stay in Cochamó; and finally to Mike ‘Twid’ Turner for the invitation to climb and learn from his depth of experience and passion for big wall climbing and mountaineering. HELP PROTECT COCHAMÓ Cochamó’s future is in the hands of everyone, so please consider donating to Conserva Pucheguin via the link www.conservapucheguin.org to help secure permanent protection for this irreplaceable ecosystem and its communities. For information and route topos for planning a climbing trip to Cochamó, see www.cochamo.com. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kevin Kilroy is 37 years of age and from County Donegal. He works as a freelance mountaineering and climbing instructor living near the Mourne Mountains and has been actively climbing in Ireland and abroad for the past 20 years.
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