On Sunday, September 7, 2025, at 2:30 PM, together with Marco Majori, I reached the summit of Cerro Chalten (Fitz Roy), making the first winter ascent of the route opened by Renato Casarotto in 1979. This was my first winter experience in Patagonia and the first winter ascent of this route, undoubtedly the most beautiful and most difficult ever climbed in winter on Fitz Roy.
Here are some scattered thoughts
"This is my fifth time on the summit of Cerro Chálten or Fitz Roy (the first in winter), and it seems incredible to me that each one has been so different, yet this summit still evokes those powerful emotions capable of stirring something within us...the solitude, the cold, and the fatigue, but above all the emotion shared with a friend, Marco Majori, for whom this summit holds an even deeper meaning for me. And then it's impossible not to remember Tommy Lamantia and our first attempt, which, from a personal perspective, is as valuable as the climb itself and which paved the way for success..."
The expedition began in early August, when Tommaso Lamantia and I made a first attempt on the route, but we had to abandon about halfway up the pillar due to unexpected winds that had picked up and caused temperatures to plummet to -25 degrees Celsius.
Then many days of waiting, many difficult moments: a serac that collapses on our skis, burying Tommaso's gear and breaking one of mine, the weather that deteriorates for weeks, and Tommy's work commitments force him to return home early.
Finally, right at the end of our trip, a window of good weather appears: everything is perfect this time, and Majo and I make no mistakes, a connection that goes beyond words...sometimes a glance, a nod, is enough, and everyone knows exactly what to do. We toil, we suffer, and finally we rejoice at the summit together, after three days on the wall in the middle of the austral winter.
At the summit, my friend Tomas Alganaraz captures our success with his drone, and then we race down to El Chalten. We have an appointment we can't miss: the plane's departure scheduled for 24 hours after we reach the summit, and above all, the return home to our families.
