British Darwin Range 2008

After failing to set foot on Monte Frances (2200m) during an attempt in 2007 (MEF 07/10) due to adverse winds and weather, this team returned to have another go. After sailing from Ushuaia to Caleta Ola with Capt Wolf Kloss on the yacht Santa Maris Australis, they found that this year the south face was devoid of ice, so they turned their attention to the unclimbed west ridge. On this they reached 2100m before being forced to retreat due to a storm. Back at the yacht, they discovered that Kloss and Luis Tura had just made the sixth ascent of Monte Francis by the ‘standard’ south-east ridge. They then sailed back to Puerto Williams, from where they made their way to Yendegaia for an attempt on Roncagli III. Although they made some progress on this, reaching a bergschrund snow cave on the east ridge, they were once again forced to retreat due to storm and bad snow conditions. Nevertheless, they felt that the weather and conditions for climbing in the Cordillera Darwin at this time of year seemed more favourable than in the summer.