Torre Egger West Face

With the reduction in team strength to two, the original objective was too remote to access with all the necessary equipment, so attention was concentrated on the east side of the massif, which the leader already knew well. Due to El Niño, the area had experienced three weeks of hot weather in February, followed by two weeks of rain and snow - both unprecedented events - so that when the duo arrived there was plenty of snow, but no ice. They therefore did an alpine-style repeat of the 1988 Bridwell/Smith route 'Exocet' on Cerro Standhardt (2,730m) and then made two attempts on the unclimbed and rarely seen N face of the same peak. With only one and a half days of good weather, they were unsuccessful in topping out, despite fixing aid pitches.