This is Bautista Gregorini along with Tomás and Pedro Odell. A repeat of a 1250m 7bA0 line on the legendary Patagonian mountain.

This is Bautista Gregorini along with Tomás and Pedro Odell. A repeat of a 1250m 7bA0 line on the legendary Patagonian mountain.

Bautista Gregorini, originally from Tandil, in the Province of Buenos Aires, together with Tomás and Pedro Odell, from El Chaltén, achieved this week an important repeat, on one of the most outstanding routes of Fitz Roy, the «Royal Flush», or Royal Staircase, establishing at the start of the season, a very important milestone in terms of achievements in Patagonia, undoubtedly setting the bar «very high» from the beginning.

The announcement came via the social media accounts of the young climbers, who are part of a prominent group of new talents, and are Argentinian.

Bautista describes his feat on his social media:

«How I have dreamed about this mountain, how I have spent hours and hours talking about that summit, endless conversations fueling the desire and motivation to climb up there, how I have spent sleepless nights thinking about the walls of this needle.

And it wasn’t just the fact that we climbed it for the first time, but also the route we took, an elegant and beautiful line, perfect cracks that split the East face of Fitz, its largest and most vertical face, the one that when it’s clear looks down on the town, commanding respect and showing its beauty

This line was undoubtedly one of my biggest dreams in this place, and how good it feels to daydream, even more so accompanied by the brothers that life gave me, who made this already epic experience unbeatable.

What a wonderful way to start the season, one less dream on the endless list of dreams in this place. Thank you, Fitz, for everything, thank you for being the daily motivation, thank you for letting us be up there and letting us come back to share the stories. Thank you to this climbing team for such an amazing adventure. Thank you to my family and friends, who were with me in my heart throughout the entire climb.

But let’s take a look at what this is all about, so we can understand it properly. Let’s go back to the story.

The story of the road

«Royal Flush» is a route opened in 1995 by Kurt Albert, Bernd Arnold, Jorg Gerschel, and Lutz Richter. It ascends the largest face of Fitz Roy and has only three repeats, including this latest one, entirely by Argentinians.

Looking back at the history of this route, it’s worth noting that the original team didn’t complete it due to an injury sustained by Kurt Albert 350 meters from the summit. It was finally completed in 1998 by a German team consisting of Gäbel, Schafroth, and Treppte.

According to the PataClimb website, the Germans fixed 450 meters of rope and took three days round trip on their last attempt. Meanwhile, the first alpine-style ascent was made by Americans Jimmy Haden and Mike Pennings in 2008, in just 48 hours round trip from the Upper Pass, descending along the French-Argentine border.

The name «Royal Flush» pays homage to the best possible hand in poker, since the first climbers considered that climbing in Patagonia «is a bit like gambling, and like in a poker game, you need a lot of luck and have to take some risks and invest great effort to succeed.»

Kurt Albert’s «Royal Flush», 1995

«The ascent took place in January/February. I was accompanied by the German climbers Bernd Arnold, Jorg Gershel and Lutz Richter. We saw this unique line on the east pillar (1300-1400 meters) when we attempted El Corazón in December 1993.»

The route was very inspiring and challenging, so we returned to Fitz Roy a year later. Our goal was to establish a decent route with comfortable belays and protection that would make free climbing in good conditions enjoyable. Many of the best routes in the world go unrepeated due to poor or nonexistent protection.

But even so, climbing in Patagonia is very adventurous. It feels like a gamble; like in a poker game, you need a lot of luck and have to take some risks and invest a lot of effort to succeed. Hence our name, «Royal Flush»—the highest cards in a poker game.

The route starts to the left of El Corazón and climbs an obvious crack system parallel to that route. It joins El Corazón two pitches above the «heart» (the large heart-shaped drawing on the wall). Above this, there is no logical independent line to the summit.

We took advantage of the good weather during the last week of January and were able to free climb the route in good conditions, except for two short five-meter sections where the crack was still full of ice. In total, we spent 14 days on the wall over six weeks.

Each belay station is equipped with three bolts. We left all the gear (which was hammered in) on the wall. To repeat the route, I recommend two sets of Friends (up to size 4 Camelot) and two sets of Stoppers, 50-meter ropes, and ice climbing equipment.

In good conditions, the entire route is free climbable at a grade of 5.12 (and many 5.11s). It’s primarily crack climbing (hands, fingers, laybacks, footholds). Only two pitches (12 and 13) have some rotten rock. The route is easy to rappel. The challenge now is to repeat the Escalera Real in alpine style! (Completed in 2008)

Unfortunately, Bernd Arnold broke his knee when a piece of rock fell on him. After this accident, the remaining 10 pitches of El Corazón to the summit of Fitz Roy didn’t interest us much. We packed up all the gear, fixed ropes, and went home. In short, the Escalera Real was one of the most exciting and challenging alpine climbing experiences for me.