Sean Villanueva succeeds in free climbing the most difficult route on the El Mocho massif in Patagonia, The Approach Team Line. It is an old techno route by two Bulgarians.
A report by Rolando Garibotti | Patagonia Vertical
In the shadow of the mighty peaks of the Fitz Roy massif, El Mocho - a formation known for its long, sustained crack systems and offering some of the best multi-pitch routes in the region. Despite its exceptional quality, El Mocho is often overlooked as many climbers focus on the more famous peaks.
But Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll has set itself the goal of changing that – most recently with the first free ascent of the Approach Team Line, which is now considered the most difficult free climbing route in the entire massif.
A History of Extreme Routes on El Mocho
Villanueva has already proven several times that El Mocho has world-class free climbing routes to offer. In 2021, he opened Chaltén sin Clecas and Chaltén sin Chapas - two challenging and varied routes with everything a climber's heart desires: "blind moves" around an edge, powerful moves in roof cracks where the feet come in and "feet first" moves - the whole program. In the same year, he also managed the free ascent of Gray Yellow Arrow, which he described to Patagonia Vertical as "absolutely fantastic climbing".
During an attempt on Sin Clecas with Mecha Rocamora, Villanueva abseiled down the lower pitches of the Approach Team Line route and was immediately fascinated by its quality. A year later, he returned with Pete Whittaker and Julia Cassou back, but the crux of the route was not redpointable. They continued their ascent to the summit to explore the route further, but the unfinished attempt gave Villanueva no peace.
Persistence pays off
Determined to climb The Approach Team Line, Villanueva returned a few weeks later with Poldo Menéndez to work on the key pitches. But a sudden storm forced them to retreat. It was not until February 2024, together with Flo Delcoigne, that the long-awaited free ascent was finally achieved.
The two began their ascent at 6 a.m. and fought their way through technically demanding and extremely difficult terrain. The key section – a boulder move secured with bolts through a roof – was successfully completed. Villanueva on the third attempt. Flo couldn't climb this pitch, but mastered the next 7c diagonal in a flash: a long, technical corner with tricky placement options, a difficult to clip bolt and a tricky five-meter runout on small ledges to the belay station.
The second 7c pitch is reminiscent of Peak District climbing and combines two consecutive boulder problems: a tricky mantle onto a slab, followed by a powerful underhand pull with friction kicks. Since the passage was completely wet, they resorted to aids: toilet paper and a pair of socks helped to dry the rock enough for Delcoigne to flash the section and Villanueva to redpoint it.
Topo of the route The Approach Team Line
With the most difficult sections behind them, the rest of the climb became pure pleasure. They followed endless cracks, including a stunning 60-meter off-width-to-hand crack, before tackling the final meters with crampons and mountaineering boots. They reached the summit at 1 a.m. and abseiled in record time. They reached their camp at 4:30 a.m., 23 hours after setting off.
«A brilliant route»
After the ascent, Villanueva The Approach Team Line route was described to Patagonia Vertical as "of brilliant quality, not too 'committing', but technically very demanding." The Bulgarians Martin Marovski and Viktor Varoshkin paved the way for the route in 2016. In five days and with the help of 280 meters of fixed rope, the two set up a techno route with seven pitches and difficulties in the 6c, A2+ range.
Climbing routes on El Mocho – Patagonia
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Credits: Cover picture Julia Cassou, Report Rolando Garibotti | Patagonia Vertical