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Americas Project

September 2022 - April 2024
A climbers couple 🇨🇭🇧🇷 travelling with their dog from the US to Patagonia by car.
vida simples escalada forte 💛 Read more
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  • Americas Project
    1
    Day 572

    Last stop

    April 1 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    There it came, our last stop of the trip 🫣after an incredible time in Argentina we went back to Caxias 🇧🇷 to spend another three weeks with Vini's family and friends before flying back to europe.
    We had quite a lot to do and organize whilst there.
    It started with Nadja's wisdom teeth extraction (luckily it went smooth and wasn't painful) followed by selling our beloved home, Vanbora😪. Unfortunately we didn't find other travellers that wanted to buy our van, so our only option was selling it to a dismantling company. Sad ending for our van but it seemed to be the only reasonable option.
    Selling our home also meant looking for a new home in Switzerland. With a lot of help of my parents and some luck we finally managed to get an appartement in Bern🥳
    More medical check up's and appointments were done these days. Of course we also enjoyed these days with family & friends and spent some good days rock climbing, playing cards, and enjoying god company.
    The only sad part was the good bye 😔 but we hope to be back soon!!    Read more

  • Americas Project
    11212
    Day 564

    Frey

    March 24 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Last couple of days before heading to Brazil, Dale and I took advantage of a good weather window in Cerro Catedral (Frey) and did a two days mission to climb there. Frey is a beautiful area with granite spires and walls full of short multi pitch routes. We were motivated to try an 8a+ in the south face of Aguja Principal, but we thought that a two days mission in a shady face would be too audacious. So we decided to try a 3 pitches project called ‘Otra vez arroz’ in the Muralha China graded as 7c? in the guide book. Turns out that the project pitch is much harder. Despite our efforts after 3 tries each, we decided to leave it for another opportunity. We did all the sessions of the crux pitch and we think it might be an 8a+/b.
    The second day we decided to climb something more moderate and went back to the Principal to climb ‘No te olvidaremos’ a really beautiful line with very unique shapes, specially for granite routes.
    It was nice to come back to Frey after almost 20 years since my first visit.    Read more

  • Americas Project
    2
    1111211
    Day 551

    Valle encantado

    March 11 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    What a wonderful last stop in Argentina!
    After Piedra Parada we did a quick stop in Bariloche. We decided to not explore too much the city as there are many delinquents who target Overlanders. Instead we quickly moved to our next climbing destination, Valle Encantado.
    There we finally met Charly & Dale, a climbers couple from the UK which are doing more or less the same trip as us but started 6 months later. We had been talking on Instagram for a long time already but we weren't sure if we would be able to meet.
    We had so much fun together that we all decided to stay there for a longer time, enjoying company, climbing and some beach time 🙂
    There was even more company when our friends, Dimi & Stefi from Spain, visited us 🥰
    The access fo the crag was special because you had to cross a big river. We saw many methods how to cross: kayak, boat, SUP, sleeping matress or even some guys swimming. We were lucky to get our friends paddle board.
    Valle Encantado was our favourite sport crag in Argentina. Climbing on long & slightly overhanging routes with many pockets. Vini also did some rebolting to make the routes safe again.

    Great place & great people💚    Read more

  • Americas Project
    1
    11
    Day 542

    Piedra Parada

    March 2 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    We moved from the Andes to the Steppe which means more sun, dust and stable weather.
    Piedra Parada (the names comes from the alone standing big rock "standing stone" at the entrance of the canyon) is a beautiful canyon surrounded by wilderness, that has to be accessed by 80km gravel road with a lot of dust 😁
    On our climbing days we stayed on a big but very simple campground. Unfortunately Leki was not allowed in the canyon so we had to leave him in the van on the camping. Luckily there were many big shady trees and we could let the windows open. For half a day Leki was trapped in the van but the other half he spent running around and exploring the place with his friends 😉 Vini had been in Piedra Parada almost 20 years ago. Back then it was very different and even more remote. For crossing the river he had to call the gaucho with his boat, whos family still runs the campground today. There is also much more climbing now and of course many tourists that hadn't been there 20 years ago.
    But it's still a good place to slow down, deconect and enjoy climbing and wilderness 🙂    Read more

  • Americas Project
    2
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    Day 535

    Chalten

    February 24 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Chalten was all about nature, adventure & friends.
    On one side you have gorgeous remote mountains, glaciers, lagunas where you can climb, hike & much more. On the other side you have a touristy village with many bars, cafés & restaurants to hang out with friends. Around the village within 5-10min walk you find sport climbing crags and nice boulders. There is even a nice boulder gym when the weather is bad or you need some training done.
    The weather is not easy to deal with. In the mountains it can be dangerous with big storms, wind, snow & freezing temps. Especially because it can change very fast. Down in the valley most days are pretty nice but often windy and little rainy.
    I was surprised how good the weather was and how much I enjoyed our stay in Chalten. I think I had a bad image of Patagonia in my head as Vini was preparing me for years to go there. 😂 When there were some harsh conditions and I was "suffering" he was always telling me, that's preparation for Patagonia. So I thought it must be very tough there 😅.
    Vini had some big adventures (& now stories to tell) in the mountains with friends whilst I enjoyed some hikes and spent some days alone with Leki, enjoying me time.
    Apart from climbing around Chalten and in the Fitz Roy range we enjoyed socializing very much. Only good people & vibes around us. Making new friends, seeing old friends, celebrating birthdays, going to a boulder festival, partying, enjoying an open air concert under the stars, running in the rain, eating many ice cream & chipas (argentinian pão de queijo) and much more..
    This is for sure one of the highlights of our Americas Project, it's definitely a special place to come back someday.    Read more

  • Americas Project
    Day 531

    Torres del Paine

    February 20 in Chile ⋅ 🌫 4 °C

    Torres del Paine - Beautiful National Park but overpriced.
    As Leki was not allowed to enter the NP (not even staying in the car) we had to leave him in a dog hotel in Puerto Natales.
    After dropping off Leki we drove 2h to the visitor center of TdP where you could park and camp for free. We were in good company amongst many tourists also sleeping in their vans.
    The next morning we had an early start at 7am to hike to the famous view point "base de las torres". The hike was easy and nothing special as you never had views until the view point. But when you arrive at the top, the views are stunning! There are climbing routes on the towers but logistics are complicated and you need a permit. Only a few days ago a strong climbing team could free climb the hardest route on the middle tower for the first time in history. They spent 18 days on the wall with big storms!! Impressiv to see this wall in this remote place and imagine them up there trapped in the snow storms.
    Our hike was a bit less impressiv but we got tired legs from 20km hiking.
    When we got back to the parking we couldn't immediately leave as there was a tourist bus parked in front of our van and the driver nowhere to be found 🙄 after his lunch break the driver appeared and we could continue our drive through the NP.
    More nice views and a short hike to a waterfall and the "cuernos" viewpoint.
    To end the beautiful day we found a great spot to cook, enjoy the sunset & finally sleep.    Read more

  • Americas Project
    11
    Day 528

    Puerto Natales

    February 17 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Puerto Natales is the hub city for people exploring the southern part of the chilenean Patagonia, especially for visiting the Torres del Paine National Park. There we visited our chilean friends who we first met in Colombia and again in Brazil. They cooked a delicious, fresh and self caught salmon for us and they showed us some nice climbing spots around the city. We also discovered an other crag on our own and found one of the most beautiful wild camping places of our trip (lago Sophia).
    The town itself is small but cozy. It's surrounded by a fjord and therefore good for fishing and also a starting/ending point for cruising ships.
    It was only a short stop but for sure worth a visit!    Read more

  • Americas Project
    1
    11
    Day 526

    Ushuaia

    February 15 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    525 days and 47687 km after our trip started we arrived in Ushuaia, the end of the world.
    For many Overlanders Ushuaia is the goal/end of their trip. As we never really followed the Panamerican Highway it was not important to us. We wanted to discover the climbing areas, visiting family/friends & getting to know all the beautiful coutries. The road itself didn't matter. Our most southern climbing destination was el Chalten in Patagonia. As it is "only" 800 km north from Ushuaia we thought, why not drive to the most southern point reachable by car. We needed a break from climbing anyway, were recovering from a cold and had to wait for better weather.
    I think we were the worst tourists ever in Ushuaia. We arrived, took some fancy pictures, bought some postcards, Vini got a haircut and went to a beach to relax and take more fancy pictures😆. On the same day we decided to already leave the town and head back north as everything felt overpriced, touristy and not that spectacular. Also the weather was not the best for recovering from a cold 😅
    Nevertheless it was worth the drive as the driving itself was beautiful with different landscapes from what we had seen before.    Read more

  • Americas Project
    2
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    Day 524

    Glaciar Perito Moreno

    February 13 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We visited the famous Perito Moreno Glacier, also considered the eighth wonder of the world because of the spectacular view it offers.
    Really impressive to see the glaciar from only a few 100 meters away, hear the ice cracking and see pieces falling into the lake. This beauty is 30km long, 5km wide and up to 70m high at the front.
    The visit with Leki was a bit challenging as we couldn't enter the Nationalpark with him inside the van. We were allowed to leave the van and Leki at the park entrance (40min away from the actual parking) and hitch hike to the glacier with a german couple! Thanks for the ride 🙏🙂    Read more

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