Interview: the First Winter Ascent of Cerro Chaltén’s North Pillar

On September 7, at 2:30 in the afternoon, Italians Matteo Della Bordella and Marco Majori stood on the summit of Cerro Chaltén—better known as Fitz Roy—hugging in triumph. They had just completed a historic milestone: the first winter ascent of the legendary line envisioned and soloed by Renato Casarotto back in January 1979.

A legendary line

Casarotto’s visionary route—35 pitches, 1,250 meters, up to 5.11b—traces the striking North Pillar of Fitz Roy, nearly 1,000 meters of soaring granite itself, before continuing up the upper wall to the summit. He named it “Pilar Goretta,” after his wife. Even in summer, the climb is serious: endless crack systems, polished dihedrals, and off-widths on flawless granite. In winter, it becomes something else entirely—endless storms, freezing ropes, cracks filled with verglas, and tents shredded by Patagonia’s infamous winds.

Reflecting on that solo ascent, Casarotto wrote in the American Alpine Journal: “On this wall I had to overcome extreme technical difficulties in the presence of continuous bad weather. This adventure confirmed to me that to succeed on very difficult climbs, it’s essential to integrate with the environment, to identify the right moment so your physicaCll and psychological energy is not wasted in long waits.”

Several teams have repeated the 1979 route, and often with variations. Colin Haley, the only other climber to solo it—and the first to do so alpine style, in 2023—called Casarotto’s achievement “incredible… in an era with no forecasts, no satellite communications, no LED headlamps, no camming devices.”

A first taste of Patagonian winter

For all three members of the Italian team—Della Bordella, Majori, and Tommaso Lamantia—this was their very first winter expedition in Patagonia. Despite Matteo’s deep experience (five Fitz Roy ascents and countless other Patagonian climbs), he admitted he didn’t know exactly what awaited them. “The chances of success were extremely slim,” he told me.

Arriving in El Chaltén on August 5, they didn’t hesitate. A rare good-weather window opened, and the team shouldered 55-pound packs and slogged through deep snow to the base. On August 7, they launched their first attempt, climbing halfway up the pillar before fierce winds forced a retreat on August 10.

“It was incredible,” Della Bordella recalled. “The cold, the fatigue, the absolute solitude—and at the same time, exhilarating. Pitch by pitch we grew more confident that it was possible.” Daytime temperatures barely reached 40°F; at night, they dropped to –5°F, with winds biting even harder.

Although they retreated, the team came back to town energized. Della Bordella stressed that his guiding principle was to never burn himself out on any given day, to always leave enough energy and clarity for a safe retreat if needed. His words echoed Casarotto’s decades-old wisdom.

But Patagonian weather has little mercy. Storms pinned them down through late August, and Lamantia had to fly home, disappointed to miss the final push. “It wasn’t easy watching from afar,” he admitted, “but I’m grateful for what I experienced. I made it halfway up the pillar. I didn’t get the cherry on top, but it was still an incredible adventure. As a photographer, I hope my work helps tell the story in a future documentary.”

The final push

Patience is one of Della Bordella’s greatest strengths. He relied on a longtime friend back in Italy for weather forecasts—and this time, the prediction was perfect. With lighter packs and the benefit of experience, Della Bordella and Majori reached the base in half the time of their first attempt.

At dawn on September 5, Majori led the first mixed pitches, ice tools and crampons scraping on the granite. Then Matteo took over on the steep, technical cracks he knew so well. They bivouacked under the giant Bloque Empotrado, wedged between Pilar Goretta and Aguja Mermoz. The next day they completed the pillar and bivouacked again on the snowfield at its top, preparing for the final wall. On September 7, exhausted and frozen but unwavering, they stepped onto Fitz Roy’s 11,171-foot summit.

Majori’s circle comes full

For Marco Majori, this climb was more than just a technical challenge. Just a year earlier, he had barely survived a crevasse fall on K2 during an ambitious no-oxygen ski descent attempt. He clawed his way out alone, in terrible shape, and only survived thanks to the swift aid of fellow climbers. Though the physical injuries healed, the psychological scars lingered.

What motivated him to return to high-stakes climbing? Family history. His father, Giovanni Majori, had once been on an expedition with Casarotto himself but decided against attempting the pillar. A childhood photo of Casarotto—a tiny black dot at the base of the massive wall—stayed with Marco for decades. “This climb,” he told me, “was a circle closing.”

Della Bordella: The vision

Della Bordella and Majori already had a strong partnership, having opened a new route on Siula Grande (6344 m) in Peru the year before. But what stands out about Della Bordella isn’t just his technical mastery—it’s his character.

Time and again, partners describe him the same way: endlessly patient, deeply determined, but above all, extraordinarily kind. He is rigorous in style, visionary in pursuing exploratory objectives with low probability of success, and a natural motivator for younger alpinists. Talking with him, I realized how much of his strength lies in keeping morale high, in maintaining focus, and in nurturing a positive partnership even when the odds seem overwhelming.

At the end of our conversation, Della Bordella reflected on Casarotto’s example and the profound joy of retracing his steps up Pilar Goretta. “It made me understand even more,” he said, “the incredible vision, the effort, and the brilliance it took to make it happen back then.”

The post Interview: the First Winter Ascent of Cerro Chaltén’s North Pillar appeared first on Climbing.