On April 7th Robert Jasper, Ralf Gantzhorn and Jorg Heller climbed the west ridge of Monte Giordano in Tierra del Fuego's Cordillera Darwin. They christened the mountain "the Shark's Fin after the shape of the west ridge.
© Ralf Gantzhorn
The ascent was part of a 6 week expedition to this incredibly remote area - an area which most mountaineers have kept away from over the years owing to the seemingly constant bad weather. This occasion was no different with the team being involved ina number of weather-related adventures including securing their approach boat to cliffs on one occasion to avoid heavy storms. Once on land they endured rainforests, deep marshland and rugged glaciers and had to abandon their planned base camp due to constant storms.
© Ralf Gantzhorn
From Robert Jasper's web site (Words: Malte Roeper):
© Ralf Gantzhorn
The peak is indeed so unknown that maps differ in the published heights and contradicting names. Because of the spectacular shape which reminded the team of a shark's fin Robert Jasper, Jörn Heller and Ralf Gantzhorn named it exactly this way. Their GPS gave them a summit-altitude of 1517 m, 500 meters less than the Chilean maps.
After the first ascent of Ironman (UKC News Report), one of the most difficult mixed climbs of the world, the first ascent of Shark's Fin was the second great success for Robert Jasper in 2012.
Write-up by Lyndsay Griffin on the BMC web site
© Google Maps
Robert is appearing at this year's Kendal Mountain Festival as part of Marmot Night, Friday 16 November.
Robert Jasper is sponsored by: Marmot, Adidas Eyewear, GORE-TEX, Petzl, Natur Energie, Weick Executive Search , Red Chili, Leki, Krah, Beal
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