Introduction

The Torres del Paine, flagships of the Chilean Patagonia and located integrally inside the Torres del Paine National Park, are enormous granitical monoliths that rise more than two thousand meters above the patagonian planes, their thousand meter high walls being visible from great distances. Their location, inside a protected area, gives them the advantage of having a straightforward access, fast and protected. The natural scenery that surrounds them is unsurpassable and they remain an important goal within world class climbing.

Of the three towers, the Torre Norte is the smallest and most climbed. It has two summits, being the South Summit the highest.


First ascent

The first ascent of the North Tower was made in 1958 by the 17 man expedition led and financed by italian count Guido Monzino. Monzino had moreover obtained, from Chilean authorities, the theoretical closure of the park to any other expedition during the 1957-58 season. Not withstanding, a team from the Club Andino Bariloche, Argentina, managed to sneak inside the park and by 40 mts didn´t succeed in the first ascent of the until then unclimbed Paine Grande, summit that Monzino´s team would conquer some weeks later.

Their spirits high with the success in the Paine Grande, the expeditionaries decided to make an attempt to one of the three towers. Starting on January 5 several exploration missions were done, resulting in the dismissal of the imposing East faces and the South Tower as well, for they were beyond the technical habilities of the team and of the time. Finally, it was decided they would attack the North Tower by its South Ridge, gaining access to it from the West.

On January 16, Jean Bich, Pierino Pession, Leonard Carrel and Camillo Pelissier undertook the final ascent, which ended the 17^th in the South Summit (2260m) of the tower which they baptized as Torre Monzino.