Colin Haley Makes First Solo Climb of Cerro Standhardt

Rock climber Colin Haley made another spectacular and daring solo climb in Patagonia back in late November, becoming the first person to top out on Cerro Standhardt alone. The climb is amongst the toughest in the world, but Haley has made quite a name for himself climbing in Patagonia the past few years, and has also become very familiar with big rock faces of the region.

Haley first came to prominence on the international climbing scene when he and Rolando Garibotti competed the Torre Traverse back in 2008. That project entailed the two climbers completing a climb up and over Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger and Cerro Torre, something that many had dreamed about for years, but had never been accomplished until that point.

Since then, Haley has returned to Patagonia three years running, drawn in by the spectacular scenery and the fantastic rock faces. On his latest venture, he made the solo ascent on November 27th of last year, beginning at 4 AM on the peaks well known Exocet route. From there, he scrambled up the relatively easy starting ramps before soloing the first two pitches on the four-pitch chimney wall. After that, he self belayed up the big wall, before reaching the top at 4 in the afternoon, 12 hours after he set out.

To read a full report of the climb, with details from Colin himself, check out this post on the Black Diamond website that was published late last week.

Big thanks to Frank Ledwell from JPFreek Magazine for sharing the story with me. Much appreciated my friend!