0600, bivy di Silenzio, Torres del Paine. I am dreaming. No I am not. But I have a hell of a good feel about what is happening right now. Here, on a small plaform surrounded by huge boulders, Martin and I are waking up in our modest bivy. How lucky we are to be all alone in this valley, and to enjoy this calm raise of the day with it´s splendid views. I light up the stove, and it marks the to start a day on wich we hope to top out on the North tower del Paine.

0800, north col, Torres del Paine. It is clear that the four and a half weeks of hard labour have drained about all of our forces. What normaly makes a fast scramble to the start of the North tower South ridge, now turns out to be quite strenuous. Arriving at a first real belay, slightly out of breath, we change into our rock climbing shoes and gear up for two pitches of VI grade granite. Martin kick´s of, I lead the second. The shoulder injury I suffered by rockfall a week ago makes climbing harder, and I am glad that most of this ridge is IVth grade terrain.

1015, summit North tower del Paine, Torres del Paine. Having simul-climbed all the way to the top, Martin and I are lucky to top out very early on the day. The weather is deteriorating, and wind is picking up speed. We know we should get down immediately, but despite that, we take a moment to enjoy the small victory of this expedition. We firmly shake each others hand and take a good look around. All the way down to the west, we see the valley where we have worked so hard over the last four weeks. And right next to us, the big brother, the Central tower that proved to be a touch to much.

On the way down we have major problems with the wind. Ropes prefer hanging in mid air or jamming into places we do not. Even pulling the ropes back in simply is not possible due to the wind, that gives them more slack then we can abolish. Finally, in moments the wind drops just enough, we rap of on the west face as fast as possible, and escape from the ferosious Patagonian winds higher up. Funny how all of a sudden, back down at the bivy, there seems to be hardly any wind at all. So close, yet such a difference...

1650, Base Camp, Torres del Paine. At the end of what has been an exhausting day, Martin and I stroll back into Base Camp. Gerke and Ronald are glad to see us back, and share the feel of success that we had with our dash to the North summit. Meanwhile, today they have ferried two huge loads down to the valley, wich lets us only four last loads to carry down tomorrow. Enormously surprised by their effort on what should be their day off, I can only conclude by saying what a great team we have.

At the moment I feel wrecked, filthy, and seem to be surrounded by hundreds of flies and musquitos. But on the other hand I am glad, very glad that this body and mind have been pushed to it´s limits over the last few weeks. I wonder if I have ever experienced a feel like that climbing in the European Alps. And then I wonder if I can get me on another trip like this in the near future. Where to? 6000 metre peaks in China? Technical mixed routes in Alaska? Alpine rock challenges like this in Pakistan? Thinking about all those wonderful places to discover, I doze of for a well deserved night´s sleep.

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welcome to thursday 10th of february