UKH

https://www.climbing.com/news/cerro-torre-the-lie-and-the-desecration/

Donini asserts that Maestri left no gear on the top 1000 foot section of his claimed Cerro Torre ascent.

hardly news - I remember reading something similar in an article Jim Donini wrote in Mountain not long after the first ascent in the mid 70s

If you know it ,it isn't news.If you don't it is.

Thanks for that positive comment.

I think the present consensus is that CM did not complete the last 950 metres of his 1959 "route" and the last 35 metres of the 1970 "compressor route".

Unless you are Italian and a CM fan, that is.

Reminds me of that Harry Enfield sketch where an 80s Soviet (or possibly East German) rock fan is distraught to discover that Jimmy Hendrix is dead.

While it’s generally accepted that CM didn’t get to the summit, I wasn’t aware that he’s not even thought to have reached the Col of Conquest. I thought the link was interesting enough to warrant posting.

Garibotti's more recent detective work is described here:

http://pataclimb.com/knowledge/puzzle.html#report

and

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/opinion/sunday/mountaineerings-greatest-...

The link to which you post is dated 2009, so it quite old. 

If you are interested in the whole story, you might be interested to read Kelly Cordes' book 'The Tower', in which the author draws on his considerable Patagonian experience to investigate the affair. 

Phil Burke ,from Face Book. ''Same for us in 1980/81 Found entire pitches roped and cilpped up, to just below snow patch, as well as a rucs full of gear clipped to the top of the fixed rope. After that nothing. We even descended partway down his claimed couloir line from above, looking for evidence. Nothing.''

Watermann2
 

Big Wall climber

Saluzzo Italia

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2015 - 02:49am PT

Cerro Torre, East Face. In January Phil Burke and Tom Proctor from England climbed the east face of Cerro Torre nearly to the summit. On a previous 28-day attempt, Brian Wyvill and Ben Campbell-Kelly had climbed over half the route. They left a “super-box” near the Col of Conquest. With that, they worked out a system of pulling up the super-box and then fixing another 1000 feet of rope ahead, enabling them to climb fast if the weather was good and yet be safe in bad weather. In 1981 they worked on much the same system. They used EBs on rock and usually they placed nuts and Friends in preference to pitons. Originally the team was four, but Brian Wyvill was hit by a rock and Geoff Birtles had to return to work, leaving Proctor and Burke to do the climb. For 1000 feet they followed Maestri's line of pitons and bolts, though they climbed mostly free. Then there were two rope-lengths on the icefield, a rappel into a gully, an A2 pitch and then another 1000 feet up a slabby buttress to near the Col of Conquest. That much had been done in two pushes interrupted by a short spell of bad weather. However, for the next three weeks it stormed incessantly. When the weather finally improved, they spent five days carrying supplies to the super-box. Above, rose a huge overhanging dihedral. The three-pitch entry into it was one of the most difficult parts of the climb. Though Wyvill and Campbell-Kelly had spent weeks on this problem, Burke and Proctor climbed 1000 feet nearly to the top of it in a day. The next day took them quickly back up the fixed ropes, but they found the exit from the dihedral very difficult. After another night in the box, they were away early. At their previous high point, they were 4000 feet above the base of the climb at the junction of the east and north faces. The next seven rope-lengths on nearly vertical, verglased rock took them twelve hours. Just below the summit, the ice turned to overhanging mush. Reluctantly they had to turn back a few feet from their goal. Further details are in Mountain N° 78 and N° 79, which also includes interesting comments on Cesare Maestri's disputed ascent.