“Day 40 On The Wall … Oh Boy”

“Day 40 on the wall, 9 days till the visas expire. Ropes are solid cables of ice. Oh boy.” —Myles Moser

In Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, where the Southern Patagonian Ice Field breathes chaos into the sky, Americans Myles Moser, Trevor Anthes, and Harry Kinnard have completed one of the most committing big-wall ascents in recent memory: a 41-day first ascent of Paradigm Shift (VII 5.12+ A2; 4,000ft ) on the Central Tower of Paine.

The route, established over nearly six weeks in the vertical world while being tormented by ferocious Patagonian storms and frequent rockfall, represents a rare modern example of full-scale expedition big-wall climbing—heavy, slow, dangerous, and deeply uncertain.

A storm-bound epic

On their first attempt of the route in December 2024, the team—then Moser, Trevor Anthes, Hugo Perez, and Kellen McGrath—found themselves without gas or water while a storm pinned them to the wall. Aside from a single sleeping bag, their bivouac equipment was buried deep within their haulbags, and as the wall iced over and ropes froze solid they made an emergency bivouac.

While attempting to deploy their portaledge as shelter from the blizzard, catastrophe struck.

A sudden loud crack! sent the team plummeting, smashing into one another inside the rainfly before being miraculously caught. The portaledge collapsed around them, leaving all four climbers crammed together in a suspended, mangled cocoon.

They carefully untangled themselves to inspect what had saved them. Their anchor had consisted of a series of successive, unequalized pieces: first the knifeblade piton had snapped, then the cam above had ripped out. They had been saved by an ascender clipped to a fixed line above.

“We were hanging off of God knows what,” Moser later wrote. “Grateful that we were still together.”

They survived the night in a single sleeping bag, used as a blanket four climbers wide, in what Moser described as “raw mental pain”—a shiver bivy that would leave a lasting psychological imprint.

A route 15 years in the making

The vision for Paradigm Shift began over a decade earlier. Moser, who lives in the shadow of the spectacular Whitney range in California, first conceived of the line after earlier ascents in Torres del Paine, including Plate Tectonics (VI 5.12 C1; 3,300ft) on the East Face of the North Tower with Amy Ness in 2013. Moser later described this as: “A terrifying ascent that allowed me to glass and concoct an idea.”

Two years later, Moser and Ness returned to make the first continuous ascent of Una Fina Línea de Locura (VII 5.12 A3; 4,000ft) on the Central Tower. Over the 21 days they spent on route, Moser was given an even closer look at the possibility of a new steep and challenging line.

At the end of 2024, after a final reconnaissance of the potential route, Moser was ready for his first attempt. Joined by longtime partner Trevor Anthes, veteran climber Hugo Perez, and 23-year-old newcomer Kellen McGrath, Moser spent 29 days establishing 17 pitches of new terrain, enduring savage storms before making the decision to pull the plug due to exceedingly adverse conditions.

Moser had made plans to return before he reached flat ground.

Capsule style in a “light and fast” era

In an age dominated by alpine-style ascents and narrow weather windows, this team embraced an older style of climbing: go heavy, go prepared, and stay as long as it takes. That’s what it takes to establish a giant first ascent in a mountain range home to some of the world’s worst weather.

As a result, the team climbed capsule-style, living on the wall for over a month, pushing fixed lines above established mid-wall camps before arduously hauling camp higher on the wall. In Patagonia, where its rapidly changing weather necessitates the ability to quickly retreat to shelter, such a strategy is a necessary means. The cost of this approach? Massive loads that need to be hauled, storms that must be endured, and the steep fixed lines that have to be repeatedly ascended and descended. A mammoth—and sisyphean—amount of labor goes into such an ascent.

Aside from capsule-style’s practical benefits, Moser says it aligns with his philosophical values: self-reliance, being present, and raw experience. Moser doesn’t want to blitz his climbing experiences during brief periods of stable weather. He wants to bear the full force of the elements.

While stormbound in the portaledge Moser mused in his journal: “The current state of alpine climbing revolves around the ‘weather window.’ The perfect opportunity to conquer a climb. Light and fast is now the preferred method. Throwing all preparedness out the window and going barebones… Taking advantage of the greatest opportunity for success. But what if something happens unexpectedly? That’s the toss-up… But is there a difference between Bigwall Alpinism and Alpinism? Is Bigwall Climbing in the Alpine… Alpinism? … I’m sitting here freezing my ass off…. Is that Alpinism?”

At one point during this recent ascent, a critical water shortage nearly forced retreat. With only two gallons remaining and several days of climbing ahead, the team faced the possibility of failure. Then the storm came. Instead of retreating, they welcomed it.

Snowfall—normally a curse—became salvation. The team deployed haulbags, buckets, and improvised collection systems to capture and melt enough snow to continue. Within hours, they had secured over 20 gallons of water.

“Bad weather has never sounded so good,” Anthes remarked during the storm.

Objective hazards and human error

The climb was not without external threats. As traffic increased on the nearby South African Route (VI 5.12c; 4,000ft)—recently popularized by high-profile free ascents—Moser’s team found themselves directly below other parties. Rockfall became a constant danger.

On multiple occasions, large blocks narrowly missed the climbers, including one that struck their portaledge and tore through its fabric. “If I’m going to be hurt or killed doing what I passionately love,” he wrote, “it best be by ‘The Wall’ deciding it was my time.… Not by someone on the wall.”

The ascent and summit push

At the start of January, after weeks of portering loads to the base and preparing to embark into the vertical, the team spent two days fixing ropes up to their first camp atop pitch 9 at the “Shattered Pillar.”

They spent five more days shuttling loads to their first camp before a storm kept them on the ground for nearly a week. At last they committed to the wall, reaching their pitch 17 highpoint from 2024 after 10 days on the wall.

Three days later they established their second camp, the “Iron Man Bivy,” their highest camp on the wall. They continued to push their fixed lines upwards between brief lulls in storms.

After nearly a month on the wall—and almost two weeks storm-bound—the team finally seized a weather window.

On February 24, after ascending 1,500 feet of free hanging fixed lines, they pushed their route to the wall’s shoulder, intersecting the historic Bonington-Whillans Route (V 5.11; 2,500 ft).

From there, seven more pitches—iced, exposed, and battered by wind—led to the summit ridge. By 9 p.m., the team stood together on the summit of the Central Tower. There was no prolonged celebration—just a quick photo, a few words, and an immediate descent into the dark.

The long way down

The team returned to their high camp exhausted, 26 hours after having left for the summit. They spent several more days descending thousands of feet of fixed lines, recovering ropes, and wrangling heavy loads back to the glacier.

They brought down everything with them except the hardware that equipped the route—marking a proud new line up one of Patagonia’s most iconic faces.

What comes next?

Graded VII 5.12+ A2, Paradigm Shift is an inspiring new free-climbing objective. The team intended to free-climb as much of the route as possible, at times equipping the route with bolts and fixed pitons for mid-pitch protection. They hoped to create a route that future climbers could give a safe onsight attempt.

Moser himself believes much of the route could go free, writing: “The climbing is phenomenal from the bottom to the top…. Only two pitches stand with small sections that we believe do not go, but maybe a team with a much smaller workload could do better.”

In the end, the team free climbed 27 out of Paradigm Shift’s 36 pitches, including 10 pitches 5.12 or harder. Out of the nine pitches awaiting a redpoint, two are estimated to be 5.13a and five are in the 5.12a to 5.12c range. Two more pitches go at 5.12c A0 and 5.12c A2—the route’s free-climbing question mark.

Freeing the route would likely require the same wall-style approach—weeks on the wall, enduring Patagonian storms, and solving complex logistical challenges. In a climbing world increasingly driven by speed and minimalism, Paradigm Shift stands apart. It is a statement. A reminder that some climbs still demand everything—time, patience, suffering, and the willingness to embrace the unknown.

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