Mayan Smith-Gobat, on Riders of the Storm
In February, a female climbing team, formed by Ines Papert, from Germany and Mayan Smith-Gobat, from New Zealand, climbed the legendary Riders of the Storm route, first opened by Wolfgang Güllich, Kurt Albert, Bernd Arnold, Peter Dittrich and  Norbert Bätz, in 1991.
The staggering 1300m 7c A3 climb crosses the east face of the Torre Central del Paine. Adidas Outdoor, the sponsor of Mayan Smith-Gobat, has published a four-part filmed by Thomas Senf, who accompanied them on the climb.
This extremely demanding and varied climb includes delicate face climbs, off-width cracks and overhangs, which in most cases are covered with ice. The notorious weather conditions of the area are also the cause of strong winds and humidity from the ocean.
This was the 5th repetition of Riders on the Storm and the first all-female climb and they came very close to freeing the whole route: they managed to free the two upper pitches for the first time and found a variation for five aid pitches. Only four lower pitches remain without a redpoint.
The two climbers, together with their photographer, cameraman and climber, Thomas Senf, spent 3 weeks living from their portaledge on the wall and 15 days of effective climbing.