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Patagonia Expert, Alberto del Castillo
It's finally up! Our new Interview Column is up! And I want to share this excitement with you. With each interview, we did a great deal of research in order to come up with the most in-depth questions possible. Our first guest was Alberto del Castillo. In November last year, I finally made it to Argentina for a reunion with friends I had met in Jaisalmer, India. While staying with them, they introduced me to Patagonia expert mountaineer, Alberto del Castillo. The 43-year-old mountaineer and a father of three is the CEO of Fitz Roy Expediciones & Patagonia Aventura SA. A native of Buenos Aires Province, Del Castillo grew up hiking on the sierra hills of Tandil and prefers steep mountains to skyscrapers. Today, he runs a successful expedition and guide company that includes some of the best-trained mountain guides anywhere. What’s more, he’s possibly the most sought after for his expertise in the El Chaltén area. When not looking, I found his nameHere's an excerpt of the interview with Del Castillo:
Nana: Please tell us how an amateur mountaineer differs from a professional. And at what point did you consider yourself a professional?
Alberto: Professional climbers are the ones who climb for money or receive financial help from sponsors, whereas professional mountain guides are the ones that make a life of mountain guiding. I consider myself a professional because I developed the first trekking & climbing company based on El Chaltén, in the Santa Cruz Province. The company has now more than 30 employees. I have developed new trekking circuits, new classics climbing routes where we lead our clients, and of course because I make a living from this.
Nana: What’s been the most frightening situation you’ve encountered? What happened and how did you get out of it? What should climbers do when faced with a dangerous situation?
Alberto: As any mountaineer, I have been in many frightening situations, from crevasses accidents, fallings, avalanches and so on...(continued)