Published: February 2026 (Originally filed: March 1990)
The Cordillera Darwin is one of those places that doesn’t appear on most climbers’ maps — a 140-mile arc of glaciated peaks cut by fjords on the south-west tip of Tierra del Fuego, whipped by Patagonian storms, and reached only with the help of the Chilean Navy. In January 1990, a three-man British team made the first ascent of Monte Roncagli — at the time described as the most desirable unclimbed peak in the Southern Hemisphere. They did it in Wild Country tents, wearing Wild Country mittens. This is their story.
A Mountain That Keeps Score
Monte Roncagli had already beaten David Hillebrandt twice. In 1988, he and Iain Peters had made three attempts on it — turned back by avalanche-prone conditions on the north-east buttress, stopped by a massive crevasse on the icefall, and finally forced off the north ridge in lashing rain within sight of the top. They had spent seven hours climbing in the dark on that last attempt trying to take advantage of frozen snow. They nearly made it.
Two years later, Hillebrandt was back — this time with John Mothersele and Julian Mathias. The mountain, he wrote in the expedition report, “lured us on too easily.” He was glad when the storms came in at base camp to keep them honest.
Getting There
Punta Arenas is the gateway to the Cordillera Darwin, and in 1990 it was already well-established as a staging post for the southern ranges. Within 24 hours of flying in — via Varig from Heathrow to Rio and Santiago, then Ladeco south to Punta Arenas — the team were aboard the Chilean Navy vessel Yelcho, being welcomed by Captain Santiago Murphy and his crew. The ship made an 18-hour passage through the Magellan Straits, out into the Pacific, and down the Beagle Channel to Estancia Yendegia.
Hillebrandt’s report on the Chilean Navy’s support is characteristically heartfelt: “One cannot give enough praise to the goodnatured help and support received from the Chilean Navy on this and previous expeditions.” In the best traditions of British understatement, he also notes that the Devon-based member of the team was sick as soon as the ship hit open water.
From the Estancia — run by the son of the original owner, Don Miguel Serka, who charged the team $5 US per day and fed them when they were resident — it was a five-hour walk up the Stoppani valley to Casa Gringo, and a further five hours of hard going with heavy packs to Foxes Glade, base camp for several previous Roncagli attempts. The glade is named after a silver fox spotted there on an earlier trip. Hanging in a tree on arrival was a haul bag left in 1983 and re-stocked in 1988, still serviceable, containing crampons, kerosene, rice, spaghetti — and, without explanation from any previous expedition, a pair of black lacy knickers.
The Tents Hold
Foxes Glade gives a direct view of Roncagli’s north face, and also receives the full force of whatever Patagonia decides to throw. On arrival, the team were pleased to have their shelters well-pegged down before the wind hit.
They were relying on a Wild Country Super Nova and Quasar — the same family of designs that became central to Terra Nova Equipment’s line as the two brands developed together. The choice wasn’t arbitrary: “We relied on a Wild Country Super Nova and Quasar since their tents had proved themselves before at Foxes Glade.” The Quasar’s performance mattered on summit day too — three climbers slept in it at glacier camp the night before the ascent, finding it “more comfortable than we expected” and warm enough that they didn’t notice the temperature had dropped until Hillebrandt got up at 4:30am to start a brew.
The Mittens That Made the Difference
Conditions in the Cordillera Darwin are wet, wind-driven and penetrating. The report describes a climate like a Scottish winter but more variable — barometer going up and down like a yo-yo, wind capable of going from 2 to 20 knots within five minutes, rain and sleet combining into a damp cold that works its way through ordinary kit quickly.
The gear notes in the report are precise and unsentimental. Synthetic sleeping bags — essential here, where down becomes useless when wet. Gore-Tex shells. Plastic boots with Yeti gaiters, useful for crossing beaver dams as well as the more traditional applications. And then, in a short passage that stands out for its unanimity:
“All members used and were impressed by Wild Country Gore-Tex fibre pile lined mittens combined with thermal inners.”
In expedition reports of this era, that kind of unqualified endorsement is rare. Kit that works in the Cordillera Darwin works; kit that doesn’t gets noted clearly. The Wild Country mittens earned their place on every member’s hands for the duration — through the crevassed glacier approaches, the exposed north ridge, the long descent in worsening snow, and everything in between.
David Hillebrandt also mentions his Wintergear Nerve salopettes — another thread connecting this expedition to the family of brands that became Terra Nova — noting them as “very windproof, abrasion resistant, light, quick drying, and adequately water resistant.”
The Summit
On 13th January, the team left Foxes Glade with five days’ food and full climbing kit, picked their way through a dangerous lower icefall, crossed a crevassed glacier in swirling mist — during which Hillebrandt dropped seven metres into a deep crevasse before being extracted by his companions after an hour of very bad language and what the report diplomatically calls “a gentlemanly disagreement” — and dug in at glacier camp near the base of the north ridge.
They were off at 5:30am on the 14th. The route followed the north ridge, first via an easy rock pitch and a snow gully, then up through increasingly corniced and technical ground, the cloud keeping the snow in firm condition throughout. Three climbers, one 50-metre rope, moving together for much of it — no belays available, no room for all three to stand on the narrow crest to swap leads. Hillebrandt notes that in Julian Mathias’s entire lead, he found only one nut placement — in the same crack that had held gear on the 1988 attempt.
They reached the summit at almost exactly 5pm. The barometer on Mothersele’s watch read 2,290 metres. They stopped five metres below the top of the summit mushroom, unsure how stable it was from the southern side. Visibility was less than 50 metres.
“John echoed all our thoughts when he muttered that the climb was only just over half complete.”
The descent in snow and failing light was brutal. On the abseil below the final rock section, a block — half the size of a loaded rucksack — struck Hillebrandt on the head. He continued down, clipped into a belay, and then waited until they were in the tent three hours later to ask Mothersele to check whether the fluid running down his head was blood from a surface cut or something more serious. It was the former. The headache lasted three days. The helmet — Iain Peters’s old Phoenix, still in the Foxes Glade haul bag from 1983 — had done its job. “Iain’s old Phoenix helmet saved my life and was well scarred.” All members now regarded helmets as essential for this area.
They were back in their sleeping bags at 1am.
Pico Pais de Galles
With Roncagli done and three weeks of the expedition still to run, the team found themselves in the unusual position of having achieved their objective ahead of schedule. They descended to Casa Gringo, rested, and then on 20th January made the first ascent of Pico Pais de Galles — a peak on the eastern side of the Stoppani Glacier that gave panoramic views deep into Argentina and allowed them to take compass bearings to help improve the area’s chronically inadequate maps.
The descent included a 1,000-foot scree run, an 800-foot glissade down a snow-filled stream bed, a near-encounter with circling condors (who became excited when the climbers lay down and played dead), and a river crossing at dusk that provided entertainment for a wandering beaver.
What It Cost
The total expedition budget came to £3,386, with the MEF contributing £800 and the BMC £600. Cost per person after grants: £662. The largest single outlay was three return flights from Heathrow to Santiago. Naval transport — which included passage on the Yelcho and food for the crossing — came to £63 for the whole team. A month’s food in Chile cost £137. Three weeks of expedition climbing in one of the most remote mountain ranges on earth, for less than £700 per head after grants.
A Note on the Area
The Cordillera Darwin is still one of the least-visited alpine ranges in the world. The eastern end — approached from Estancia Yendegia via the Stoppani valley — has been the setting for most British expeditions since the 1970s. The Chilean Navy’s logistical support, which Hillebrandt praises without reservation across both his 1988 and 1990 reports, remains the key to access. Foxes Glade still has a haul bag in a tree. We can’t speak for the knickers.
The 1990 Cordillera Darwin Expedition report was written by Dr David Hillebrandt and submitted to the Mount Everest Foundation. The Wild Country Super Nova and Quasar tents, and the Gore-Tex fibre pile mittens used on the expedition, were part of the Wild Country range — sister brand to Terra Nova Equipment. Both brands trace their roots to Wintergear, founded by Ben and Marion Wintringham.
Wild Country tents, hardware and accessories are available at wild-country.com. For the full Terra Nova tent range, visit terra-nova.co.uk