Slideshow

Itinerary

Equipment List

Dispatches

Extras

The routes we climb are at basic and intermediate levels, but the peaks around us
are among the most challenging in the world. Dunham Gooding

Fitzroy and Cerro Torre rise in Argentine territory at the eastern edge of the Patagonian Ice Cap 50 miles north of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park. For this program, team members fly by way of Buenos Aires to the town of Calafate on the edge of Lago Argentino.

We spend the next day exploring some of Glaciers National Park on a drive to the Perito Moreno glacier which, in its massive movement down from the ice cap, blocks the outlet of Brazo Rico, a tributary of Lago Argentino. The water’s flow is blocked, but it seeps under the ice and creates a tunnel which gradually enlarges until the ice collapses in a thunderous fall. In addition to getting great views of the massive glacier we typically spot and photograph a good number of condors in the area.

Heading out for a non-technical ascent on a nearby peak,
with the NE Face of Fitzroy in the background. Greg Horne

The next day we drive north to the settlement of Chalten and there meet our gaucho and the horses that we’ll use to get gear into our first camp. We begin our trek by traveling west through beautiful beech forests above Rio Fitzroy to Campamento Bridwell at Lago Torre. Though we have seen Cerro Torre from the pampas, our first close-up views here are stunning. The size of the tower, the sheerness of its walls, and the incredible summit ice mush-room combine to make it one of the most inspiring mountains in the world.

Before doing a glacier tour, we spend the morning working on alpine climbing skills including ice axe positions, cramponing technique, and glacier travel procedures, and we do it on what is probably the most impressive glacier “classrooms” in the world, that is the Torre Glacier. We access it by Tyrolean traverse across the Rio Fitzroy on a fixed steel cable, and once we scramble along the lake, climb the glacier’s lower slopes, and emerge onto the top of a compression zone, we suddenly gain truly awe inspiring views of Fitzroy, Cerro Torre, and their surrounding towers.

Once team members have reviewed glacier skills, we move north up the Torre Glacier, and while technically and physically easy, our day’s exploration has to rank as one of the finest in the world. We reach the point directly between Fitzroy and Cerro Torre where we stand beneath two of the most magnificent rock towers in the world. We have plenty of time to explore the glacier and photograph the many towers that run along both sides of this remarkable valley.

We make our first climb the next day on the glaciated Cerro Solo, so named because of its dramatic isolation from the main ranges. After the Tyrolean traverse, we climb through a short section of beech forest and then scramble rock ravines and slopes to reach the Solo Glacier. We climb on a mixture of snow and ice at an easy angle with short, steeper steps to reach the summit.

We look down onto the Torre Valley and enjoy some of the best and rarest views possible of Cerro Torre, Fitzroy, and their accompanying towers.

The next morning, before leaving this cirque, we rise early for the short hike to Mirador Maestri to capture the alpenglow of sunrise on the rock walls and ice of Cerro Torre, a spectacular ending to this part of our trip.

Next we trek around to the east side of Fitzroy and establish ourselves at the edge of Rio Blanco at Campamento Poincenot from which, on the next two mornings, we enjoy remarkable sunrise colors on the east faces of the entire Fitzroy group.

From here we make our ascent of Cerro Velluda which lies directly between our camp and Fitzroy. We rise early and climb to Lago de los Tres, then traverse easy rock slopes along its margin to reach the Innominata Glacier. The views here are tremendous, with the sheer walls of Aguja Poincenot and Torre Innominata bursting from the glacier to our left and the immense southeast face of Fitzroy rising straight before us. We move to the glacier flowing off Velluda, crossing or circumventing crevasses, then climb towards Col Superior and gain a ridge that takes us to our peak’s small summit rock tower (an easy scramble). From the summit, we have excellent views of the entire Fitzroy group and across the pampas to Lago Argentino.

The next day we walk north through the beautiful grove-like beech forest that borders Rio Blanco. Here we see torrent ducks and Magellanic woodpeckers and have the pleasure of browsing on tasty Calafate berries. We pass the hanging Piedras Blancas Glacier and get good views up the ice to the East Face of Fitzroy.

When we turn west and trek up the valley of the Rio Electrico, we begin to see the peaks north of Fitzroy. This valley is narrow and steep-sided, with a nearly flat, small floor. Eventually the beech groves open up into grass-lands, and we gain great views of our goals, Marconi Pass and Cerro Marconi Norte at the edge of the ice cap. We establish our basecamp at the old frontier outpost of Piedra del Fraile.

The next morning we leave before dawn to climb to the seldom visited Marconi Pass. We move up a gentle valley, scramble past glacier-fed Lago Electrico, then pass the 8000-foot North Face of Fitzroy with its famed Super Couloir. We scramble rock and soon reach the bare ice of the lower Marconi Glacier. Here we crampon up moderately angled slopes that are not very broken up but where we must skirt occasional crevasses.

The climbing gets steeper (up to 30 degrees) for several hundred feet, then eases back as we approach the crest. The pass itself is broad, and from it we have excellent views out over the vast Patagonian Ice Cap. With clear weather, among the many peaks we can spot is Cerro Lautauro, one of the few active volcanoes on the ice cap and a mountain that Shipton set out to climb but couldn’t find. Conditions allowing, we will turn south and ascend Cerro Marconi Norte; the route involves a series of snow slopes ranging up to 35 degrees with occasional short belayed sections over steeper ground and intermittent rock sections. This is a long day, but the rewards are truly great.

We have a day of rest or hiking, and then make another early start for a climb of Punta Fina, a peak right next to Fitzroy and first ascended in 1982 by an AAI climbing team. On this climb we pass through a remote hanging valley, climb 30-degree snow slopes, and ascend classic Patagonia granite, first on an easy face and then on a photogenic summit ridge. From the top we have spectacular views of Guillaumet, Mermoz, and Fitzroy, and perhaps most remarkably, of the thin granite needle of Cerro Pollone, rarely seen, seldom photographed, and climbed only twice.

We enjoy a varied trek down the Electrico Valley to its juncture with the valley of Rio de los Vueltas. We descend that through flat and open country (where we are likely to see many Andean geese) to Chalten where we stay the night before driving to Punta Arenas for our farewell dinner.

This trip offers superb mountain scenery, excellent glacier climbing, and great wildlife viewing while passing through a variety of temperate and alpine ecosystems. The program encompasses what many regard as the most beautiful mountain region in the world. You may also want to consider joining our new eleven-day Patagonia Ice Cap Expedition. We hope you can join us for one or both of these great trips!

Inclusions: Lodging (hotels and tents on a shared basis); meals while in the mountains; group cooking equipment; admissions to museums and national parks; group climbing equipment. We use some freeze dried food in these programs but, where weight is not a problem, rely on a varied and nutritious diet of fresh and dried foods.

Exclusions: Airfare; personal equipment; meals except while climbing; gratuities to guides; government and airport taxes; inoculations; personal insurance; excess baggage.