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Here’s a rare opportunity for a challenging adventure in the wilderness of Patagonia: a traverse of perhaps the most spectacular section of the Patagonia Ice Cap, and the circumnavigation of two of the world’s most impressive rock monoliths, the soaring spires of Fitzroy (11,073'), a sheer-walled granite pinnacle rising 6,000 feet from the glaciers at its base, and nearby, the jagged needle of 10,280-foot Cerro Torre. Best of all, you’ll be in the company of senior Mountain Travel Sobek guide Sergio Fitch-Watkins, who’s led many trips in Patagonia, including a similar journey in 2006!

Patagonia’s Southern Ice Cap is the largest unbroken piece of ice outside the polar circles. Some 200 miles long, it cloaks the southern tip of the Andes, spilling its glaciers into the Pacific to the west and lowland Argentina to the east. Great monoliths of granite thrust through it and around its edges, giving the region a high mountain landscape comparable to the Himalaya and Karakoram, despite its far lower altitude. The sheer desolation of the area attracted the likes of Eric Shipton and H. W. Tilman, who explored it in their usual epic style. If you’re in excellent physical condition and willing to commit to what is essentially an overland polar expedition, this promises to be an (almost) equally epic adventure!

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

• Circumnavigate two of the world’s most impressive monoliths—Fitzroy (11,073') and Cerro Torre (10,280’)
• Traverse the largest ice sheet outside the polar circles
• Explore an extreme, un-trod area of Los Glaciares National Park
• Follow in the footsteps of legendary explorers Shipton and Tilman, or better yet, create your own!
• Learn technical glacier skills like those used on Polar expeditions—hiking on crampons, skiing across glaciers, and snow camping throughout

Day 1 - Arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Day 2 - Transfer to El Chalten, inside Los Glacieres Park for a briefing and gear check.

Day 3 - Trek along the Electrico River to the base of the Marconi Glacier. First views of Fitzroy!

Day 4 - A rugged day of crampons and roped travel in order to navigate the delicate crevasses and moraines of the Marconi Glacier.

Day 5 - We’ll trade crampons for Randonee skis as we enter the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in earnest.

Day 6 - We continue our icy journey, crossing the Nunatak Pass.

Day 7 - Heading due South we make for the distant spires of the Mariano Moreno Range.

Day 8 - Today we reach the Viedma/Upsala Divide, where the two largest glaciers in Argentina split their course. We’ll venture south, onto the Upsala.

Day 9 - Our last day on the ice, we’ll finally make landfall at Laguna Azul, then hike to Pascale Hut.

Day 10 - We’ll hike through the Canyon of the Fossils to the Caterina River. Overnight in a cozy lodge!

Days 11-13 - We’ve built in extra days for rest or weather-delay, which may be used at any point during the expedition.

Day 14 - We’ll set sail on Argentino Lake for the return to civilization at Puerto Bandera. Transfer back to El Calafate.

Day 15 - Fly to Buenos Aires for connections homeward.

Photo Credits
©Sergio Fitch-Watkins