Patagonia adventures
Updated: Jul 29, 2022
It's been a while... Originally, I was planning to take time and write about why I went to Patagonia in the first place and what I did there, but spring/summer in Switzerland started early, deadlines were approaching and I switched my focus for a while. In the end, I still have a full-time job, a dog, a boyfriend, my friends and hobbies and I wanted to pass my French exams, before moving on to my next goals...
To be honest, I didn't tell many people what I'd love to do in El Chaltén. The weather in Patagonia is unpredictable and it's very much possible that I could be sitting there for 3 weeks without anything specific being done, besides some hikes and sightseeing. And I'm not a big fan of hiking, definitely not during 3 weeks' time ;) I was talking to "Indio" (Roberto) since Christmas and booked my flight tickets in November the previous year already. Indio is an IFMGA / UIAGM mountain guide, and a friend of a friend of mine in Switzerland. You can check their website and services here: https://www.patagoniascent.com/
By the way - they all are amazing and experienced guides!
With Indio, we agreed on climbing in El Chaltén during bad weather and if the weather would allow it, he would guide me on the easiest of the Cerro Fitz Roy group peaks, which is the Aguja Guillaumet. If time and weather would allow, we would do one more peak, it was the Cerro Creston this time, a very nice snowy mountain behind the El Chaltén massif.
Besides the famous crack where I was stuck for about at least 30 min in the Comesaña-Fonrouge route, have a look at the super nice and "easy" ridge where I almost shit in my pants right after ;) Anyway, all concerned parties survived and this is the goal! :)
If we were not approaching, setting up the tent, carrying 100 things and trying to get up and rappel down on time and while it was still warm and sunny, we went climbing in the village, which is almost as good as climbing the big peaks. And if you're not a big sports climbing fan, then please know there are a lot of nice boulders, too ;)
I cannot say that I'll be in better shape the next year, nor will I probably be a better crack & slab climber - sorry Roberto! ;) I will still complain - this is my inner monologue and it just calms me down when I can say "this is shit" and then I do it. :)
What I know is that I miss the people, the dogs, the wind, the shops, and the village a lot, even now, when some months have already passed.
So maybe, you'll have us next year there again, we know about a tiny new project...
Fingers crossed!
The book with all information and topos which you need is:
Patagonia Vertical - Chaltén Massif
For topos and information about the different routes and mountains online:
El Chaltén website:
Patagonia Ascent guiding: