Patagonian Ice Field 8-day guided expedition

Meeting in El Chaltén, located at the foot of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. We’ll have the equipment checked, making sure we have everything we’ll need. We will then have a brief talk to explain the characteristics of the region and the most important details to take into account during the expedition. We’ll check in at our Hotel / Hostel and meet for a group dinner. Lamb roasted with a good wine will be the menu.

Private transfer to the Bridge of the Electrico River that will be our starting point for our first day of trekking to the base of the Marconi Glacier. For the first 2 hours we’ll walk along a well marked path that follows the Electrico River through a forest of Ñires and Lengas. At the end of the vegetation we will find the Piedra del Fraile Camp, which will be our last contact with the civilization until arriving at El Chaltén at the end of the expedition.

There we will leave the vegetation behind and a wide glacial valley will open in front of us to let us see the Cerro Treinta Aniversario and the Marconi’s North and South. From Piedra del Fraile we will skirt the Eléctrico Lake by its southern bank crossing glacier moraines and rock formations eroded and abandoned by the Marconi Glacier. Less than two hours away we will have to follow the Pollone River from where we can observe one of the highest walls of Mount Fitz Roy. One more hour of walk will take us to the West bank of the Electrico Lake where we will set up camp only 20 minutes from the Marconi Glacier, which we can visit after a well deserved rest. All meals included. Total walking time: 6 hours. Distance: 12 Km. Altitude change: 80 m.

Today is an important day. The Marconi Glacier and the Marconi Pass are the accesses to the Patagonian Ice. The majority of the winds come from the west or north and when arriving at this pass they are accelerated by the “bottleneck” effect. We will get up early, have breakfast, disarm the camp and leave. Depending on ice conditions we will take one route or the other to climb the Marconi Glacier. If we go to the Laguna de los 14, we will cross a fairly large river with zip lines. Once on the Marconi Glacier, we will find a combination of ice and rock. Now we must put the harnesses and crampons on and use ropes. After a section of 35 to 40 degrees of snow or ice plus an hour of walk, we’ll arrive at the Marconi Pass. The landscape takes our breath away. We’ll appreciate the Kolliker, Gaea, Mariano Moreno and the Lautaro Volcano. From the camp we will see the sunset and sunrise on the walls of Fitz Roy, the Super Canaleta, Cerro Pier Giorgio and Gorra Blanca. We will eat and go to sleep. All meals included. Walking time: 7 to 9 hours. Distance: 10 km. Altitude change: + 900 mts.

We packed the equipment to continue heading south. Our next destination will be Circo de los Altares. We will camp at the entrance of that circus. Only those who come here and luckily have good weather can appreciate this indescribable landscape. We will spend a little time building ice walls to protect our camp from the prevailing north and west winds.

Depending on the weather and physical condition of the group, we may stay one more night in this camp. We will take the day to walk the heart of the Circo de los Altares. We will reach the foot of Filo Rosso where Casimiro Ferrari together with others, set up his camp to ascend the Cerro Torre’s west face for the first time in 1974. We will return to our camp by mid-afternoon.

Today we will walk on snow, ice, rock and grass! We’ll leave from the Circus to the Paso del Viento Hut, a beautiful refuge used by the National Institute of the Patagonian Continental Ice to carry out its investigations. We will continue our walk passing the bivouac Ferrari (a possible intermediate camp if the group is very tired). The Mascarello range, which is located inside the Los Glaciares National Park, will accompany us throughout our day. One more hour and we will reach the mountain hut. We’ll use it only to cook and eat in case of bad weather. We will sleep in our tents. Distance: 20 km. Altitude change: -250 m and + 250 m at the end of the day.

After breakfast we will leave for Paso del Viento. When we get there we will contemplate the Continental Ice Field and one of the most impressive views of Patagonia. After capturing this beautiful landscape we will start our descent to Laguna Toro (900 m of elevation gain). We will cross the Tunnel River, wading or using the zipline. A half hour more and we will arrive at Camp Laguna Toro where we will spend the night. Distance: 5 km. Altitude change: +400 m and -900 m.

Return to El Chaltén following the Tunnel River until we begin our ascent of 500 meters towards the Pampa de las Carretas. We’ll pass a large section of burned forest. After that we will have lunch, enjoying these beautiful granite needles. Finally, we’ll continue our descent towards El Chaltén, where we can see it from above in the last section. A small stop in the visitor center of Los Glaciares National Park and then to our hostel / hotel / hostel to enjoy a well-deserved shower. We’ll meet for dinner. Distance: 14 km. Altitude change: +500 m and -500 m.

In case of bad weather.