		MORE OUTINGS IN El Chaltén

Corridor Southern > El Chaltén > Tours and Activities

Altogether up to Laguna de los Tres

Pablo Etchevers

Reaching the base of Mount Fitz Roy creates the possibility that amateur climbers may enjoy this emblematic mount from a close distance. A difficult trek that pays off in the end.

The Fitz Roy is the one of the most emblematic mounts within a range that has the shape of a croissant opening onto the East. Its main axis runs from North to South.

This massif, which welcomes visitors from all over the world and whose climbing season starts in November and ends late in April, is framed by the Fitz Roy River valley to the South and the Eléctrico River –whose name stands for “electric” in Spanish - to the North.

The first target was to get to Lake Capri, to see whether we were fit enough and feeling like going on climbing in order to try to reach the famous Laguna de los Tres, an emblematic site and base camp for the expeditions that go up the famous Fitz Roy.

The day we chose to go on this tour was fantastic: warm, sunny and windless. What else could we ask for? Though there were just three of us, we came across many other climbers on the way.

An hour and a half stood between El Chaltén and Lake Capri, a beautiful water body of glacial origin where we made a stop. After looking at one another, we resolved to continue up to the next camp, known as Poincenot.

As we got there, the wall of the Fitz Roy started to show a different hue and texture. We could even spot the cracks and the paths used by mountaineers to reach the summit.

Bordering the Blanco River, a series of ponds is crossed during the trek. Really gorgeous passes and footbridges are also seen at the last stretch before the base of the mount.

A small wooden shelter is the threshold to the last portion of the trail, which now became more difficult and made it necessary for us to be much more careful so as not to get hurt and accomplish our task fast enough.

Cereal bars, fruit, cookies and lots of water were part of the diet chosen for this ascent. The joy of those who were on their way down gave us strength to go in search of the famous turquoise-colored lake and the legendary rock massif named Fitz Roy. Thus, we started to cover the last segment of the route. There was no doubt that it was the most difficult of this singular adventure.

A significant steep slope that seemed to have no end deposited us on the top of a wonderful ridge. We had taken very short steps. The idea was to keep moving. We watched our step very carefully among the loose rocks. Before we could notice, we had got to the target we had been looking for several hours.

In the summer, Laguna de los Tres glitters with its shocking turquoise shade. This time, it was showing itself frozen by the winter snow. As indicated by its name, which stands for “Lake of the Three” in Spanish, it is surrounded by the three mounts after which it has been named. They are the unmistakable silhouettes of the Fitz Roy, the Poincenot and the Torre.

As we hit the summit, everything was celebration. The laughter, the screaming, the applause and even the tears were not enough to manifest all the feelings we had during this adventure that made us experienced mountaineers for a few hours.

It was with this sensation that we started our way back downhill towards El Chaltén. As we continued walking, we left behind the silhouettes of Mounts Fitz Roy (or “Chaltén” for the natives), with a height of 3,405 MSL and the Torre, with 3,128 MSL, two of the most difficult mountains to climb on the entire planet.