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Cerro Chaltén Information

Monte Fitz Roy is a mountain located near El Chaltén village, in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile. The mountain is also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy. Cerro is a Spanish word meaning mountain, while Chaltén comes from a Tehuelche (Aonikenk) word meaning "smoking mountain", due to a cloud that usually forms around the mountain's peak. Fitz Roy, however, was only one of a number of peaks the Tehuelche called Chaltén.[1]

As he describes in his book, Viaje a la Patagonia Austral, Francisco Moreno first saw the mountain on 2 March 1877. Since the native inhabitants also called other mountains Chaltén, he named it Fitz Roy, in honour of Robert FitzRoy, who, as captain of the HMS Beagle had travelled up the Santa Cruz River in 1834 and charted large parts of the Patagonian coast.

It has been agreed by Argentina and Chile that their international border detours eastwards to pass over the main summit,[2] but a large part of the border to the south of the summit, as far as Cerro Murallón, remains undefined.[3]

The mountain is the symbol of the Argentine Santa Cruz Province, which includes its representation on its coat of arms.

It was first climbed in 1952 by French alpinists Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone.

The mountain has a reputation of being "ultimate", despite its average height (although being the highest peak in the Los Glaciares park, it is less than half the size of the Himalayan giants), because the sheer granite faces present long stretches of arduous technical climbing. In addition, the weather in the area is exceptionally inclement and treacherous. It also attracts many photographers thanks to its otherworldly shape. The area, while still fairly inaccessible, was even more isolated until the recent development of El Chaltén village and El Calafate international airport. The mountain climb, however, remains extremely difficult and is the preserve of very experienced climbers. Today, when a hundred people may summit Mount Everest in a single day,[4] Monte Fitz Roy may only be successfully ascended once a year.

Monte Fitz Roy is the basis for the Patagonia clothing logo following Yvon Chouinard's 3rd ascent and subsequent film in 1968.

Typical vegetation around Monte Fitz Roy Monte Fitz Roy at sunset

Contents

Notable ascents

Panorama of Monte Fitz Roy in the morning

References

  1. ^ Moreno, Francisco P. (2006) [1879] (in Spanish) Viaje a la Patagonia Austral La Nacion (Elefante Blanco) pp. 2 March 1877 ISBN 987-96054-7-0 "Como este volcan activo no ha sido mencionado por los navegantes ni viajeros, y como el nombre de Chalten que le dan los indios lo aplican tambien a otras montanas, me permito llamarle volcan Fitz Roy - English: Since this active volcano has not been mentioned by navigators or travellers, and since the name Chalten that the Indians call it is also applied to other mountains, I allow myself to name it Fitz Roy volcano"
  2. ^ "Border agreement between Chile and Argentina". Archived from 1998 the original on 2007-01-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20070117021516/http://www.difrol.cl/acuerdo_de_hielos.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  3. ^ "Map showing border between Chile and Argentina (partly undefined)". http://www.turistel.cl/v2/secciones/mapas/informacion/ruteros/aisen.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  4. ^ Jurgalski, Eberhard (2009-06-15). "EVEREST-ASCENTS-to-2008-CORR-14062009-1.pdf". 8000ers.com. http://www.8000ers.com/cms/everest-general-info-185.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06. "108 summits on 22 May 2008, 101 summits on 21 May 2007, 112 summits on 16 May 2007, 116 summits on 22 May 2003"
  5. ^ Silleck, Howie (February 3, 2007). "Patagonia: Fitzroy". Summitpost.org. Summitpost.org. http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/153622/fitzroy.html. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c MacDonald, Dougald (January 15, 2009). "Haley Solos Fitz Roy's Supercanaleta". Climbing Hot Flashes. Climbing Magazine. http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/haley_solos_fitz_roys_supercanaleta/. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  7. ^ Douglas, Thompkins; H. Adams Carter (editor) (1969). "Fitz Roy, 1968". American Alpine Journal 1969 (Philadelphia, PA, USA: American Alpine Club) 16 (43): 263–269.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cerro Chaltén

Categories: Mountains of Argentina | Mountains of Chile | Geography of Santa Cruz Province | Última Esperanza Province | Geography of Magellan and Chilean Antarctica Region | Argentina–Chile border | International mountains of South America

 

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