Report from October 10, 2023

On Tuesday, we finally got to dip into the zone this whole trip was based around.

El Chalten, Argentina.

My new favorite place on Earth.

Jagged towers, hanging glaciers, flamingos, black-necked swans, & rugged, world-class skiing.

Day #7 Details:

• Miles Driven:  51
• Total Miles Driven: 1,300
• Hours of Driving:  2
• Latitude:  49.3ºS → 49.3ºS
• Good Food Eaten:  None, ate veggie sandwiches at home…
• Lodging: Guer Aike – epic tiny homes with full views of the Fitz Roy Towers

We left the house about 8:30am and rubbled along a beat-up, winding dirt road north.

We stopped after an hour at the base of Cerro Creston.

Skis on packs, shoes on feet.

Up through the heavily moss-draped Lenga forest.

The first thing we did was climb up a gorgeous waterfall.

We were all smiles.

My back issues that started the day before the trip were finally starting to mellow out.

Walking helps.

After about an hour of forest strolling we hit snow and switched to ski boots, skis,  and skins.

10 minutes later we left the forest behind and started working our way up Creston.

We’d decided to go to a southern ridgeline and broke trail in that direction.

At a rest break, we saw people on the opposing south face skiing full-on powder at full speed.

We immediately packed up and changed plans.

Powder was clearly the better choice over the sun-cooked snow were were skining in.

We were quickly on the lower ridgeline where we’d seen the skiers having a blast.

We chose a line just skiers left of theirs and dropped in.

The snow was good.

Wind-pressed fresh powder.

We did not expect to be skiing powder this late in the season down here.

Elated, we skinned up again and headed back up.

Run 2 was just as good as run 1.

The weirdest thing about this day was that it wasn’t windy.

When I skied El Chalten last year, the wind was so strong it almost blew one of my skis off a cliff and genuinely gave me fear.

We took run 2 all the way back down into the forest and found our shoes.

We happily boped our way down the waterfalls and forests back to the car.

This place is hallucinatory.

Thanks, Argentina!

3,600-Mile Patagonia to Antarctica

Road/Boat Trip 2023

Photos