Backcountry
Conditions Report
Trip Report
Report from August 16, 2025
Note: Cerro Creston is on private property and you must get persmission from the refugio owners to pass through
Saturday was our 2nd ski day here and our 2nd zone.
Cerro Crestón.
The peak itself is wicked.
We went for the ridgeline where most skiers go, just south of the true summit.
We hiked, put our boots on, and skinned up to the glacier’s edge.
The glacier was tropical blue on this cloudy day.
6,726′ Cerro Creston
El Chaltén
Argentina, Patagonia
- Summit (we only went to the ridge): 5,362 feet
- Car: 1,688 feet
- Vertical From Car: 3,674 feet
- Vertical skied: 2,694 feet
- Max Pitch: 38?º
- Average Pitch: 35?º
- Aspect: East
- Distance: 6.5 miles round trip
- Time From Car to Summit: 4 hours & 24 minutes (took a 1-hour drone break)
- Car to Car Time: 6 hours & 56 minutes
- Recommended Equipment: crampons, ice axe, and skins if you stay off the glacier as we did
We played with the drone for an hour and really enjoyed our time there.
We’d assumed the weather was gonna push us home, but it actually softened a bit.
The wind wasn’t bad and the sun made the occasional appearance.
We continued up and hit the ridge quickly.
I was moving with ease – the way I hope and dream to move in the mountains.
On top, we drank in views of icefalls, cracked glaciers, and the Southern Patagonian Icefield.
We felt far from home.
We never saw another soul.
The skiing up top was tricky on refrozen crust.
Down lower, the heat of the day had softened the crust into something resembling corn at times.
We were pretty stoked.
Low expectations are the spice of life.
Lower things got tricky in the bushy trees.
We survived, threw our shoes back on, and traipsed down the violently steep trail back to the car, only stopping to drink in the beauty of the lower waterfalls.
On our drive home, the Fitzroy towers were bathed in evening light and we saw flamingos in Lago Condor.
It ended up being a stellar day for us on a day we just thought we’d have a look around in the lower elevations.
Thanks, Patagonia!
Photos in Chronological Order
