Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The faces of Fitz Roy

Cerro Fitz Roy is the highest mountain in southern patagonia. We camped next to it for a couple nights in Parque Nacional De Los Glaciares and got a spell of good weather.

Fitz Roy is closest to the Argentine town of El Chalten. El Chalten supposedly means "the mountain that smokes" to the Tehuelche indians, who lived in the area pre-colombus. This is because there almost always seems to be a cloud hanging around it. Moisture from the Hielo Sur condenses and gets blown east by the incessant westerly winds. In the lee formed by Fitz Roy's east face it remains.
From Parque Nacional Los Glaciares


In the clouds.
From Parque Nacional Los Glaciares




Fitz Roy is a highly sought-after summit for mountaineers. We met a team of French climbers who intended to climb it. If they summited before the 10th (today), they might have succeeded, because the peak was utterly clear on the 9th. Today, it rained sideways.

At dawn
From PN Los Glacieres


From PN Los Glacieres


At night. How'd we do that??
From PN Los Glacieres


With a mountain goat.
From PN Los Glacieres

2 comments:

  1. Andrew - Your sunrise images of Fiz Roy are really amazing. Elissa will be really pleased to see that the Mt. Goat is in the last photograph.

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  2. dude! love the mt. goat! The other pics you took were beautiful, you will have to print a bunch out when you come home get them in a album. I wish you would've been at the annual church youth service (last Sunday), it was so cool and a lot of fun! You would of enjoyed it a lot. I hope all is well, love you!
    -Elissa

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