Fitz Roy

Monte Fitz Roy—also called Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy—sits on the Argentina–Chile border in Patagonia, within the Southern Patagonian Ice Field near the village of El Chaltén and Viedma Lake. Its first recorded ascent was in 1952, accomplished by French climbers Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone. The mountain serves as the emblem of Argentina’s Santa Cruz Province, appearing on both its flag and coat of arms.

First European encounter

The first Europeans to see it were Spanish explorer Antonio de Viedma and his party, who reached the shores of Viedma Lake in 1783. Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno spotted the peak on March 2, 1877, and named it Fitz Roy after Robert FitzRoy, the captain of HMS Beagle, who had charted large stretches of the Patagonian coast and traveled up the Santa Cruz River in 1834. The Spanish word cerro means ridge or hill, while Chaltén comes from a Tehuelche (Aonikenk) term meaning “smoking mountain,” referencing the cloud that often forms around the summit. Fitz Roy is one of several peaks the Tehuelche called Chaltén.

Geography

Argentina and Chile have agreed that their international border bends eastward to cross the main summit, but much of the border south of the peak, down to Cerro Murallón, remains undefined. On February 27, 2014, Chile’s National Forestry Corporation established the Chaltén Mountain Range Natural Site, covering the Chilean side of Fitz Roy and the surrounding range.

Notable ascents include the first in 1952 via the Southeast Ridge (Franco-Argentine Ridge) by Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone; the second in 1965 by Argentines Carlos Comesaña and José Luis Fonrouge via Supercanaleta; and the third in 1968 via the Southwest Ridge (the Californian Route) by the “Fun Hogs”—Yvon Chouinard, Dick Dorworth, Chris Jones, Lito Tejada-Flores, and Douglas Tompkins. Other ascents followed in 1972 (Southeast Ridge, fourth ascent), 1980 (Col Americano route), 1983 (first west face ascent, “Slovak Way”), 1984 (Polish Route, still unrepeated, and Franco Argentina Route), the first winter ascent in 1986 by three Argentines via Supercanaleta, and the first winter solo ascent in 1990 by Yasushi Yamanoi. Dean Potter made the first free solo in 2002 via Supercanaleta. In 2009, Colin Haley and Matthew McCarron each soloed different routes.

Between February 12 and 16, 2014, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold completed the first full Fitz Roy Traverse, a 5-kilometer ridge line with about 4,000 meters of cumulative gain and technical climbing up to 5.11d, earning them a Piolet d’Or. Jim Reynolds free soloed in 2019. In 2021, Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll made the second ascent and first solo ascent of the traverse in reverse (the Moonwalk Traverse), earning a Piolet d’Or in 2022. Colin Haley completed the first solo winter ascent of the Supercanaleta Route in 2022.

History

After the 1881 Treaty between Argentina and Chile, boundary surveyors Francisco Pascasio Moreno and Diego Barros Arana defined the border in 1898, with Huemul declared a landmark. No differences arose in the area between Fitz Roy and Cerro Stokes, unlike other territories later arbitrated in 1902.

The boundary followed mountain landmarks including Fitz Roy, Torre, Huemul, Campana, Agassiz, Heim, Mayo, and Stokes (now Cervantes). Chile has defended Fitz Roy as a border landmark. A 1998 agreement between the two countries defined section A and part of section B of the boundary from Fitz Roy to Cerro Daudet, but the area between Fitz Roy and Murallón remains unresolved.

Tourism

Fitz Roy is a popular hiking destination. A viewpoint between Laguna de Los Tres and Laguna Sucia is reachable on foot from El Chaltén. The round-trip trek is about 20 kilometers, doable in a single day, and passes the Poincenot campground, run by a local association for those wanting a longer stay.