EL CHALTEN

El Chalten is a small mountain village in Santa Cruz Province, surrounded by unmatched natural beauty. Its name comes from Cerro Fitz Roy’s Tehuelche name, meaning ‘peak of fire’ or ‘smoking mountain’ – an apt description of the cloud-enshrouded summit.

This colorful village overlooks the stunning northern sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. It is located at the base of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy mountains, both popular for climbing. For this reason this village is well-visited by trekkers and climbers from all over the world. Every summer thousands of trekkers come to explore the several trails that lead to marvelous and unexpected landscapes, where camping is allowed.

Other activities include ascents to the ice-fields, rafting, canoeing, horseback ridings, archaeological expeditions, overland excursions, and photography safaris. And for fishing lovers, Santa Cruz’s many lakes and rivers offer a full range of fishing choices.

ACTIVITIES

Adventure Tourism: Mountain lovers have the chance to trek, climb or practice mountaineering on the Torre and Fitz Roy Hills. Other activities include ascents to the ice-fields, rafting, canoeing, horseback ridings, archeological expeditions, overland excursions, and photography safaris.

Sport Fishing: Santa Cruz’s many lakes and rivers offer a full range of fishing choices – from sea fishing to salmonid.

Skiing: Do not miss the Valdelen winter sport resort, just 4Km off from Rio Turbio

History

“Chalten” is a tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain, as they believe it was a volcano for its peak is most of the time covered by clouds. Other visited tracks and sights are Torre Glacier, Laguna Capri, Piedras Blancas Glacier, Chorrillo del Salto and Laguna de los Tres. The village provides national park information for visitors, as well as commercial camping (with showers) and a very limited number of beds, catering mostly for backpackers. On the treks outside of the village free campsites are provided. There are two automated teller machines and relatively no cell phone service.

The tourist trade has spawned a few restaurants and shops in town, with a large variety of outdoor equipment for sale, while some of the accommodations provide internet and phone access and show regular movies. Other than that, the town is fairly far removed from the normal flow of news and communication, even during high season (November–February). The town is nearly deserted during off-season (the southern hemisphere winter).