Fitz Roy Explained

Monte Fitz Roy
Elevation M:	3405
Elevation Ref:	^[1]
Prominence M:	1951
Listing:	Ultra
Location:	Patagonia, Argentina—Chile border
Range:	Andes
Map:	Tierra del Fuego
Map Size:	230
Label Position:	right
Coordinates:	-49.2713°N -73.0432°W
Type:	Granite
First Ascent:	1952 by Lionel Terray & Guido Magnone
Easiest Route:	Franco Argentina (650m., 6a+, 6c/A1)
Country:	Argentina Chile

Monte Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy) is a mountain in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} It is located in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, near El Chaltén village and Viedma Lake. It was first climbed in 1952 by French alpinists Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone.

First European encounter

The first Europeans recorded as seeing Mount Fitz Roy were the Spanish explorer Antonio de Viedma and his companions, who reached the shores of Viedma Lake in 1783. Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno saw the mountain on 2 March 1877; he named it Fitz Roy in honour of Robert FitzRoy who, as captain of, had travelled up the Santa Cruz River in 1834 and charted large parts of the Patagonian coast.^[6]

Cerro is a Spanish word meaning ridge or hill, while Chaltén comes from a Tehuelche (Aonikenk) word meaning "smoking mountain", because a cloud usually forms around the mountain's peak. Fitz Roy is one of several peaks the Tehuelche called Chaltén.

Geography

Argentina and Chile have agreed that their international border detours eastwards to pass over the main summit,^[7] but a large part of the border to the south of the summit, as far as Cerro Murallón, remains undefined.^[8] The mountain is the symbol of the Argentine Santa Cruz Province, which includes its representation on its flag and its coat of arms.

On February 27, 2014, Chile's National Forestry Corporation created the Chaltén Mountain Range Natural Site by Resolution No. 74, which covers the Chilean side of Mount Fitz Roy and the surrounding mountain range.^[9]

Notable ascents

• 1952, Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone via Southeast Ridge (Franco-Argentine Ridge) (first ascent - 2 February 1952).^[10]
• 1965, Carlos Comesaña and José Luis Fonrouge (from Argentina) via Supercanaleta (1,600m, TD+ 5.10 90deg) in days (second ascent).^[11]
• 1968, Southwest Ridge aka The Californian Route (third ascent). Ascent by the "Fun Hogs": Yvon Chouinard (who went on to found outdoor clothing and equipment company Patagonia and climbing equipment company Black Diamond Equipment), Dick Dorworth, Chris Jones, Lito Tejada-Flores (filmmaker, whose 16mm Bolex camera footage of the ascent was used for the film of the expedition entitled Mountain of Storms) and Douglas Tompkins (who, in 1964, had co-founded outdoor equipment and clothing company The North Face).^{[12] [13]}
• 1972, Southeast Ridge (fourth ascent). Ian Wade (U.S.), Dave Nicol (UK), Mo Anthoine (UK), Guy Lee (UK), Larry Derby (U.S.) & Eddie Birch (UK).
• 1980, following the Col Americano route, Gino Casassa (Chile, monitor of the Andinism Federation of Chile) and Walter Bertsch (Austria) arrived at the peak together. Alejandro Izquierdo (Chilean) climbed to 2,800 m.^[14]
• 1984, Polaca Route by Wieslaw Burzynski, Miroslaw Falco Dasal, Michal Kochanczyk, Jacek Kozaczkiewicz and Piotr Lutynski (Poland), 24/12/1984. 900m 6a A2. This route is still unrepeated.^[15]
• 1984, Franco Argentina Route by Marcos Couch, Eduardo Brenner, Alberto Bendinger, and Pedro Friedrich.
• 1986, First winter ascent, in July, by Argentines Eduardo Brenner, Sebastián De La Cruz and Gabriel Ruiz, over three days via Supercanaleta.
• 1990, First winter solo ascent, in July, by Yasushi Yamanoi.
• 2002, Dean Potter, first free solo, via Supercanaleta^[11]
• 2009, Colin Haley, solo via Supercanaleta^[11]
• 2009, Matthew McCarron, solo via The Californian Route ^[11]
• 2014, Between 12 and 16 February, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold completed the first full traverse highly prized, Fitz Roy Traverse, climbing across the ridge line of Fitz Roy and its satellite peaks.^[16] The route is 5 kilometers long and has approximately 4,000 meters of cumulative elevation gain, with technical climbing of up to 5.11d (7a). They were both awarded the Piolet d'Or for their climb.^[17]
• 2019, Jim Reynolds, free solo.^[18]
• 2021, Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll completed the second ascent and first solo ascent of the traverse but completed the route in reverse, which he called the Moonwalk Traverse.^{[19] [20]} He was awarded a Piolet d'Or award in 2022.^[21]
• 2022, Colin Haley, first solo winter ascent of the Supercanaleta Route on Fitz Roy.^[22]

See also

• Chaltén Mountain Range Natural Site
• Villa O'Higgins
• Candelario Mancilla
• Del Desierto Lake
• Torres del Paine National Park
• Bernardo O'Higgins National Park
• Los Glaciares National Park
• Perito Moreno Glacier
• Cordillera del Paine
• O'Higgins/San Martín Lake

Further reading

• Kearney A, 1993. Mountaineering in Patagonia. Seattle, Washington: Cloudcap.
• Terray L, Conquistadors of the Useless, p. 307-8, Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1963.

External links

• Andeshandbook: complete description, history, place name and routes of Fitz Roy
• "Cerro Fitzroy, Argentina/Chile" on Peakbagger
• 82. Fitz Roy.
• Monte Fitz Roy in History
• Fitz Roy Summit Google Photo Sphere 3Feb2019

Notes and References

1. http://peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/andes3.html "Argentina and Chile, Southern - Patagonia Ultra Prominences"
2. Web site: Mount Fitz Roy - Difrol.cl . 26 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180824183304/http://www.difrol.cl/region-de-magallanes-y-de-la-antartica-chilena/monte-fitz-roy.html . 24 August 2018 . dead .
3. http://www.andeshandbook.org/montanismo/cerro/55/Fitz_Roy MONTE FITZ ROY
4. https://101lugaresincreibles.com/2012/06/la-montana-que-parece-echar-humo-fitz-roy-en-la-patagonia-argentina.html La montaña que parece echar humo, en la Patagonia
5. https://www.interpatagonia.com/elchalten/contemplacion-cerro-fitz-roy.html La silueta del Fitz Roy
6. Book: Moreno, FP. Francisco Moreno. Viaje a la Patagonia Austral. 2. La Nacion (Elefante Blanco). 2006. 1879. es. 987-96054-7-0. Como este volcán activo no ha sido mencionado por los navegantes ni viajeros, y como el nombre de Chaltén que le dan los indios lo aplican también a otras montañas, me permito llamarle volcán Fitz Roy - English: Since this active volcano has not been mentioned by navigators or travellers, and since the name Chalten that the Indians call it is also applied to other mountains, I allow myself to name it Fitz Roy volcano.
7. Web site: Border agreement between Chile and Argentina to determine the border from Mount Fitz Roy to Daudet. 1998. 7 August 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20160531163246/http://www.difrol.cl/argentina/acuerdo-para-precisar-el-recorrido-del-limite-desde-el-monte-fitz-roy-hasta-el-cerro-daudet.html. 31 May 2016.
8. Web site: Map showing the border between Chile and Argentina (partly undefined). 26 June 2016.
9. Web site: RESOLUCIÓN NOº:74/2014 . Corporación Nacional Forestal . February 6, 2023 . es . February 27, 2014.
10. Web site: Silleck. H. Patagonia: Fitzroy. Summitpost.org. Summitpost.org. 3 February 2007. 2 February 2009.
11. Web site: MacDonald. D. Haley Solos Fitz Roy's Supercanaleta. Climbing Hot Flashes. Climbing Magazine. 15 January 2009. 15 August 2016.
12. Thompkins. D. Carter. HA. Fitz Roy, 1968. American Alpine Journal . 16. 43. 263–9. 1969.
13. Web site: Mountain of Storms. Patagonia. Patagonia. en. 7 April 2020. 7 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200407232756/https://www.patagonia.com.au/blogs/roaring-journals/mountain-of-storms. dead.
14. Web site: First chilean climb of Mount Fitz Roy - Perros Alpinos.cl. 21 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160610131646/http://www.perrosalpinos.cl/relatoshistoricos-fitzroy.html. 10 June 2016. dead.
15. Web site: PATAclimb.com - Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, Polish route . 2023-09-30 . www.pataclimb.com.
16. Web site: MacDonald. D. Caldwell, Honnold Complete Fitz Traverse. Climbing News. Climbing Magazine. 18 February 2014. 15 August 2016.
17. Garibotti, R. (18 February 2014). Caldwell, Honnold Finish 5k Fitz Roy Traverse. www.alpinist.com Retrieved 5 September 2018
18. Web site: Levy . Michael . Jim Reynolds' Fitz Roy Free Solo: Putting it in Perspective with the Pros . Rock and Ice . 24 January 2021 . 9 April 2019.
19. Web site: Slavsky. Bennett. Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll Completes The Fitz Traverse Solo. 2021-02-13. Climbing Magazine. 12 February 2021 . en-us.
20. Web site: Patagonia Climbing on Instagram: "Congrats to @seanvillanuevaodriscoll, who just completed the Reverse Fitz Traverse... alone, with only a rope, a penny whistle and some…". https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CLLB8R2LZLB . 2021-12-24 . limited. 2021-02-13. Instagram. en.
21. Web site: Piolets d'Or 2022 : trio géorgien au Saraghrar, solo belge au Fitz Roy et mention spéciale pour l'Annapurna III. Montagne Magazine. 2022-10-14.
22. Web site: Colin Haley on the First Winter Solo of 'Supercanaleta,' Patagonian Classic . 3 October 2022 . Climbing . 30 October 2022.