Introduction
Mount Fitz Roy is situated in the Los Glaciares National Park and is one of the Andes' most iconic peaks, named after the captain of the Beagle, who saw it from afar in 1833. Jutting sharply above the surrounding peaks as polished granite towers shoot to the sky, Mount Fitz Roy is still considered to be one the most difficult mountains to summit, more than seven decades since the original ascent by a French expedition in the 1950s. High mountain passes cross all around the shallower fields, which surround this star of the southern Andes, making hiking in the area incredibly popular.
El Chaltén is a small town in the foothills of Mount Fitz Roy, founded only very recently, in 1985. It surely ranks as one of Argentina's most picturesque towns, situated at the mouth of the valley of the Río de las Vueltas and surrounded by some truly breathtaking mountain scenery. El Chaltén's main purpose today is to service the many climbing parties who set out to the nearby peaks and it's a fantastic place to stop off during a tour of southern Argentina.
