Things to do
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Cerro Torre
A needle of granite capped by rime ice, long counted among the hardest climbs anywhere, with a contested first ascent that split the climbing world for decades. Walkers see it from Laguna Torre and from the Mirador Maestri on the way. Its summit clears less often than Fitz Roy does, so a spare day helps.
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Laguna Capri
An hour or so above the Fitz Roy trailhead, a small lake set in forest with the peak framed behind it, on the shortest route to a view of that face. Free camping is permitted at the shore and the pitches fill early in season. Walkers short on time turn around here without losing much.
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Laguna de los Tres
Meltwater the colour of milk sits directly under Fitz Roy, and the last kilometre to it climbs steeply on loose rock, which turns the whole outing into a long day from town. Sunrise light on the face draws head torches up that final slope in the dark. Snow lingers on the climb into November in some years.
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Laguna Torre
Glacial water backed by the Grande glacier and, on a clear day, by the spire above it, reached on a gentle trail through lenga forest from the western edge of town. The walk runs flat by local standards and takes most of a day. Wind funnels down the valley at the lake and makes the final moraine unpleasant.
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Mount Fitz Roy
Granite towers rise in a single wall above the Rio Blanco valley, named Chalten by the Tehuelche for the cloud that so often sits on the summit. Climbing it is a serious alpine undertaking, while the standard walk stops at Laguna de los Tres below the face. Clear mornings are the reward for staying several days.