16/03/2017 Viedma Glaciar
Southern Patagonian Ice Field, ARGENTINA
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report)
The Viedma Glaciar is a large glacier in Argentina that is part of the Southern Patagonian ice field. The closest town is El Chalten. This day trip was an incredible adventure that was a highlight of our trip to Patagonia.
Thursday 16/03/2017 El Chalten – Viedma Glacier return Track Info
Max elevation: 370 m
Total climbing: 419 m
Total descent: -398 m
Average speed: 3.83 km/h
Total time: 06:01:17
We arrived in El Chalten late yesterday afternoon and as soon as we had checked into our accommodation headed to Patagonia Adventures to enquire about their glacier ice climbing trip. We were surprised to be told that the following day was the last trip they ever planned to do as the glacier was retreating so quickly, access was becoming extremely difficult. We booked in straight away as the weather forecast was favourable.
After arriving at the Patagonia Adventures office at 8:00am the next morning we were soon on our way in a small minibus which drove us about half an hour to where the boat was docked at the northern end of Lago Viedma. After cruising for about an hour we were admiring the terminus of Videma Glaciar, with plenty of photo opportunities. A short walk after docking we were fitting our harnesses and hard hats. I guess we were really doing this! Our group had eight participants with three guides plus one guide in training.
Terminous of Glaciar Viedma
We then walked for about an hour across the glacially scoured bedrock all the time admiring different views of the largest glacier in Argentina. After reaching the ice and it was time to fit our crampons. Walking on the ice was not always as easy as you might image, demanding variations of foot placement to match the terrain in order to secure grip. Lucky for us our guides were giving us plenty of support and assistance.
We reached the practice “wall” and it was time to learn how to ice climb. We were given instructions and demonstrations – there is a lot to remember! Before we knew it we were roped up, ice axes in hand and climbing up the wall. Our rock climbing experience didn’t really help at all as on the ice proved to be a very different beast. After a few tries it was time to move on to the real thing.
Sue iceclimbing on Glaciar Viedma
We walked a short distance and the girls guiding us had secured two ropes. One was the “easy” crevasse, the second was deeper and had lots of blue ice on the lower section. Blue ice is extremely hard and difficult to use the crampons and ice axes with. We both had a go on each climb. It was exhilarating to say the least! The deep blue canyon was unbelievably beautiful. Steve decided he would repel down to the blue ice and soon realised how hard that blue ice was. The hardest part was of course going over the edge of the crevasse and trusting the rope and belayer.
After our climbing we enjoyed some Baileys Irish cream, with glacial ice of course, and soon it was time for the return journey.
It really was a fantastic day and one we were really pleased we got to experience.
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