Monte Fitz Roy | |
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Monte Fitz Roy in 2013
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 3,405 m (11,171 ft) |
Prominence | 1,951 m (6,401 ft) |
Listing | Ultra |
Coordinates | 49°16′16.6″S 73°02′35.6″W / 49.271278°S 73.043222°WCoordinates: 49°16′16.6″S 73°02′35.6″W / 49.271278°S 73.043222°W |
Geography | |
Location | Patagonia, Argentina—Chile border |
Parent range | Andes |
Geology | |
Mountain type | Granite |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1952 by Lionel Terray & Guido Magnone |
Easiest route | Franco Argentina (650m., 6a+, 6c/A1) |
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. It is located in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, near El Chaltén village. First climbed in 1952 by French alpinists Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone, it remains among the most technically challenging mountains for mountaineers on Earth.
Patagonia clothing founder Yvon Chouinard used Monte Fitz Roy as the basis for the company's logo, after his ascent of the mountain, and subsequent film, in 1968.
Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno first saw the mountain on 2 March 1877. He named it Fitz Roy, in honour of Robert FitzRoy, who, as captain of the HMS Beagle had travelled up the Santa Cruz River in 1834 and charted large parts of the Patagonian coast.
Cerro is a Spanish word meaning hill, while Chaltén comes from a Tehuelche (Aonikenk) word meaning "smoking mountain", due to a cloud that usually forms around the mountain's peak. Fitz Roy, however, was only one of a number of peaks the Tehuelche called Chaltén.
It has been agreed by Argentina and Chile that their international border detours eastwards to pass over the main summit, but a large part of the border to the south of the summit, as far as Cerro Murallón, remains undefined. The mountain is the symbol of the Argentine Santa Cruz Province, which includes its representation on its coat of arms.
Monte Fitz Roy at sunrise