South Patagonian Ice Field Expedition

Day 1: Trek along the Eléctrico River; 'Valle de los 14' wild camp

This morning you'll be driven to the bridge over the Eléctrico River, 15km to the north-west of El Chaltén. It is here that your expedition begins. The first two hours of the hike passes through a forest, until you reach the Piedra del Fraile campsite where there's a brief stop.

From here the trail along the Eléctrico River opens up into a wide glacial valley with very little vegetation, from where you'll have fantastic views of Mt Fitz Roy and the Pollone Needle. Next up is a challenging section where you ford the Pollone River and cross the upper Eléctrico River via a zipline before beginning a steep ascent to the Piedra del Fraile, on the path to the Marconi Pass. You'll set up wild camp at an appropriate location in the 'Valle de los 14', en route to the Marconi Pass.

Length of hike: 8-9hrs, 19km

Meals: Box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: 'Valle de los 14' wild camp

Day 2: Trek to the Marconi Pass; Ice field hut

This is a tough day, but you'll be rewarded with consistently fantastic views. There's a steep ascent up onto the Marconi Glacier and ice field for which you'll need to wear crampons and rope together.

Once on the plateau you'll see the vast expanse of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field before you and mountain ranges that are only visible from here. You'll make our way carefully across the cracks and crevasses of the ice field to reach the Chilean hut at the base of Cerro Gorra Blanca, from where the views are truly stunning.

Length of hike: 6hrs, 9.5km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Ice field hut

Day 3: Trek to the foot of Cerro Torre; Circo de Los Altares wild camp

Today is comparatively short and acts as a pseudo-rest day. You'll trek along the ice field down to the northern end of Marconi Hill from where the ice flattens out, though there are still cracks and crevasses to negotiate.

Your destination is one of the most beautifully located wild camps in Patagonia. It's in an area called the Circo de Los Altares at 1250m, by the foot of Cerro Torre's west face. To one side of you is the ice field and to the other soaring mountain views.

Length of hike: 6hrs, 11km 

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Circo de Los Altares wild camp

Day 4: Trek to Refugio Paso del Viento; Wild camp near Lake Ferrari

You'll continue your trek in a southerly direction to begin with, roped together, down the back side of the Fitz Roy range. This is a long day that involves numerous climbs over moraines, crevasses and unstable terrain. The wind can also be extreme on this section.

You'll exit the ice field via the Viedma Glacier which you'll then follow until you reach the Refugio Paso del Viento at 900m. From here you make your way to the wild camp near Lake Ferrari.

Length of hike: 8hrs, 16km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Wild camp near Lake Ferrari

Day 5: Trek over Paso Huemul; Bahía de los Témpanos wild camp

Today you'll gain height on a zig zagging, rocky trail to reach the Paso Huemul. This narrow col can be extremely windy but once over the other side, you'll have stunning views of the turquoise Lake Viedma and a change in scenery. You'll descend on a rocky path, through a small forest and further down an extremely steep section where a bit of climbing downwards might be needed.

At you near the bottom of the descent, the vegetation increases until you enter the forest where your wild camp will be set up at Bahía de los Témpanos by the shore of Lake Viedma.

Length of hike: 7hrs, 11km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Bahía de los Tempanos wild camp

Day 6: Trek to end point; Transfer to El Chaltén

On your final day you'll set out from the wild camp along a well-marked, easy, flat trail, through large pastures. There will be great views of Lake Viedma for the entire day which provides plenty of photo opportunities.

The final stretch of the trek involves using a zip line to where a transfer will be waiting to take you back to El Chaltén.

Length of hike: 6hrs, 16km

Meals: Breakfast, box lunch

Days 7 & 8: Reserved days

These days are reserved in case the group has to spend more than one night at a camp due to bad weather. If the trip isn't adversely affected by the weather, the extra days may be spent potentially summiting Gorra Blanca Peak and/or exploring the area around Circo de Los Altares.