Fitz Roy

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Mountain in the Southern Andes; part of the Argentina-Chile border

title: "Fitz Roy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-argentina", "mountains-of-chile", "landforms-of-santa-cruz-province,-argentina", "última-esperanza-province", "landforms-of-magallanes-region", "argentina–chile-border", "international-mountains-of-south-america", "three-thousanders-of-the-andes", "climbing-areas-of-argentina", "climbing-areas-of-chile", "pyramidal-peaks"] description: "Mountain in the Southern Andes; part of the Argentina-Chile border" topic_path: "geography/argentina" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitz_Roy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain in the Southern Andes; part of the Argentina-Chile border ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Monte Fitz Roy
photo	Fitz Roy Chalten Argentina Todor Bozhinov 2013.jpg
photo_caption	Monte Fitz Roy in 2013
(Aguja Poincenot to left)
elevation_m	3405
elevation_ref
prominence_m	1951
prominence_ref
listing	Ultra
location	Patagonia, Argentina—Chile border
range	Andes
map	Tierra del Fuego
map_size	230
map_caption	Location in the Southern Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile
label_position	right
coordinates
mapframe	yes
type	Granite
first_ascent	1952 by Lionel Terray & Guido Magnone
easiest_route	Franco Argentina (650m., 6a+, 6c/A1)
country	Argentina
Chile
::

::callout[type=note] the mountain ::

| name = Monte Fitz Roy | photo = Fitz Roy Chalten Argentina Todor Bozhinov 2013.jpg | photo_caption = Monte Fitz Roy in 2013 (Aguja Poincenot to left) | elevation_m = 3405 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = 1951 | prominence_ref = | listing = Ultra | location = Patagonia, Argentina—Chile border | range = Andes | map = Tierra del Fuego | range_coordinates = | map_size = 230 | map_caption = Location in the Southern Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile | label_position = right | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | mapframe = yes | topo = | type = Granite | age = | first_ascent = 1952 by Lionel Terray & Guido Magnone | easiest_route = Franco Argentina (650m., 6a+, 6c/A1) | country = Argentina Chile 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 and Viedma Lake. It was first climbed in 1952 by French alpinists Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone.

First European encounter

The first Europeans recorded as seeing Mount Fitz Roy were the Spanish explorer Antonio de Viedma and his companions, who reached the shores of Viedma Lake in 1783. Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno saw the mountain on 2 March 1877; he named it Fitz Roy in honour of Robert FitzRoy who, as captain of , had travelled up the Santa Cruz River in 1834 and charted large parts of the Patagonian coast.

Cerro is a Spanish word meaning ridge or hill, while Chaltén comes from a Tehuelche (Aonikenk) word meaning "smoking mountain", because a cloud usually forms around the mountain's peak. Fitz Roy is one of several peaks the Tehuelche called Chaltén.

Geography

Argentina and Chile have agreed 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 flag and its coat of arms.

On February 27, 2014, Chile's National Forestry Corporation created the Chaltén Mountain Range Natural Site by Resolution No. 74, which covers the Chilean side of Mount Fitz Roy and the surrounding mountain range.

Notable ascents

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Fitz_Roy_y_laguna_Capri.JPG" caption="Fitz Roy and Lake Capri - Parque Nacional Los Glaciares"] ::

1952, Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone via Southeast Ridge (Franco-Argentine Ridge) (first ascent - 2 February 1952).
1965, Carlos Comesaña and José Luis Fonrouge (from Argentina) via Supercanaleta (1,600m, TD+ 5.10 90deg) in days (second ascent).
1968, Southwest Ridge aka The Californian Route (third ascent). Ascent by the "Fun Hogs": Yvon Chouinard (who went on to found outdoor clothing and equipment company Patagonia and climbing equipment company Black Diamond Equipment), Dick Dorworth, Chris Jones, Lito Tejada-Flores (filmmaker, whose 16mm Bolex camera footage of the ascent was used for the film of the expedition entitled Mountain of Storms) and Douglas Tompkins (who, in 1964, had co-founded outdoor equipment and clothing company The North Face).
1972, Southeast Ridge (fourth ascent). Ian Wade (U.S.), Dave Nicol (UK), Mo Anthoine (UK), Guy Lee (UK), Larry Derby (U.S.) & Eddie Birch (UK).
1980, following the Col Americano route, Gino Casassa (Chile, monitor of the Andinism Federation of Chile) and Walter Bertsch (Austria) arrived at the peak together. Alejandro Izquierdo (Chilean) climbed to 2,800 m.
1983, First ascent of the west face: R. Gálfy, M. Orolin and V. Petrík, “Slovak Way”.
1984, Polaca Route (Polish Route) by Wiesław Burzyński, Miroław Falco Dąsal, Michał Kochańczyk, Jacek Kozaczkiewicz and Piotr Lutyński. Poland, 24/12/1984. 900m 6a A2. This route is still unrepeated.
1984, Franco Argentina Route by Marcos Couch, Eduardo Brenner, Alberto Bendinger, and Pedro Friedrich.
1986, First winter ascent, in July, by Argentines Eduardo Brenner, Sebastián De La Cruz and Gabriel Ruiz, over three days via Supercanaleta.
1990, First winter solo ascent, in July, by Yasushi Yamanoi.
2002, Dean Potter, first free solo, via Supercanaleta
2009, Colin Haley, solo via Supercanaleta
2009, Matthew McCarron, solo via The Californian Route
2014, Between 12 and 16 February, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold completed the highly prized first full traverse, Fitz Roy Traverse, climbing across the ridge line of Fitz Roy and its satellite peaks. The route is 5 kilometers long and has approximately 4,000 meters of cumulative elevation gain, with technical climbing of up to 5.11d (7a). They were both awarded the Piolet d'Or for their climb.
2019, Jim Reynolds, free solo.
2021, Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll completed the second ascent and first solo ascent of the traverse but completed the route in reverse, which he called the Moonwalk Traverse. He was awarded a Piolet d'Or award in 2022.
2022, Colin Haley, first solo winter ascent of the Supercanaleta Route on Fitz Roy. | title = Colin Haley on the First Winter Solo of 'Supercanaleta,' Patagonian Classic | date = 3 October 2022 | publisher = Climbing | access-date = 30 October 2022}}

History

After the signing of the 1881 Treaty between Argentina and Chile, the boundary in the area was defined in 1898 by the boundary surveyors, Francisco Pascasio Moreno from Argentina and Diego Barros Arana from Chile. Huemul was declared a border landmark. The surveyors had no differences in the area between Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Stokes, unlike other territories that were subject to arbitration in the 1902 arbitral award. The boundary was defined by the following mountain landmarks and their natural continuity: Mount Fitz Roy, Torre, Huemul, Campana, Agassiz, Heim, Mayo, and Stokes (nowadays Cervantes). Chile has defended it as a border landmark.

In 1998, the "Agreement between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Argentina to determine the boundary line from Mount Fitz Roy to Cerro Daudet" was signed, defining section A and a small part of section B, with the area between Fitz Roy and the Murallón still pending.

References

[http://peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/andes3.html "Argentina and Chile, Southern - Patagonia Ultra Prominences"]. Peaklist.org. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
"Mount Fitz Roy - Difrol.cl".
[http://www.andeshandbook.org/montanismo/cerro/55/Fitz_Roy MONTE FITZ ROY] ''Andes Hand Book, www.andeshandbook.org'', accessed 21 June 2021
"La montaña que parece echar humo, en la Patagonia".
[https://www.interpatagonia.com/elchalten/contemplacion-cerro-fitz-roy.html La silueta del Fitz Roy] ''www.interpatagonia.com'', accessed 21 June 2021
Moreno, FP. (2006). "Viaje a la Patagonia Austral". La Nacion (Elefante Blanco).
(1998). "Border agreement between Chile and Argentina to determine the border from Mount Fitz Roy to Daudet".
"Map showing the border between Chile and Argentina (partly undefined)".
(February 27, 2014). "RESOLUCIÓN NOº:74/2014". Corporación Nacional Forestal.
Silleck, H. (3 February 2007). "Patagonia: Fitzroy". Summitpost.org.
MacDonald, D. (15 January 2009). "Haley Solos Fitz Roy's Supercanaleta". Climbing Magazine.
(1969). "Fitz Roy, 1968". American Alpine Journal.
Patagonia. "Mountain of Storms".
"First chilean climb of Mount Fitz Roy - Perros Alpinos.cl".
"PATAclimb.com - Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, Polish route".
MacDonald, D. (18 February 2014). "Caldwell, Honnold Complete Fitz Traverse". Climbing Magazine.
Garibotti, R. (18 February 2014). [http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web14w/newswire-fitz-traverse-caldwell-honnold Caldwell, Honnold Finish 5k Fitz Roy Traverse]. ''www.alpinist.com'' Retrieved 5 September 2018
(9 April 2019). "Jim Reynolds' Fitz Roy Free Solo: Putting it in Perspective with the Pros".
Slavsky, Bennett. (12 February 2021). "Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll Completes The Fitz Traverse Solo".
"Patagonia Climbing on Instagram: "Congrats to @seanvillanuevaodriscoll, who just completed the Reverse Fitz Traverse... alone, with only a rope, a penny whistle and some…"".
"Piolets d'Or 2022 : trio géorgien au Saraghrar, solo belge au Fitz Roy et mention spéciale pour l'Annapurna III".
(1902). "Frontera Argentino-Chilena - Volumen II".
(2025). "El límite internacional en el Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur".
(1902). "Arbitraje de Limites entre Chile i la Republica Arjentina - Esposicion Chilena - Tomo IV".
(1898). "La Cuestion de Limites entre Chile i la Republica Arjentina".
(2021). "CAMPOS DE HIELO SUR. UNA CONTROVERSIA PENDIENTE DE LÍMITES ENTRE ARGENTINA Y CHILE". Universidad de La Serena.

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