Mt Fitz Roy Cerro Chaltén

Watercolour, 18.5″ x 30″, ©️2023, Elizabeth Gilbert

Monte Fitz Roy, also known as Cerro Chaltén straddles the border of Argentina and Chile in Patagoinia. Its elevation is 3,405 m (11,171 ft).

It was first seen by the Europeans in 1783, and first climbed in 1952.

The ancient Tehuelches considered the mountain sacred, and named it Chaltén, meaning “Smoking” in the Aonikenk language because of the clouds that frequently formed and swirled about the peak. Like many of the peaks in the Andes, Cerro Chaltén forces the moist Pacific air to rise and condense.

Perhaps as we begin to understand our planet less as a human exploitable resource and more of an intricately balanced living entity, we will also see the peaks with their essential roles in glaciers, rivers and diversity as sacred once again.