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Owen
Social climber
New York
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 23, 2017 - 02:31pm PT
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Hi Everyone,
I am currently in the midst of planning my first climbing trip to Patagonia and the plane fair alone has already eaten into a significant portion of my budget. Does anyone know what the cheapest/best campsites in Chalten are? Preferably a place where there are a lot of other climbers (better atmosphere...). I have heard El Refugio is a nice place in the center of town, but would appreciate other recomendations that are cheap! Also I am looking to up my rescue insurance coverage for this trip and would also appreciate some recommendations there too (I heard joining the Austrian Alpine Club is what a lot of people do but I would appreciate more information on the subject...)
Finally, from peoples prior experiences how is it finding new partners down there to climb with? My friend who I am also going down there with has to leave sooner than I do and I was hoping to find someone else to climb another route or two with if the weather is good...
Thanks in advance for everything!
Cheers,
Owen
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 23, 2017 - 03:59pm PT
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Don't let on yer from New York. ;-)
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Sep 23, 2017 - 06:03pm PT
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If you take the bus down Ruta 40, say from Bariloche to El Chalten, I believe a few of the bus lines actually have a night at El Refugio packaged in with the price of a ticket. The buses down there are phenomenal, and your price is based on how flat you want the seat to fold down (not-so-flat, pretty flat, and 'executivo', which is quite flat) plus they'll serve meals and even whisky at midnight! It just depends on how wasted you want to be once you arrive.
I really liked the Aylen Aiche hostel in El Chalten when I was there in 2010. The guys who run it are a blast and have one of the largest collections of live AC/DC videos this side of Angus' bedroom. You might check pataclimb.com, Rolo Garibiotti's superb site, for other beta. I've heard that in recent years folks have arranged medium-term rentals of little cabins in town.
Have a blast. Check your knot. Tell your friends and partners you love them. And post up something when you return.
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Owen
Social climber
New York
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 23, 2017 - 07:11pm PT
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Thanks for your response marty(r) and I will definitely post a TR! Aylen-Aike seems like a cool place and also pretty affordable so thank you for the reccomendation! Do you have any experience with finding partners down there? I was just in Cham for 3 weeks and there it was super easy to find people to get out with but we are talking about Chamonix obviously and I'd expect El Chalten to be a little different just because it is more of an expedition type of place. And people usually wouldn't go without a partner who they have not climbed extensively with before...
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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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Sep 24, 2017 - 03:05am PT
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Partners should not be hard to find. El Refugio should produce partners. If not look for people on the sport routes around town. There were people on the sport routes directly across the street from Hotel Destino Sur every day the weather was acceptable. Also the boulders around town may produce partners as well. And they are pretty decent if your weather is iffy.
Don't miss Che Empanada. The best and cheapest empanadas in town. We pretty much lived on them for the three weeks we were there last February/March.
Most of all,have fun!!
Kirk
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 24, 2017 - 05:16am PT
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El Chalten, which didn't exist when I first climbed there, has gotten more and more expensive...with no end in sight. It has become the "Chamonix" of Patagonia. The good side to that is that partners are readily available.
You might try what I did....camp back in the mountains. The Torre and Fitzroy camps are both an easy two hour hike from town.
But alas, then one has to sleep on the cold hard ground devoid of access to the internet, restaurants and clubs of El Chalten....and the lonliness, the lonliness....too much for most climbers to endure. But think....you might hear the hammering of a Magellanic Woodpecker, or see a Torrent Duck diving under the rapids or a Puma's tracks near your tent.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Sep 24, 2017 - 06:48am PT
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Vitaliy could help. It seemed he stayed at some cheap climbers hostel when we were there in January. They would do communal cooking and it looked like it was a good time.
We stayed at the Destino Sir on the north side of town and while very nice it was far from cheap and had zero climbers and certainly no communal cooking.
I've gotten soft.
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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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Sep 24, 2017 - 07:25am PT
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Martygarrison--I'll shamelessly admit I stayed there a bit as well. 😯
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 24, 2017 - 07:32am PT
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I liked my view better...
BTW, Owen, take as much cash in 10's and 20's as you feel comfortable carrying. Learn to bargain and you'll get substantial discounts fir yer dolares americanos. The official exchange rate is now 17 to 1 but you should be able to negotiate well north of 20 to 1.
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Sep 24, 2017 - 08:00am PT
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Jim,
climbers being lonely! That's so last century!
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Owen
Social climber
New York
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 24, 2017 - 12:07pm PT
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Really appreciate all of the information fellas!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 24, 2017 - 05:49pm PT
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Be sure you go to the Austrian Alpine Club Brittania Section!
$50/yr for the very best indurance you will find!
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shylock
Social climber
mb
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Sep 24, 2017 - 05:57pm PT
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The summer-local-veterans can be quite closed-lipped to giving solid beta on weather forecasting - some see it as a rite of passage to figure it out yerself
thankfully, Rolo must not be a local veteran, as he has a very easy to follow guide to the weather forecasting on his site. Pataclimb.com. it's what everyone uses. most places have wifi. rancho grande (big place on the road out of town) has free and seemed like the most reliable.
staying in a tent in the wind in town seemed really sucky. if you can afford it, stay in a proper hostel. ask around for cheap ones. prices seem to go up every year. maybe find a place to pay by the night and then don't pay when you go into the mountains but try and work something out where you can store all your other sh#t.
finding partners seems a little tricky. most people going down there have a solid partner lined up, makes sense with the big investment and all, but sh#t happens and I know of a few people who were looking for partners last year. There's not really a main climbers hang, besides individual hostels themselves.. just walk around town and be willing to talk to folks who look like climbers, there are a lot of them.
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Owen
Social climber
New York
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 25, 2017 - 10:18am PT
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And I have already purchased Patagonia Vertical...Its the older/1st addition though, does anyone know what the major differences are between the 1st addition and the 2nd addition? I would love to help Rolo out and buy his newer book but if its just going to be pretty much the same as the other one than I probably will not get it.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 25, 2017 - 10:38am PT
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What kind of routes are you looking for....I might have some suggestions. One thing for sure...you don't need bolts.
Down bags with a pertex type shell work great. Despite the amount of moisture, things dry out quickly.
Make sure you bring crisp, new bank notes....old one's are often turned down.
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yanqui
climber
Balcarce, Argentina
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Sep 25, 2017 - 10:40am PT
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does anyone know what the major differences are between the 1st addition and the 2nd addition?
The inclusion of new routes/ascents that ocurred during the interim.
I would suggest staying here, but they tell me it's gone:
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 25, 2017 - 10:42am PT
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Yep...they're all gone, the end of an era. The area once had a wilderness feel, it's now Baja Chamonix.
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labrat
Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
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Sep 25, 2017 - 11:33am PT
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Gone? ;-(
Was it cleaned out as trash by the park service?
Next you will tell me the freight train sound of the wind headed across the treetops is gone due to global warming.......
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 25, 2017 - 12:14pm PT
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Labrat...easy now. I agree that they were trashy huts that were cleared out by the Park as were the sheep that used to graze in the meadows. I said it was the end of an era.
In the early 70's the Park boundaries had been established but there was only one park guard and it was a national park in name only. There were also virtually no people there. There was not a single building where El Chalten now is and no bridge across the Rio Fitzroy....you had to wade it's icy waters that were sometimes waste deep and always fast flowing.
On my first trip there I saw one German couple trekking in three months. It was a monumental effort just to get there. Now there is an International Airport in El Calafate and a fully paved road from there to Chalten that takes less than three hours.
El Chalten grows every year and multitudes of buses deposit people there on a daily basis. The NP now operates like a US NP and rules are structly enforced. This is a good thing given the amount of visitation. Sheep no longer graze in the park and gauchos no longer shoot mountain lions...also good things.
Yet, a part of me misses what was a remote land visited by only a few intrepid travelers. I know you can't recreate the past and the park is now a healthier and better refuge for the endangered animals residing there. I heartily applaud that but, at the same time, cringe a bit when I see the sprawling mess that is El Chalten.
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yosguns
climber
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Sep 25, 2017 - 03:22pm PT
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De Agostini basecamp (used to be Camp Bridwell) is near Laguna Torre (about 9 km on a nice trail from El Chalten?) inside the park. We thought if you were really hardcore and wanted to be as close as possible to Niponino (base for a lot of Fitz Roy massif routes), this would be a good option.
I think you can go to most hostels and ask to pitch a tent in the yard until you find something better, but agreed that having a room would be more comfortable. Things do "book up," but there's room for everyone it seems and people are constantly coming in and out, so availability changes consistently. I wouldn't sweat having something booked for the duration in advance too much.
How exciting!!
Here's my TR from when we went: The Journey is the Destination
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