ICE AND AIR

BEFORE I WENT TO PATAGONIA I thought I understood what a strong wind was. At home in Cornwall I’d experienced gale-force winds that snapped palm trees in two and brought down fences, but although these winds played havoc with your hair and made attempting to use an umbrella futile, the wind never affected my plans. In Patagonia, the winds often reach 74mph: the speed required to be classed as a hurricane.

We’d waited out the worst of the weather for days in El Chaltén, Argentina. El Chaltén is best known for the Cerro Fitz Roy – the three peaks made famous as the logo for Patagonia clothing – and it’s the base for a plethora of visually stunning day hikes and climbs. It is also the starting line for the four-day Huemul Circuit, often lauded as the best and most challenging trek in Argentinian Patagonia. We’d cut our teeth on several of the day hikes, each one more exquisite than the last; but the Huemul was the real reason that we were there, waiting for the winds to die down. I’d been dreaming about it ever since I’d touched down in Argentina two months earlier. Hopeful hikers in Gore-Tex and Patagonia down jackets that mimicked their backdrop had set off