Cerro Tronador – Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering

Craig Ross from ARGENTINA writes:

Hi. I am an Argentine Mountain Guide (UIAGM)
Tronador has 3 peaks, International is the highest and most technical. The Argentine is the easiest and most climbed, Chilean is pretty hard to access due to the conditions of the glaciers.
To access the argentine peak, head to Pampa Linda in the National Park Nahuel Huapi. Its a 4 to 5 hs trek up to the Meiling hut, a beautiful hike with incredible views!!
From here its an average 10/12 hs round trip to the summit, always on a snow covered Glacier which means having to rope up for safety purposes, there are plenty of crevasses, more or less covered by snow depending on the time of the year and the weather conditions. Once at the col or pass between the Int´l and Argentine peak, it get a little steeper and exposed, depending on the conditions you´ll need to fix a rope or manage safety in some way.
Ideal to climb is from September to dec/jan with skis, really good or also by foot through march.
Depending on the season, some very dry and hot summers the summit has not been climbed due to very little ice left and lots of rock fall.
Hope this is helpful, its a beautiful mountain, I´ll add some pics!!!

2013-01-06