A Journey to Untouched Peaks

For two consecutive years, freerider Nadine Wallner has ventured to El Chaltén in winter. This isolated place may seem deserted, but it offers incredible potential for breathtaking lines. However, it’s a gamble – despite the powder-laden mountains around Los Glaciares National Park, the conditions don’t always allow for full enjoyment. The challenging weather and the wait for a good powder day require just as much energy as the long climbs. Nevertheless, there is nothing better than leaving tracks in the snow on the untouched flanks of Fitz Roy and its majestic neighbors.

El Chaltén in winter feels surreal. Where hotels, restaurants and stores usually attract the crowds, there is now nothing: boarded-up houses, solitude, freezing cold and the fuming summit of Fitz Roy. El Chaltén was founded in 1985 and is the youngest community in Argentina, located on the edge of the southern Patagonian ice field. Today, 350 inhabitants live here, but only a few stay in winter. Then it gets very quiet, and only a handful of people seek the solitude of the granite giants to go skiing. However, there are many reasons not to ski here: unpredictable weather, dangerous terrain with crevasses and windswept

Max Odell, known as the “ski messiah” of El Chaltén, is only too aware of this. When he moved there in 1997 to explore the snow-covered slopes of Los Glaciares National Park, there was no information or avalanche reports. Back then, Odell was a lone ski mountaineer among less than 40 inhabitants. Thirty years later, he knows hundreds of royal lines, and a small community has formed around the sport. “It’s not often that you can see a town grow and be part of it! I think that’s pretty cool,” says Odell. The news about the area’s ski touring potential also reached Nadine.

She met Odell at her home in Arlberg, and when he assured her that, as a two-time freeride world champion and mountain guide, she was predestined for skiing in southern Patagonia, Nadine was intrigued and ended up spending two winters in El Chaltén, exploring this winter wonderland.

she spent only five days skiing in five weeks due to the conditions. Patagonia’s challenges lie mainly in its unpredictable weather: no reliable forecasts, good weather slots are rare, and the wind is always capricious. Conditions change rapidly, and long approaches often require a bivouac. With temperatures dropping to -5° Fahrenheit, this is no easy task. Nadine’s first trip was tough, with many miles on foot, the skis on her back, trudging through pathless forests for descents with little powder and lots of crust. The only consolation: the time in the valley could be spent rock climbing, playing ping pong, and drinking mate tea. Odell confirmed that there was much more potential, so Nadine decided to return a year later to continue her search for the white gold.

In 2023, she returned earlier in the season with Italian pro-freerider Silvia Moser, Niki Salencon, Chiro and photographer Patricio Diaz. Spirits were high, but once again, there was no Hollywood-style happy ending. However, there were plenty of opportunities to repeat classic tours, including Vespignani Glacier, Cerro Crestón, Mosquito Creek and Cerro Solo, with more powder than Nadine had ever dared to dream of.

But even these runs were not easy, because you have to be skilled in every way: technically, tactically and physically. More than once, the group had to carefully weigh up whether a planned tour was even feasible. With temperatures dropping to -30° Fahrenheit and too much fresh snow, some projects

After two weeks of powder and with a storm front approaching, Nadine, Silvia and Patricio headed north. When the weather turns bad in El Chaltén, you can follow the storm to Bariloche to find freshly snowed-in couloirs at Frey. Further north in Chile’s Cajón del Maipo, they met phenomenal conditions. While El Chaltén didn’t deliver the expected bounty, Nadine was satisfied with the trip. When it comes to planning her future, she knows: “All good things come in threes!” And we firmly believe that she will finally get her big weather slot.