For those reasons, El Chaltén was named Argentina's Trekking Capital or Capital Nacional del Trekking. Today the sole reason for its existence is tourism. In 1985, Argentina and Chile had a border dispute to gain and claim rights over El Chaltén. There was no war in the end, and El Chaltén was awarded to Argentina. Homes, government buildings, and flags of Argentina went up to mark the city settlement.[4]
The town is located at the edge of the 12,363 km2 (4,773 sq mi) Southern Patagonian Ice Field and about 350 inhabitants live there throughout all the seasons of the year. Snow and ice mostly fence the town, and the homes are low structured with roads mostly made of rocks and dirt.[4] In October 2014, El Chaltén was ranked second in travel guide Lonely Planet's 2015 'Best in Travel' list, marking the first appearance by any Argentine city in Lonely Planet's rankings.
Etymology
"Chaltén" is a Tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain. They believed that Mount Chaltén was a volcano, for its peak is frequently covered by clouds.
The village provides national park information for visitors, as well as commercial camping grounds and a limited number of beds, catering mostly for backpackers. It has a few restaurants, bars, supermarkets and shops, with a large variety of outdoor equipment for sale and rental. On the treks outside of the village free campsites are available. During the off-season (the southern hemisphere winter), many businesses will operate at reduced hours or close entirely for entire months straight.[6]
Hiking trails leading north from El Chaltén provide views across the Las Vueltas River.
Other visited tracks and sights nearby include Torre Glacier, Laguna Capri, Piedras Blancas Glacier, and Chorrillo del Salto. It has a few restaurants and a cafe.It also has minor celebrations of flag Day
Climate
El Chaltén has an unpredictable subpolar oceanic climate (KöppenCfc) with subantarctic continental (Dfc) influences, with precipitation distributed on a large number of days despite not being nearly as heavy as in Chilean Patagonia; bad weather is exceedingly common. Summers experience long daylight hours, very windy weather, and cool temperatures, mostly below 18 °C (64.4 °F) during the day and below 5 °C (41 °F) during the night. Frost can and does occur in the summer too.
Winters bring snow in moderate quantities, and average temperatures around 3 °C (37.4 °F) during the day and −4 °C (24.8 °F) during the night; however, the coldest nights are much colder than this. Spring and fall are variable, but generally cold as well.
^"Cerro Fitz Roy (Argentina)"(PDF). Centro de Investigaciones Fitosociológicas. Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to El Chaltén.