Cordillera del Paine, Chile

September 7, 2009 in South America

Mountains are considered to be one of the most magical out of all nature’s delights. They have a unique and rare charm to them that combine beauty with adventure. Besides mountains are also said to be symbolic of being perseverant and dedicated to achieve all goals set in life. A perfect example to all this is the Cordillera del Paine in Chile. It is a small mountain group which is actually a part of the Torres del Paine National Park, which is located in the Chilean Patagonia. There are as such no accurate surveys that have been carried out in this region, and for those that have been carried out have not been published. Thus, there is not much information on the elevations, though most of them are known to be naturally suppressed over the years.

The highest summit of this range is considered to be the Cerro Paine Grande, which are followed by the summits of Towers of Paine, and Torres del Paine. Other summits in this range include South Tower of Paine, Central Tower of Paine, North Tower of Paine along with Cuerno Principal and Cerro Paine Chico. Information from various sources claims that all these summits have very high elevations, some even higher than 3000m. However, some photographs and other researchers have revealed that they are not higher than 2700m. Therefore, one cannot really be sure of the geographical facts here. The only good thing that one can do here is enjoy nature’s beauty at its best, and go in for various adventure sports in the lap of nature.

The Torres del Paine National Park was declared by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve in the year 1978, and has developed since then as a popular hiking destination. There are well maintained paths with marvellous and magnificent views that are a treat to the eyes. Shelter and other basic services can be easily found here.

There are many different kinds of options for hikers here. They can take a day’s trip to see all the towers, or can also opt for the 8-9 days trip that allows them to go in for the full circle. There is also a popular W route over here that can be chosen. The W route is named so after the shape of the route, and hikers can start and end at any of the base points. The five points of the W route include the Glacier Grey, Refugio Pehoe, Valle del Frances (French for “Frenchman’s Valley“), Hosteria las Torres, and the Torres del Paines themselves. For even more adventurous people, there is a longer walk that can be opted for which includes all these 5 points, but avoids backtracking, and connects Glacier Grey and Torres del Paine.

There are many beautiful and weird places in Chile. If you want something that will give you goose bumps also visit Easter Island and its moai statues.