There are many ways to cross a country border. 

One of the most mythical crossings we've heard of has to be the one from El Chaltén in Argentina to Villa O'Higgins in Chile. A legend among long-distance cyclists and hardy backpackers. 

The border itself is located far out in the middle of nowhere, between Lago del Desierto, “The Lake in the Wilderness”, and Lago O´Higgins. At these two lakes you take a ferry to connect the route. It must be said that these are not lakes of Danish size – the ferry crossing on Lago del Desierto takes 45 minutes, and the ferry across Lago O´Higgins takes 3 hours. Between the ferries there is about 20km of singletrack in no man’s land to climb. The track is reportedly quite demanding, starting with a steep deep ditch that climbs 6km up to the top. We had heard from other cyclists that they worked in teams, where they helped each other carry first the bags, then the bikes, to the top. An action that takes almost the whole day. After 6km, at the top of the mountain, you cross the border, and then begin a long downhill ride, which, despite the favorable slope, should still be quite demanding and challenging.

All in all, it sounded to our ears like the perfect, and most adventurous, way to get on from El Chaltén.
In El Chaltén we had spent a few days trekking to both Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. In mountaineering circles, two very legendary peaks. Fitz Roy has given its name to the entire massif on which the peak rests. And on the massif there is a ridge that mountaineers have long looked at, with equal parts awe and desire to conquer. It was not until 2014 that a small team of just two men, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold, finally managed to complete the entire Fitz Traverse, as the route along the ridge is called. An achievement that resonated throughout the community, and which was documented in the film “A line across the sky”. A highly recommended film, which was a big part of the reason why we both really wanted to go up and see the mountain with our own eyes. And we were able to do that with just a single day of trekking from El Chaltén. 

We were really lucky with the weather. We've talked to other travelers who have been in El Chaltén for a week or more without seeing Fitz Roy, due to bad weather. And here we were, strutting along, on a cloudless day, and able to admire the mountain in all its majesty.

The day after we hiked to Fitz Roy, we checked the weather again in the afternoon and made a quick decision. It would be cloudy the next day, so we quickly packed the tent, sleeping bags and some food. Locked up the bikes, with the rest of the luggage on, and headed up towards Cerro Torre. Cerro Torre is probably best known for being one of the most inaccessible mountains in the world to climb. It consists of an 800m almost vertical granite wall, with an ice cap on top. Mountaineers spend months in El Chaltén waiting for the right weather conditions to climb the mountain. And even with favorable conditions, it is an achievement of an unusual nature if you reach the top. As far as is known, only 2 Danes have succeeded in reaching the top, so far. Cerro Torre has always been surrounded by controversial stories. The first mountaineer who claimed to have reached the top has even had a very difficult time providing convincing evidence. He has often been accused of the fact that the information he has given about the feat is in direct contradiction to the actual conditions on the mountain. Later, the peak was climbed for the first time again, if I may say so, in a very controversial way, namely by bringing a bolt gun and a generator up the wall, and hammering safety bolts in all the way up. The generator was reportedly still hanging there. And the climber this time was the same Maestri, who had claimed the first ascent earlier. In 2012, David Lama climbed Cerro Torre without the use of bolts. Freeclimbing. An achievement that was documented in another fantastic film, which also delves into many more of the controversial attempts and conflicts that have occurred on the mountain. The film is called “A snowball’s chance in hell”. David Lama’s freeclimbing, of course, happened after he had made another, very controversial attempt, where the film crew had left more than 200 bolts on the mountain.

Our plan was not to climb the 800m of vertical granite. Surprise. But to go up to a camp that was located at a viewpoint of Cerro Torre, and get up the next morning to see the sunrise over the mountain before the clouds would gather around the peak and block the view.

In the morning the alarm clock rang at 5 and we got up to see the first rays of the sun hitting the mountain. We were lucky enough to see the transformation of the light throughout the blue hour, while the peak was free of clouds. But as the sun's rays hit the mountain, the clouds began to close in around the peak. It was no less a fantastic sight, and with the mountain's reflection in the lake, it was all in all a very, very beautiful morning.

Back in El Chaltén we spent the next two rainy days in the camp together with a lot of other nice people, preparing for the next part of the trip. The crossing to Villa O´Higgins. The legendary crossing. We heard so many stories about what could be done, and especially what couldn't be done, so when we finally got a sunny morning to set off, it was with both butterflies in our stomachs and huge expectations of great adventures.

On the bike ride up through the valley, towards Lago del Desierto, we had the most amazing views, back towards Fitz Roy, and glaciers on both sides, as well as a river that we followed all the way to the small ferry port.

At the ferry we met 2 other teams of cyclists that we had encountered before, and the waiting time was spent doing the favorite pastime of long-distance cyclists: eating food and telling robbery stories.
On the other side of the first little ferry ride, there is the Argentine border post, and a small camp where we could sleep for the night. We checked out of Argentina in the evening, so we could leave early the next morning. So you could rightly say that we spent the night outside the law of the land.

In the morning we packed our things and looked for the other cyclists to see if we should follow and help each other, but even though we weren't up particularly early, there was still no life in the other tents. So we set off alone, hoping we could tackle it ourselves.

Right from the start, the small path became very steep, and it took a lot of effort to cycle here. But we managed most of it. At one point, the path dug into the ground and turned into a one and a half meter deep ravine. This was exactly what we had heard about. Other cyclists with more traditional side bags are forced to take off their bags and carry them to the top. But with our small bags, distributed all over the bike, we were actually able to pull the bike through the worst 100m and pretty much cycle the rest.

Around every corner we now expected the trail to become completely impossible to cycle, but all in all the trail turned out to be really fun, with our setup. The light packing and the big wheels made it all a breeze and the only times we had to get off and pull were when we had to ford streams, or a single large mud hole. We had taken the backpacks off the luggage rack and rode with them on our backs, to make the bike lighter. And it worked.

At the top of the pass, after 6km that we had feared, we had to admit that it had been the most fun 6km on the bikes so far. The trail was a gift for mountain bikers. But I can understand that you are a bit challenged if you come with your heavily loaded touring bike, with wide bags. Again – we are happy to have chosen our bikepacking setup, so that we can tackle this particular terrain. And we look forward to much more in the future.

The actual border crossing at the top was a bit of a special experience. Out in the middle of the forest there are two huge signs. One marks Argentina, the other Chile. And that was it.

The descent towards the Chilean border post was at full speed, on a slightly wider dirt road, but with beautiful views of Lago O'Higgins.

When we arrived at the ferry port at 12 noon, we had spent 4 hours on what we had been told would take a whole day. So there was plenty of time to sit and enjoy a coffee and read a bit. The ferry didn't leave until 6 pm.

The other cyclists and backpackers we had camped with quietly emerged during the day, and when the Fernet Branca bottle was pulled from a backpack, spirits were really high. Everyone toasted to a fantastic experience before the bikes were thrown onto the ferry and a 3-hour hard ride through driving rain and high waves brought us to Villa O'Higgins.