Metric Century to Puerto Natales | Leg_01

Field Sketchin'

Puente Weber, over Río Paine

The imposing Paine Massif.

One of the peculiarities of riding in Southern Patagonia is its dynamic and unpredictable weather; ranging from downpour, to sleet, to hail, to sun, to high speed winds, all in a matter of hours or even minutes. It is for this reason that its has been known as "The Broom of God". While it is particularly hard to anticipate the change within a reasonable amount of time, you have to be ready to wear your "rain armor" at any given time. We don't want to stop when we face a downpour, but we do want to stay "somewhat dry" if we are going to ride 100Km, which is an ambicious aspiration here in Patagonia. Our TNF Free Thinker II jackets did an amazing job.

The Southern Patagonian Ice Field as a backdrop to our ride.

 

Southern Patagonian Ice Field: Global Warming & Sovereignty Dispute

The Southern Patagonian Ice Field is one of the largest reserves of fresh water on the Planet. It is--perhaps for that same reason--the last border issue between Chile and Argentina. In 1991 the governments of Chile and Argentina agreed on a borderline, but President Menem of Argentina retracted the project in view of the low acceptance in parliament. Later, in 1996, both governments explicitly agreed that the borderline in this zone is to be excluded and a note about the issue is to be added to any map of the zone.

In 2006 the Argentine Instituto Geográfico Militar (IGM) edited a map without a note on the region, instead drawing Argentine claims to the official borderline. After Chilean diplomatic protests the Argentine government withdrew the map and urged Chile to expedite the demarcation of the international border that was already established by both countries in the 1881 treaty.

In January 2008, technicians of both countries began the final demarcation of the border.

Puerto Natales