Imagine a wonderland of endless spires of quality granite bathed in alpine sun amid a backdrop of snow capped volcanoes, enormous alpine lakes, soaring condors, and friendly natives that know how to make pizza and chocolate. Indeed such a land does exist nestled on the east side of the Andes a short steep hike up from the chocolate filled streets of Bariloche in the lake district of Argentina. The Frey is a hotspot of outdoor recreation and a mecca for hiking and traditional/ sport climbing. Refugio Frey sits at the end of a long shallow alpine lake and provides bunks and food (even pizza and beer!) Camping, pit toilets, and a cooking shelter are available with no cost in the surrounding area of the refugio. Hikers usually link Refugio Frey with a series of other refugios in the area. Climbers tend to set up camp and enjoy the vertical surroundings.

The Frey features alpine granite at a leisurely pace. One can sleep in till 10 and still climb the tallest spire in the horizon and be back to enjoy the sunset with pizza and beer. The Frey offers a wide spectrum of climbing from the clean cracks to challenging heady sport to dirty cracks to chimneys to offwidths with each ending atop some precipitous spire with a view. There is a guide book for sale at the Club Andino in the town of Bariloche that gives a good briefing of the area and still leaves room for adventure.

If you wish to climb some of the more obscure spires bring cordelette and some bail gear to possibly build a rappel anchor. Many of the well traveled routes have new bolted rap anchors but one may be faced with a tattered piece of webbing slung around the summit block on some climbs. Otherwise a standard traditional rack along with two 60 meter ropes or double ropes is recommended.

Getting There

Arrival into Bariloche, Argentina can be easily accomplished via plane or bus. Bariloche is the place to stock up on food and eat lots of icecream and chocolate. It is a very ritzy ski resort town but one can find many cheap hostels that will store travel equipment that does not need to be packed up to the Frey. There are many buses to ride to the trailheads. While there are three main trails to the Frey, it is recommended to take the trail that starts at Cerro Catedral and contours around the ski area then straight up into the Frey. It is a dusty 10 km hike with a lot of traffic but goes very fast. There is also an option to take an overpriced ski lift ride up Cerro Catedral and then traverse and hike down to the Frey. The trail coming from Lake Gutierrez adds a good amount of extra vertical and sun exposure and not recommended unless one wants to swim. The commute to Bariloche and back can be done in a day to stock up on food, check email, drink microbrews, eat icecream, etc….In other words one could live at the Frey indefinitely which is tempting.

External Links

stonedance.com

Camping

Despite being the busiest area of a very busy national park in Argentina, the Frey has very few camping restrictions. Compared to National Parks in the USA there is a large amount of freedom with no trailhead quotas or camping regulations. Unfortunately this freedom is abused and slightly out of control at the Frey. While January is a most pleasant season to visit the area, be forewarned that it is also the Argentian summer break. The alpine basin will resemble a circus refugee camp of adolescent hiking groups that bathe, poop, and set up tents right on the lake shore. There are also a large amount of stray dogs that follow hikers up and prowl around to beg food and defecate everywhere. Drinking unfiltered water is not recommended even though this here gringa managed to survive a month of drinking from the cess pool with no complications. The water coming from the sink in the climbers cooking shelter is pumped from the outflow of the lake and should also be filtered. Along the south side of the lake there is a small pipe of spring fed water that would be more recommended to drink from.

Weather can be a mixed bag but much sunshine can be expected during the summer months. Winds can be fierce coming over the exposed saddle the refugio sits on. Utilize the rock bivy walls or shrubbery on the shoreline to set up camp. Then sit back and watch the countless adolescent scout tents fly away.