Expedition details

BØRGE OUSLAND WRITES: ‘This is one of the most beautiful trips I have been on. I did my first expedition to Patagonia in 2003, when Thomas Ulrich and I crossed the Southern Patagonia icecap, (You can read about this trip in National Geographic Magazine, August 2004), and I have since been spellbound by the dramatic and strong nature of this little visited corner of earth.

In 2009 Bengt Rotmo and I also crossed the Northern icecap, which is an equally stunning experience. Mountains, ice and lush green forest. Mix that with horse riding, a sea journey and warm welcoming people; then you have included all the elements of Patagonia in one trip.‘

Patagonia has been one of the true ‘Holy Grails’ of travellers and explorers since Magellan gave the area it’s name. Funnily enough it came about due to the locals he met there called ‘patagón’ as they stood out as giants (they were probably some 180cm – but the Spanish at the time averaged 155cm…).

For us, eying the Patagonian Ice Sheet, the name makes a lot of sense. This is the largest mass of ice outside the Polar regions, and it is both spectacular and a daunting challenge. Our focus is on the Northern Ice Field with it’s 4.200 km2, an elevation of 1.100 – 1.700 metres and with as many as 28 icefalls

THIS IS WHAT WE CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE POSSIBLE TEST EXPEDITION FOR NOW:

The price or ca price

Let’s not shy away from the price. As we still do not know how many will come along in November, we cannot set a fixed price. But from our estimates, we believe it will be in the region of €6.000

This includes everything from the time we leave Cerro Castillo until you are back at the hotel: Transport, car, boats, food, guides, camp equipment, 24/7 backup, etc

As usual, not included is travel to and from Chile / Balmaceda, lodging there (as some may arrive earlier and stay longer), food while in Balmaceda, personal equipment, and travel/medical evacuation insurance.

This is the preliminary timeline / itinerary:

11. November 2025: This is the meet-up date in Balmaceda (BBA), Chile, where you fly in. It means you most probably will need to leave home no later than Monday, 10. November.

We will organize a pick-up at the airport and transport to Cerro Castillo, which is our central hub for preparation, packing, and briefing. Here you meet the Ousland Guide and the local guide helping us out, making this possible.

When ready, we drive from Cerro Castillo to Puerto Guadal, further south. From there, we change to a jet boat (believe it or not) to navigate our way up the river system to Leones Lake. 

Well, up at the lake, we swap to another boat to be able to get all the way in to the edge of Glacier Leones. 

Then the real trip starts, carrying everything up to where we step onto the glacier, we navigate the icefall before crossing (skiing) over to the western side.

As the actual crossing is not very long, so we have decided to turn south and ski in a loop back towards the eastern side, then take another route down. This doubles the time skiing up on this unique glacier with all its surrounding peaks.

We then use the same logistics back over the Leones Lake and back to Cerro Castillo for a celebration dinner :-)

The trip will take anything from 14 to 16 days. Patagonia, being Patagonia, we have put in a few days for weather and other adventure-delaying hiccups. 

It means we leave for home on Friday, the 28th. November, and by all accounts, you should be back home Saturday, the 29th. November. (IF we finish earlier and you have a ticket that can be changed, you may get home a bit earlier.)

We hope this excites you. IF this could be of interest, please respond with a clear 'YES', 'NO', or 'MAYBE' in an e-mail to us as soon as possible :-)

There is a limit to how many we can bring on this first trip, so we hope to have a team gathered as soon as possible to start working together with you on the details and planning.

All the best, Vince and LArs