Blue Moon, Purple Mountain

Executive summary by darmansjah

Looking as otherworldly as the moon that hangs near it, Mount Fitzory in Parque Nacional los Glaciares, Argentina, presents a sheer granite face that is one of mountaineering’s greatest challenges.

Los Glaciares National Park is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, the second largest national park in the country, comprising an area of 726,927 ha (7,269.27 km2; 2,806.68 sq mi). Established in 1937,it houses a representative sample of the Magellanic Subpolar Forest and western Patagonian Steppe biodiversity in good state of conservation. In 1980 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The park's name refers to the giant ice cap in the Andes range that feeds 47 large glaciers, of which 13 flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. The ice cap is the largest outside of Antarctica and Greenland. In other parts of the world, glaciers start at a height of at least 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above mean sea level, but due to the size of the ice cap, these glaciers begin at only 1,500 m (4,900 ft), sliding down to 200 m (660 ft) Los Glaciares borders Torres del Paine National Park to the south in Chilean territory.