La Espada

Last updated
La Espada
Cerro Espada.jpg
West aspect
Highest point
Elevation 2,500 m (8,202 ft) [1] [2]
Coordinates 50°58′39″S73°01′31″W / 50.9774°S 73.0253°W / -50.9774; -73.0253 [3]
Naming
Etymology The Sword
Geography
Relief Map of Chile.jpg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
La Espada
Location in Chile
South America laea relief location map.jpg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
La Espada
La Espada (South America)
Tierra del Fuego location map.svg
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La Espada
La Espada (Southern Patagonia)
La Espada
Interactive map of La Espada
Country Chile
Province Última Esperanza Province
Protected area Torres del Paine National Park
Parent range Andes
Cordillera Paine
Topo map IGM 1:50,000 Paine (Hoja Paine)
Geology
Rock age Miocene
Rock type Granite
Climbing
First ascent December 19, 1971

La Espada is a mountain in the Magallanes Region of Chile.

Contents

Description

La Espada, also known as Cerro Espada, is a 2,500-meter-elevation (8,202-foot) summit in the Cordillera Paine group of the Andes. The peak is located 100 kilometers (62 miles) north-northwest of Puerto Natales, and the peak is within Torres del Paine National Park. Precipitation runoff from the peak's slopes drains to Nordenskjöld Lake which is part of the Paine River watershed. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,800 meters (6,168 feet) above Valle del Francés (French Valley) in two kilometers (1.24 miles), and 1,250 meters (4,100 feet) above the Bader Valley in one kilometer (0.6 mile). The peak's Spanish toponym translates as "The Sword."

Climbing history

The first ascent of the summit was accomplished on December 19, 1971, by Paul Fatti and Michael Scott via the west face, followed by Tony Dick, Carl Fatti, Roger Fuggle, Richard Hoare on the following day. [4] This South African expedition also made the first ascent of Cuerno Norte a few days later.

The first ascent of the 900-meter east face of The Sword was made in 2000 by Russel Mitrovich, Jimmy Haden, and Sean Leary via a route they named Under the Knife. [5]

Another new route on the east face named Arma de Doble Filo (Double-edged sword) (class 5.11) was first climbed in February 2024 by Sebastian Pelletti and Hernán Rodriguez. [6] [7]

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, La Espada is located in a tundra climate zone with long, cold winters, and short, cool summers. [8] Weather systems are forced upward by the mountains (orographic lift), causing moisture to drop in the form of rain and snow. The months of December through February offer the most favorable weather for visiting or climbing in this area, [9] however the region is characterized by low temperatures and strong winds throughout the year. [10]

Geology

The peak is composed of granite underlain by gray gabbro-diorite laccolith and the sedimentary rocks it intrudes, deeply eroded by glaciers. The hot granite that intruded parallel to the sedimentary rock converted the mudstone and sandstone into a dark metamorphic rock. The steep, light colored faces are eroded from the tougher, vertically jointed granitic rocks, while the foothills and dark cap rocks are the sedimentary country rock, in this case flysch deposited in the Cretaceous and later folded. [11]

The radiometric age for the quartz diorite is 12 ± 2 million years by the rubidium-strontium method and 13 ± 1 million years by the potassium-argon method. [12] More precise ages of 12.59 ± 0.02 and 12.50 ± 0.02 million years for the earliest and latest identified phases of the intrusion, respectively, were achieved using Uranium–lead dating methods on single zircon crystals. [13] Basal gabbro and diorite were dated by a similar technique to 12.472 ± 0.009 to 12.431 ± 0.006 million years. [14] Thus, magma was intruded and crystallized over 162 ± 11 thousand years.

See also

Notes

The peak has not been surveyed. Some sources report the elevation as 2,050 meters (6,725 ft). [15] [16] The first ascent party reported their altimeter recorded 7,520 feet (2,292 meters). [4]

References

  1. ↑ Anthony Garvin, Wild Patagonia, 2022, Archway Publishing, ISBN   9781665730389
  2. ↑ OpenStreetMap, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  3. ↑ OpenTopoMap, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  4. 1 2 The Sword and Cuerno North, Paine Mountains, Chile, Richard D. Hoare, 1973, publications.americanalpineclub.org, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  5. ↑ South America, Chile, Southern Patagonia, Bader Valley, La Espada, East Face, Under the Knife, Russel Mitrovich, 2001, publications.americanalpineclub.org, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ La Espada, Arma de Doble Filo Chile, Southern Patagonia, Torres del Paine, Sebastian Pelletti, 2024, publications.americanalpineclub.org, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  7. ↑ Arma de doble filo added to La Espada (Paine, Patagonia) by Sebastian Pelletti, Hernan Rodriguez, Planetmountain.com/en, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrology and Earth System Sciences . 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
  9. ↑ Best Time to Visit Torres Del Paine - Ideal Seasons and Months of the Year, Adventuretripr.com, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Clima y vegetación Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena" (in Spanish). Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Altenberger, Uwe; Oberhänsli, Roland; Putlitz, Benita; Wemmer, Klaus (1 July 2003). "Tectonic controls and Cenozoic magmatism at the Torres del Paine, southern Andes (Chile,51°10'S)". Revista Geológica de Chile. 30 (1): 65–81. doi: 10.4067/S0716-02082003000100005 .
  12. ↑ Martin Halpern "Regional Geochronology of Chile South of 50 degrees Latitude", Bulletin Geological Society of America, v. 84, p. 2410, 1973.
  13. ↑ Juergen Michel, Lukas Baumgartner, Benita Putlitz, Urs Schaltegger and Maria Ovtcharova, Incremental growth of the Patagonian Torres del Paine Laccolith over 90 k.y., Geology, 36(6):459–462, 2008.
  14. ↑ Leuthold, Julien; Müntener, Othmar; Baumgartner, Lukas; Putlitz, Benita; Ovtcharova, Maria; Schaltegger, Urs (2012). "Time resolved construction of a bimodal laccolith (Torres del Paine, Patagonia)". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 325–326: 85–92. Bibcode:2012E&PSL.325...85L. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.032.
  15. ↑ Torres del Paine National Park – Chile, Southamericatotheworld.com, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  16. ↑ South America, Chile, Chilean-Argentinian Patagonia, Cabeza del Indio, La Hoja, and La Espada, Paine Group, Yves Astier, 1982, publications.americanalpineclub.org, Retrieved January 1, 2026.
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