Classic Patagonia: the hulking Mount Fitzroy and its satellite spires in Argentina remain among the most glorious and difficult challenges in mountaineering. Back in 1834 Charles Darwin and Robert Fitzroy, captain of the Beagle, probably saw these mountains in the distance when, during their expedition up Rio Santa Cruz, they sighted the cordillera but, as Darwin wrote, “we viewed these grand mountains with regret, for we were obliged to imagine their nature and productions, instead of standing, as we hoped, on their summits.”