1914 Dr Federico Reichert penetrates the Southern Patagonian Icefield for the first time via the Perito Moreno Glacier.

1928 Father María Alberto de Agostini, “Father of Patagonia”, begins exploring the region..

1931 Agostini ascends the Upsala Glacier from Lago Argentino.
Gunther Pluschow makes the first flights over the region in his plane Silver Condor. He ditches into Lago Argentino, killing him and his mechanic.

1933 Ilse von Rentsell becomes the first woman on the Southern Patagonian Icefield.

1952 An expedition endorsed by President Perón attempts the first crossing of the Southern Patagonian Icefield, with the idea of mapping the drainage systems.

1955 - 56 Harold William Tilman and Jorge Quinteros penetrate the Patagonian fiords. Leaving Punta Arenas, the team heads towards the plateau – arriving at the foot of Cerro Cervantes. They descend Perito Moreno Glacier, arriving at Lago Argentino. They return by the same route, covering 60km in 27 days.

1960-61 Shipton, Ewer, García and Marangunic make a north-to-south crossing from the Jorge Montt Glacier to Lago Argentino via the Upsala Glacier – 210km. This is the first great journey across the Southern Patagonian Icefield, covering 60 per cent of it in 48 days. It is also the first to use sledges to transport equipment. The expedition travelled north-south to take advantage of the winds. Their success owed a lot to their modern approach to expeditioning. They used a single pyramid tent, commonly used in Antarctica at that time. It folded down like an umbrella, saving them a lot of time. They also took an 18kg sled, which could be broken up into four pieces, and one small sled. They had specially prepared food, an innovation at the time, supplying 4500 calories a day. However, they used snowshoes instead of skis. Their total load was 310 kilos, surprisingly small considering the journey.

The genius of Shipton is apparent in this project.

1961 Argentinians Carlos Sonntag and Teodoro Sifuentes penetrate the ice field in a group of 12 people. They travel via Rio Electrico near Fitz Roy. This is the first winter expedition in the ice field.

1962 A Chilean expedition led by Claudio Lucero crosses from the Fiordo Témpano to Lago O’Higgins. They cover about 70 km, returning via the same route.

1963 García, Marangunic, Alvaro Yañez and René Martínez cross from Lago Eléctrico to Fiordo Exmouth and back. The journey takes 50 days.

1976 Pedro Svarka, an Argentinian glaciologist, makes a winter journey between the Upsala Glacier and the Marconi Pass – 40km. Surprisingly, he travels south to north – against the wind.

1981-82 A Japanese expedition attempts the first complete north-south crossing of the ice field, entering at Jorge Montt Glacier.

1982 A French expedition enters Fiordo Falcon and makes it to the Fitz Roy region in only 10 days.

1991 Marcos Couch, Alberto del Castillo and Gabriel Ruiz from Argentina, with José Carlos Tamayo from Spain and Brazilian Alexander Portela, enter the Jorge Montt glacier. They arrive at Paso del Viento 31 days later.

1992 Paolo Cavagneto, Alberto Guelpa, Joel Blumenberg and Paolo Falco cross from Jorge Montt to Laguna Escondida and Lago Argentino using skis and modern sleds. The journey takes them 35 days.

1998 Pablo Besser, Mauricio Rojas, José Montt and Rodrigo Fica cross for the first time the entire Ice Field, from Glacier Montt to Glaciar Balmaceda, with the help of a depot set just before the expedition.

2003 Tomas Ulrich and Borge Ousland become the first to cross the length of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field without resupplying.

More information http://patagonia.icetrek.com/history.html