Monte Sarmiento is a pyramidal peak with a glaciated saddle-shaped summit located within Alberto de Agostini National Park, in the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an portion of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

. It rises abruptly from the east shore of the

Magdalena Channel 350px, The channel is visible in the lower left corner. Magdalena Channel () is a Chilean channel joining the Strait of Magellan with the Cockburn Channel and is part of a major navigation route which ultimately connects with the Beagle Channe ...

and marks the western border of the

Cordillera Darwin The Cordillera Darwin is an extensive mountain range mantled by an ice field that is located in Chile. Description Cordillera Darwin is located in the southwestern portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, entirely within the Chilean territor ...

. The mountain is frequently shrouded in clouds, but when it is visible is "the most sublime spectacle in Tierra del Fuego" according to the words of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, one of the many people who have been captivated by the beauty of this mountain.

History

The mountain was called "Volcán Nevado" (Snowy Volcano) by

Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish adventurer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. He was named the governor of the Strait of Magellan by King Philip II of Spain, Philip II in 1580. His birthplace is not certain ...

, who thought it was a volcano.

Phillip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coo ...

named it Mount Sarmiento in honor of the mentioned explorer.''Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Volume I'' – Retrieved on 2007-10-08 Several unsuccessful attempts were made to reach its summit, including those of Martin Conway in 1898 and of Alberto María de Agostini in 1913.

20th century

The eastern summit of Monte Sarmiento was climbed on 7 March 1956 by an expedition including the Italian mountaineers Clemente Gueret and Carlo Mauri. It was organized b
Padre Alberto Maria De Agostini
The West Summit was climbed on 24 December 1986 by an Italian expedition of Ragni di Lecco including Gigi Alippi, Salvatore Panzeri, Lorenzo Mazzoleni, Pinuccio Castelnuovo, Bruno Pennati, Clemente Maffei, Gian Maria Confalonieri, Franco Baravalle, Salvatore Fantozzi e Luciano Bovina. Thi
expedition
opened a new route on the North Face. The west summit of Monte Sarmiento was climbed in 1995 by a party including the British mountaineers Stephen Venables, John Roskelley and Tim Macartney-Snape. (Source: Ollie, by Stephen Venables). A German team composed of Robert Jasper, Jörn Heller and Ralf Gantzhorn, climbed the North Face to the western summit on April 4, 2010. This team followed the route opened in 1986.

In literature

The mountain is mentioned in the novels ''

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may inclu ...

'' and '' Robur the Conqueror,'' both by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, and in '' This Thing of Darkness'' by Harry Thompson.

In cinema

An attempt to climb the mountain in 2003 is the subject of the Brazilian documentary film Extremo sul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarmiento Mountains of Chile Landforms of Magallanes Region Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Two-thousanders of the Andes