Crossing the Andes on bike
During my the vacations of january/2012 me and a fried did this beautiful 835 km Mountain Bike tour passing by the higher mountains and volcanos of South America.
The trip was divided in two parts, the first one consisted of the route between Malargüe (Argentina) and Curicó (Chile) by the Paso Vergara. The second part of the trip had many route alternatives, we planned three options for the paths, the plan A, B and C. During the trip we decided to follow another track later called "Plan D".
This article was written to give details about the crossing and supply any potential adventurers with useful resources including maps, statistics and equipment advice. Please notice that only the part I and the part II plan D were executed by the author although I believe the others are perfectly viable.
Maps
Tracks and Statistics
Preliminary plan
Final statistics
Cartographic Distances
All distances presented here are measured between the center of the cities. The distances from the Part II plan A, B and C were measured on maps and do not include the vertical variations. The distances from the Part I and Part II - D were measured by GPS and are very accurate.
- Part I (as done)- Malargue to Curicó at Paso Vergara: 306km
- Part II - Plan A - Valdivia to Bariloche by the Paso Carirriñe: 463km
- Part II - Plan B - Valdivia to Bariloche by the Paso Hua Hum por Riñihue: 402km
- Part II - Plan C - Valdivia to Bariloche by the Paso Tromen: 645km
- Part II - Plano D (as done) - Valdivia à Bariloche by the Paso Hua Hum and Panguipulli: 505km
Download of maps and spreadsheets
The maps, spreadsheets and detailed altitude reports can be found here.
