The three Towers of Paine (Spanish: Torres del Paine) in southern Chile are gigantic granitemonoliths shaped by the forces of glacial ice. They are located in Patagonia, 400 km (244 miles) north of Punta Arenas, and about 2,500 km south of the capital Santiago.
The Central Tower of Paine (about 3,400 m or 11,000 feet) is the highest of the three. It was first climbed in 1963 by Chris Bonington and Don Whillans.
The North Tower of Paine was first climbed by Guido Monzino and the South Tower of Paine by Armando Aste.
The national park is a popular hiking destination. There are clearly marked paths and many refugios which provide shelter and basic services. Views are breathtaking. Hikers can opt for a day trip to see the towers, walk the popular "W" route in about five days, or trek the full circle in 8-9 days. It is a national park and thus hikers are not allowed to stray from the paths. Camping is only allowed at specified campsites.
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Picture of the towers (http://www.reisebilder.ch/bilder/ch047-700.jpg)
The Cordillera delPaine is a small but spectacular mountain group in Chilean Patagonia.
The Central Tower of Paine (about 2,460 m or 8,100 feet) was first climbed in 1963 by Chris Bonington and Don Whillans, and the North Tower of Paine (about 2,260 m) was first climbed by Guido Monzino.
The group is included within the TorresdelPaine National Park, which was declared a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO in 1978.
The TorresdelPaine is an absolutely ridiculous collection of mountains and lakes squeezed between Argentina and the Pacific ocean in Chilean Patagonia, not far from where Chile turns east at the bottom of the continent.
The TorresdelPaine are enormous triangles of rock, all that remains of a granitic outcrop that was injected under the earth, like a giant tectonic zit, when this area was still covered in kilometers of ice.
TorresdelPaine and the country around it is one of the rare habitable pieces of land that never had an indigeneous population.
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