The Cordillera Paine is a group of mountains (a cordillera) in Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. It is north of Punta Arenas, and about south of the Chilean capital Santiago. The cordillera is part of the Commune of Torres del Paine in Última Esperanza Province of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. No accurate surveys have been published, and published elevations have been claimed to be seriously inflated, so most of the elevations given on this page are approximate. Paine means "blue" in the native Tehuelche (Aonikenk) language and is pronounced PIE-nay.

Peaks

The highest summit of the range is Cerro Paine Grande. For a long time its elevation was claimed to be , but in August 2011 it was climbed for the third time, measured using GPS and found to be .

The three Towers of Paine () form the centrepiece of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. The South Tower of Paine (about in elevation, The Central Tower (about The North Tower (about in elevation) was first climbed in 1958 by Guido Monzino.

Other summits include the Cuerno Principal, about in elevation,

thumb|Lago Pehoé

thumb|A view of the Torres from Mirador base de las Torres

The radiometric age for the quartz diorite at Cerro Paine is 12±2 million years by the rubidium-strontium method and 13±1 million years by the potassium-argon method. More precise ages of 12.59±0.02 and 12.50±0.02 million years for the earliest and latest identified phases of the intrusion, respectively, were achieved using Uranium–lead dating methods on single zircon crystals. Basal gabbro and diorite were dated by a similar technique to 12.472±0.009 to 12.431±0.006 million years. Thus, magma was intruded and crystallized over 162±11 thousand years. High resolution dating and excellent 3-D exposure of the laccolith and its vertical feeding system allow detailed reconstruction of the Torres del Paine fossil magma chamber history.

Hiking

The Torres del Paine National Park—an area of —was declared a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO in 1978 and receives about 250,000 visitors annually. Trails and some campsites are maintained by Chile's National Forest Corporation, and mountain huts provide shelter and basic services.

thumb|800px|center|The Cuernos del Paine (horns of Paine), with the typical extreme weather of the region

See also

  • Fitz Roy
  • Los Glaciares National Park

References

  • Biggar, John, 2015. The Andes: A Guide for Climbers (4th edition, ).
  • Kearney, Alan, 1993. Mountaineering in Patagonia. Seattle USA: Cloudcap.
  • Complete description of Torres del Paine in Andeshandbook
  • Torres del Paine on summitpost
  • Torres del Paine Circuit Planning
  • Photograph of the cordillera from Estero Última Esperanza, 50 km to the south