Patagonia Expedition: February 2027

In partnership with Chulengo Expeditions, we are offering an entirely new trip in February 2027: a 9- or 14-day backpacking expedition in Chilean Patagonia.

Chulengo was founded and led by Nadine Lehner, a current Skurka guide and NOLS instructor who was formerly the Executive Director of Conservación Patagónica. She worked with Doug and Kris Tompkins to help establish Patagonia National Park. Chulengo’s approach mirrors ours, with an emphasis on lightweight travel, client-led navigation, and interpretive education.

Trip overview

One trip only in 2027
9 or 14 days (with 6.5 or 11.5 hiking days, respectively), based on applicant interest
February 14, 2027 through February 22 (9-day itinerary) or February 27 (14-day)
8-10 clients + two Chulengo guides
Priority will be given to Skurka alumni
9-day cost: $2,775; 14-day cost: $3,650

Apply now

About the location

Many North Americans equate “Patagonia” with Torres del Paine National Park. Chile is three times the size of California; Torres del Paine’s famous “W” circuit in February is Yosemite Valley on an August weekend.

Chulengo operates 700 miles north of there, in the Aysén Region — the least populated region in Chile, bordered by two of the largest extrapolar icefields in the world, reachable by one road, and the site of the largest recent expansion of protected land anywhere in the Americas. In 2019, the Chilean government and Tompkins Conservation closed a deal creating or expanding seventeen national parks across 10.3 million acres. Patagonia National Park is the flagship: 750,000 acres of spectacular, diverse habitat, assembled from a failing sheep estancia and two adjacent reserves, now in active rewilding.

A few thousand people visit this park in a year. A tiny fraction of them leave the front country. Chulengo is the single largest backcountry user of the park, and on a normal expedition groups see only a handful of other visitors. As an organization, Chulengo is deeply embedded in advancing a culture of conservation and regenerative development through small-scale, place-based tourism and outdoor education.

What makes hiking in Aysén special

Very diverse, on a walkable scale

Alaska is amazing for its scale — you can walk up the same valley for multiple days. Patagonia is amazing for its variety — you walk yourself from lush forest through arid steppe to glaciated peaks within a few hours. The huge precipitation gradient from west (coastal rainforest) to east (desert) makes for remarkably diverse hiking. Chulengo concentrates its travel in the “Goldilocks” zone of deciduous southern beech forest, reminiscent of the open forests of New England.

Remote, but changing fast

Aysén is far off the grid largely due to lack of infrastructure. There is one “highway” in the region and it is still unpaved. That is changing, and now is the moment to see a remote place before the boom arrives. Patagonia National Park currently has a few flagship trails plus some old horse trails from the area’s ranching past. Much of our travel will be off-trail.

Wildlife that is coming back

Guanaco herds are the visible success of the rewilding effort. Also huemul (the endangered Andean deer on Chile’s coat of arms), puma, vizcacha, Andean condor, armadillo, and flamingo on the lagunas.

Weather as the organizing fact

Wind is the defining variable, even more than rain. Mid February gives you roughly 15 hours of usable daylight, temperatures that swing 30°F in a day, and the honest possibility of a snowy pass in summer.

A working human landscape

This is gaucho country — we’ll meet families still ranching hours by horseback from any road, and hike routes cut by pick and shovel to move animals to market. We’ll learn about sharing maté, the traditional hot drink, and eat an asado al palo, the classic, memorable lamb roast. The cultural element of Patagonia is very alive here.

What makes visiting Patagonia appealing

Opposite hemisphere, reverse seasons

Coming to summer in the Southern Hemisphere offers an invigorating dose of long daylight, summer sun, and warmth at a moment when winter can start to feel long. Patagonia offers the chance to backpack during a season when little in North America is appealing.

Non-factors: elevation, bears, jet lag

Our proposed routes stay under 7,000 feet, and almost no one feels the effects of elevation here. Patagonia has very little dangerous wildlife: no bears, no venomous snakes, no problem insects. Mosquitoes are barely an issue by February. And the time zone is such that most people coming from the US won’t experience jet lag, despite the substantial travel.

Chile is a safe, stable travel destination

No vaccinations needed; no visa needed for US and EU passport holders. Chile has one of the strongest and most stable economies in Latin America, with low crime and a long history of democratic order.

Applicant standards

Trip Type: 3/Expedition, for Advanced backpackers
Fitness Level: Level 3/Median or 4/High
Technical Difficulty: Level B/Medium for Option A; Level B/Medium with 1–2 C/Hot sections for Option B (featuring off-trail travel, bushwhacking, and glacial river crossings).

Additionally, we are looking for applicants who:

Know how to backpack in stormy Alaska-like weather, because it rains and blows in Patagonia
Embrace travel, because Patagonia is far away, requiring planes, boats, and automobiles, often on unpaved roads
Tolerate uncertainty, because Patagonia operates on its own timeframe and laughs at meticulously planned schedules

Itineraries

We are offering two itineraries, but we will run only one. We will run the itinerary that is of greatest interest to applicants.

The trip will happen in mid- to late-February 2027. In Patagonia, February is the equivalent of August in North America. Days are long, the passes have generally shed their winter snow, and any mosquitos have disappeared.

9-day itinerary | Exploratory Mountain Travel

February 14–22, 2027 (9 days total / 6.5 hiking days)
A dynamic, route-flexible expedition into remote sectors of Patagonia National Park chosen based on immediate weather, snowpack, and water levels.
Travel plans: Depart the US by Saturday, February 13; return as early as Tuesday, February 23

14-day Itinerary | The Long Traverse

February 14–27, 2027 (14 days total / 11.5 hiking days)
Combines the historic, pick-and-shovel-cut Ruta de los Pioneros pack route with a multi-day traverse of Patagonia National Park.
Travel plans: Depart the US by Saturday, February 13; return as early as Sunday, February 28

Additional resources

Maps of both itineraries
Photo library
Standard pre-trip materials from Chulengo, with information about travel, gear, and training

Prices

9-day itinerary: $2,775
14-day itinerary: $3,650

What’s included

All guiding and instruction from Chulengo expedition leaders
All in-country ground transportation from Balmaceda airport onward, including trailhead transfers, ferries, resupply logistics, and the return transfer
All meals from welcome dinner through final dinner, including all backcountry food
Lodging in shared cabins in Puerto Guadal on the first and last nights, and in Cochrane on Option A
Group gear: shelters, stoves, cook kit, water treatment, first aid supplies, repair kit, satellite communicator, technical equipment where the route requires
Park entry fees and any access permissions
Pre-trip preparation: gear list, training guidance, route briefings, and pre-departure calls with the leader team

What’s not included

International airfare and the domestic Santiago–Balmaceda flight. Flight prices depend a lot on when you buy, and where you’re flying from in the US. Budget $800 – $1700.
Travel insurance for trip cancellation, interruption, or delay (strongly recommended). Budget $50 – $150, depending what level of protection you’re looking for.
Personal gear and clothing. The gear list closely mirrors a Brooks Range gear list. If you have the gear already, low cost; if you need to upgrade, budget more.
Guide gratuities. Not factored into trip cost; while tips are not expected, they are appreciated; 5% of trip cost is very generous.

Travel logistics

Fly into Balmaceda (BBA), Chile. This is the airport for Coyhaique and the whole northern Aysén region.

Getting there

There is no international service to BBA. Every route runs through Santiago (SCL):

Overnight flight from a US hub to Santiago. Most US departures leave in the evening and land in Santiago early the following morning.
Domestic Santiago to Balmaceda, roughly 2h20m. LATAM, Sky and JetSmart all fly it, with several departures daily. A late-morning or early-afternoon departure connects well from an overnight arrival.
Arrive at BBA by 2:30pm on Sunday, February 14 at the latest. Our van meets you at the airport.

Note on the domestic connection: Book the SCL–BBA leg on a separate ticket only if you are comfortable with the risk. If the international flight is delayed you will not be re-accommodated. (But booking this leg separately does tend to be cheaper, and offer more timing options).

Strongly recommended: arrive in Chile a day early. Many past participants spend a day or two in Santiago before the expedition. Beyond being a good idea on its own, it is a buffer against a delayed international flight or a missing bag.

Balmaceda to Chulengo HQ. Our van meets the group at BBA and drives four hours south along the Carretera Austral to Puerto Guadal, on the southern shore of Lago Chelenko. Puerto Guadal is a town of about 600 people and is our base of operations; you will spend your first and last nights there in shared cabins. There is no scheduled public transport that works for this — the transfer is included and we handle it.

Getting home. Option A departs from Balmaceda on Saturday, February 27 for flights 3pm or later. Option B departs from Balmaceda on Monday, February 22 for flights 3pm or later; we can also drop you in Coyhaique if you are staying on. Both transfers are included.

Documents and money. US citizens do not need a visa for tourism in Chile. Passports must be valid for the duration of the stay. There are ATMs in Cochrane and Chile Chico but not reliably in Puerto Guadal — bring some cash ($200 USD equivalent should be plenty).

Connectivity. There is cell service and wifi in Puerto Guadal, but none in the field. We carry a satellite communicator for emergencies. Tell your family in advance that they will not hear from you for the duration of the backcountry section.

Prospective guides

Two Chulengo guides will be assigned to the group. Bios of likely guides below, pulled from Chulengo’s site.

Nadine Lehner — Founder, Chulengo Expeditions

Nadine moved to Patagonia after Harvard to work with Doug and Kris Tompkins, and served as Executive Director of Conservación Patagónica, where she led the establishment of the 700,000-acre Patagonia National Park that is home to most of Chulengo’s expeditions. She holds a joint MBA/MS in Environment and Resources from Stanford. She is a NOLS instructor, guides on Denali for Alaska Mountaineering School, and has led wilderness mountaineering, backpacking and river expeditions for over a decade. With Chulengo teammates Isidora Llarena and Rebeca Cáceres she made the first all-female expeditions to Patagonia’s Northern Icefield. She has guided for Skurka Adventures since 2025.

Carlos “Flaco” Hincapié — Risk Management Director

Born and raised in Colombia, Flaco started in the mountains early with his father, a climber and mountaineer. After studying industrial design he moved into outdoor education, serving as Risk Management Director for Envoys in Colombia before joining NOLS in 2016, where he spent eight years instructing in the US and Patagonia. He moved to Puerto Guadal in 2023 and now leads expeditions for Chulengo and oversees all risk management.

Felix Kraus — Expedition Leader

Originally from Germany, Felix arrived in Aysén while traveling South America with his family and stayed. His background as a sociologist informs his interest in living across cultures; his love of wild country supplies what appears to be an unlimited amount of stoke. He has guided and taught in the Atacama Desert and throughout Patagonia. He lives in Puerto Guadal with his partner and two children.

Vicente “Vicho” Barahona Colombo — Expedition Leader

From the central coast of Chile, Vicho traveled through Oceania and Asia before turning his attention to the southern end of his own country. Since 2016 he has guided and worked across Chile’s national parks on projects related to the natural world and sustainable living. He rock climbs, skis, bakes, photographs, and is the person on the team most likely to tell you the name of the plant you just stepped on.

Isidora Llarena –– Expedition Leader

Born and raised in the beach town of Viña del Mar, Chile, Isi discovered her passion for the mountains early on, which eventually led her to Patagonia. For the past ten years, she has worked as a mountaineering and hiking instructor for NOLS, and a wilderness medicine instructor with WMI. She’s obsessed with exploring remote mountains of the Aysén Region, and with the expedition planning it takes to reach these places.

Why join THIS trip to Patagonia?

Truly adventurous

Chulengo is one of a small number of operators permitted for backcountry travel in Patagonia National Park, and in practice it is the only one using it at any scale. Beyond the park boundary, the country it walks is known to our guide team, a handful of gauchos, and almost nobody else. There are few written resources. On most of these routes there is no maintained trail — only the lines that pioneers cut a century ago to move cattle over the passes, half of which the landscape has taken back.

This means the trip asks something of you that a packaged Patagonia itinerary cannot. Much of our travel is off-trail. You will spend real hours standing on a rise with the map out, arguing about whether the far bank is a better bet and how much daylight is left. Your leaders make the final calls on hazard and route, and Chulengo wants you in the conversation the whole way. You will be navigating, not following.

Small-scale and personalized

Most trips to Patagonia are off-the-shelf products assembled through a chain of intermediaries: a US-based seller, a Santiago wholesaler, a regional operator, and a guide who met you at the trailhead that morning and had no hand in designing any of it. This trip has no chain. The people who designed it are the people guiding it, and Chulengo designed it for one specific group of hikers — Skurka clients — rather than for whoever happens to book.

Practically, that shows up everywhere. Group size is eight to ten with two leaders. The route can change the week before departure, or mid-trip, because the person who would have to approve that change is walking next to you. Food, pacing, teaching, and rest days get calibrated to the group in front of us rather than to a template. And when something goes sideways at 4pm in a valley with no road, the decision gets made by someone who has worked in that valley for a decade.

Culture & conservation

Working in a quiet region leaves room for the kind of encounters a busier place designs out. We share maté with gauchos at homesteads hours by horseback from the nearest road. We eat asado al palo with families we have worked alongside for ten years. We buy from the neighbors whose livelihoods the new park economy is meant to sustain. None of this is staged; it is simply what happens when a small group moves slowly through a place where the guides are known by name.

And there is a conservation story here you can stand inside rather than read about. You will walk across ground that was an overgrazed sheep estancia in 2004 and is national park now, with guanaco herds on it and huemul in the side valleys, guided in part by the person who ran the organization that made that happen. Chulengo donates a substantial portion of revenue to local social and environmental causes, runs free and low-cost trainings for neighbors, hires local guides, and sources from small nearby businesses. For Chile’s new park system to actually work, it has to generate livelihoods for the communities around it. Coming here is a way of putting weight behind that argument.

Why trust Chulengo?

We know what Skurka alums expect

Guiding for Skurka Adventures for the past year has introduced me to the systems, client culture, and educational curriculum. Several Skurka alums have already joined expeditions with us, and have shared a lot about your program with their guides, who are intrigued to learn more.

Our style is already your style

We call it “lightweight guiding.” No porters, no pack animals on the backpacking trips, sub-20lb base weights, participants carry their share of group food and gear, and we teach outdoor skills rather than performing them for an audience. Clients cook, set up camp, and get put out front to navigate.

We helped to build the park

Before founding Chulengo, I worked as Executive Director of Conservación Patagónica, the Tompkins organization that created Patagonia National Park. I spent years working with Doug and Kris Tompkins on the parks program. Kris Tompkins is an advisor to Chulengo.

The team is professional, local, and full-time

Our leaders live and work in the Aysén Region year-round, with decades of combined experience in the zone. Many have 100+ field weeks with NOLS. We run roughly twenty custom expeditions a season for high schools, colleges, MBA programs, and conservation organizations — institutional clients with real risk-management review — plus our open-enrollment trips.

We know Aysén

We’ve operated for ten years, solving all the logistical issues and more that you might expect in a very remote international location. We’ve built relationships throughout the region, from the empanada lady to local doctors, to enrich and support our operations.

Perspectives from Alums of Skurka + Chulengo

“As a four-time Skurka alum, in January 2026 I expanded my Northern Hemisphere backpacking season, geographic reach, and skillset by heading south on an eight-day, Chulengo-guided trek into the incomparable Patagonia wilds, joined by another Skurka alum. We enjoyed surreal ranges, lakes and waterfalls, vistas so colorful and pristine and untouched as to seem Photoshopped, with novel wildlife and the occasional “four seasons in a day.” Our experienced local Chulengo guide followed and taught familiar Skurka principles, tailored to this unique venue. I believe our experience is one that every serious Skurka alum should consider, and I hope to return annually.” — John Gartman

“I am not surprised to hear about the Chulengo and Skurka collaboration. If I hadn’t just experienced a Chulengo expedition in January, I would be jumping at this opportunity! Epic: that is the word I have used over and over again as I describe my Chilean adventure to friends. The travel and journey to get to the park, the beauty of Chile on the way and in the national park, the varied landscape, the birds, the animals, the lakes, so foreign and yet familiar too. I had my eyes set on South America but have to admit I find myself a bit spoiled after four Skurka adventures since 2021. Chulengo is not Skurka; it is a unique experience, and reminded me that there is not ONE way to do anything. The Chulengo staff had the knowledge and experience that I take for granted in Skurka guides, our guide felt like just one of the group who had the knowledge of the land and the expertise. It was little things that made it unique, different and an experience I’ve been talking about for months now.” — Joshua Helman

Role of Skurka Adventures and Chulengo

Skurka Adventures is responsible for vetting and assembling the group. A representative of Skurka Adventures will likely participate in the trip in a client capacity.

Chulengo is responsible for all other aspects of this trip, including billing, pre-trip planning, travel management, and guiding.

Application Process

Before you apply, please ensure that you meet the requisite experience, fitness, and technical comfort standards; and also please review the itinerary details.

Because these expeditions are specialized, small-scale (8–10 clients max), and require a high degree of self-reliance, Skurka Adventures will accept and review applications through its established system.

Saturday, September 12, 2026: Start of open application period
Sunday, September 20, 2026: End of open application period

All applications received during the open application period will be considered equally. Applications will not be accepted before or after the open application period.

By Friday, October 2, 2026: Spots will be offered