In Patagonia the wind is a living thing. A human obsession, like humidity in the tropics. At times it's all anyone talks about. How can you not talk about the wind when it chases you? And causes other strange phenomena? Parked cars move. Birds flap their wings and go backwards. Trees grow horizontally. Words roll off the tongue and disappear, never to be heard. Cyclists? Forget it! This is the roaring forties and furious fifties-latitude speaking. Welcome to Patagonia.

Never precisely defined, Patagonia is as much an edge of the world state of mind as a region in two countries, Chile and Argentina. Because of its remoteness (way down south) and inaccessibility (regular flights only recently), Patagonia has ever been a romantic and mythical concept , like Xanadu and Timbuktu. To adventurers it's a magnet, a last vestige of rugged wildness on planet earth.

Despite the lack of a clear definition, this is a substantial piece of real estate, say Texas sized. Santa Cruz Province is nearly half the region and has only about 200,000 people. The rest of Patagonia is even less populated! Unless you count sheep.

Chile's crown jewel and now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Torres del Paine is one of the great national parks in the world. Dominated by the three great towers for which the park is named, this is a destination for climbers, trekkers, and the occasional photographer. They are considered the world's most "perfect" peaks, both from the standpoint of aesthetics and as challenges to great rock climbers. No world-class climber's resume is complete without Cerro Torre, above, center. (next photo)