Overcoming the Elements
The icy fingers of Cordillera Sarmiento claw through clouds along a 40-mile (60-kilometer) stretch of Chile's Pacific coast. With dozens of unnamed, unclimbed peaks to choose from, expedition leader Jack Miller and his team inch up a 6,550-foot (2,000-meter) icicle they dubbed Gremlin's Cap in 1992. Nearly permanent cloud cover, blizzards, and fierce ocean winds keep the range shrouded in mystery.

Photograph by Gordon Wiltsie