Argentina Guide
Tierra del Fuego
Ushuaia
USHUAIA, the provincial capital and hub of tourism for the whole of Tierra del Fuego, lies in the far south of Isla Grande. Dramatically situated between the mountains – amongst them Cerro Martial and Monte Olivia – and the sea, the town tumbles, rather chaotically, down the hillside to the encircling arm of land that protects its bay from the southwesterly winds and occasional thrashing storms of the icy Beagle Channel. Ushuaia is primarily a convenient base for exploring the rugged beauty of the lands that border the channel, a historically important sea passage, but be warned that it exploits tourism to the full – prices can be high, but services are usually of a correspondingly good standard. Puerto Williams lies just across the channel, on the southern (Chilean) side of the straits, and there are other trips, too: to historic Estancia Harberton, and to Bahía Lapataia in Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. In winter, there's decent skiing in the Sierra Alvear region north of town; this area, along with neighbouring Sierra Valdivieso and Chile's Isla Navarino, are also the places to head for if you're looking for physically challenging trekking.
Every year on June 21 – the longest night of the year – the Bajada de Las Antorchas takes place, with the darkness celebrated by a torchlit ski descent of Cerro Martial's slopes, traditionally opening the season. Daylight lasts from about 9am till 4pm at this time of year. In mid-November, the town hosts the Ushuaia Jazz Festival, and between Christmas and New Year the municipality organizes various events, including live concerts, often with nationally famous bands.
Winter sports around Ushuaia
In order to boast that you have been to the end of the world to ski or snowboard, you'll need to visit between late May and early September – June to August are the most reliable months. The majority of runs are for beginners and intermediates, but several companies, such as Gotama Expediciones ( 
02901/15605301, 
www.gotama-expediciones.com ) offer guided back-country skiing for the more advanced. Equipment rental is reasonable and there are a couple of downhill (esqui alpino) pistes close to Ushuaia: the small Club Andino, 3km from town, and the more impressive one up by Glaciar Martial, 7km behind town. Better runs are to be had, however, in the Sierra Alvear, the resorts of which are accessed from RN-3. These include the modern Cerro Castor centre ( www.cerrocastor.com ), 27km from town, with 15km of pistes in runs, including a few black ones, up to 2km long.
The Sierra Alvear is also an excellent area for cross-country skiing (esqui de fondo or esqui nórdico). In addition, there are several winter-sports centres (centros invernales) along the Valle Tierra Mayor where you can try out snowmobiles, snowshoes, ice-skating and dogsled trips (trineos de perros): Altos del Valle, Solar del Bosque, Nunatak, Tierra Mayor, Llanos del Castor, Valle Hermoso, Los Cotorras and Haruwen.
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