Reading the wind in Patagonia
Two buffer days per departure is not an indulgence. It is how we keep the Torres del Paine traverse runnable in any weather.
The wind in Patagonia is not a metaphor. It is a planning constraint. On a bad day in the Torres del Paine massif the wind can hold 90 km/h for hours, and the gravel on the trailhead can sting. We build the itinerary around that.
Why two buffer days
Our ten-day Patagonia trip has eight walking days and two buffer days. The buffer days are not spare days. They are reserved. If day four — the dawn ascent to the towers — is blown out, we shift it. If day six, the French Valley, is closed for wind, we shift that. The buffer is the only reason the traverse stays runnable in most weather.
How we decide to shift
The decision to use a buffer day is made the evening before, by the lead guide, on the basis of the local forecast and the state of the trail. It is not put to a vote. The group is told at dinner what the next day will be, and the printed itinerary we hand out at the start notes explicitly that days may move.
What we do not do
We do not push the group through a closed pass to keep to the printed schedule. We do not skip a day to make up time. If the wind closes the French Valley for the whole trip — it has happened — we substitute a day on the steppe with the estancia, and we tell you so on the last night.