Big Ice on Perito Moreno Glacier, from the 6:45 am pickup to the last boat
Big Ice is the longest walk on Perito Moreno Glacier you can book from El Calafate. It fills about 12 hours, with roughly 3 of them on the ice and two more getting there over the moraine. Below, the day in the order you live it, and what it asks of your legs.
What Big Ice is, and who runs it
Big Ice is run by Hielo y Aventura, the company behind the treks on Perito Moreno Glacier. On GetYourGuide it calls itself the official provider and says it has organized walks here for about 35 years.
Where the classic Minitrekking keeps you near the edge for about an hour, Big Ice heads into the middle of the glacier for about three. The Big Ice day at ~$459 scores 4.8 from 34 reviews on GetYourGuide, a small base for the priciest walk on this ice.
Still weighing the two treks? Our Minitrekking and Big Ice comparison puts them side by side. This page follows the long day from the first knock on your hotel door to the drive home.
A 6:45 am start and the drive west
Pickup runs from 6:45 am at hotels in El Calafate, and the van's round of the town can take up to 45 minutes. If your hotel sits early on the list, you leave while the streets are still dark and empty.
The port, Puerto Bajo de las Sombras, lies about 70 km (43 miles) from town inside Los Glaciares National Park. The park charges an entry fee on the way in. Our guide to the trekking day explains how to pay it.
With a rental car you can skip the van and meet the group at the port. The listing then puts the day at about 7.5 hours instead of 12, which buys back a slow breakfast.
The boat, then a two-hour approach
A boat of about 20 minutes crosses Brazo Rico in front of the glacier's south wall. At the refuge on the far shore, the guides split everyone into subgroups and hand out the crampons along with a helmet and harness.
Then comes the part the Minitrekking never sees. For about 2 hours you walk over the moraine and through the forest, with the glacier showing between the trees and growing as you climb.
The approach is where most hikers first feel the day in their legs. Layers you can peel off help a lot on the climb, and our packing list for the ice covers what goes in the daypack.
Three hours deep in the glacier
On the ice you strap on crampons and follow the guide toward the heart of the glacier for about 3 hours. The listing promises blue lagoons and deep crevasses, plus big sinkholes in the surface.
Ice caves appear only if conditions allow, which is the listing's own hedge. Because the ice keeps advancing, the guides set a fresh line through it each morning.
Somewhere in the middle comes a 30-minute lunch break on the glacier. Food and drinks sit on the operator's what-to-bring list. Pack lunch and water the evening before your early pickup.
For what crampons feel like underfoot, our step-by-step walk on the ice describes the technique guides teach on the shorter trek. On Big Ice you use it for three times as long.
Three hours in the middle of the glacier
Hielo y Aventura's long trek takes in the moraine approach and lunch on the ice, then an hour at the walkways. Only for ages 18 to 50 with high fitness.
The same path back, then the walkways
You return to the refuge on the same path, so the moraine has to be crossed twice. Reviewers who did it count about 15 km (9 miles) of walking in total, and more than one calls the day physically demanding.
The boat back sails close to the south wall, where calving is possible but never promised. The van then drives about 7 km (4 miles) to the walkways for roughly an hour facing the front from the other side.
Expect to be back in El Calafate in the evening, some 12 hours after pickup. Most people want a hot meal and an early night rather than a bar crawl.
Who Big Ice suits, and who should skip it
The listing sets the age window at 18 to 50 and asks for high fitness. A mandatory medical form arrives by email after booking, and at 51 the answer is no, however fit you feel.
Reviewers mention heavy crampons and tired legs more than any scary moment. Steady stamina for a long day counts for more than speed, since the group moves at the pace of the ice.
Our age and fitness guide lists every tour's limits. For more ice than the Minitrekking without the full day, Howlanders' longer hike at ~$370 gives about 2 hours on the glacier for ages 17 to 55.
Rain rules and the Viator twin
Hielo y Aventura does not cancel its excursions for rain, and Big Ice comes with a full refund if the activity is suspended. Free cancellation runs up to 24 hours before, and our page on when the weather turns covers the rest.
Viator sells a twin of the same day that scores 4.5 from 30 reviews and starts higher than the GetYourGuide price. With the better score and more reviews on GetYourGuide, that is where we would book.
The trek price comparison sets Big Ice next to the cheaper options. Spring to autumn timing is in our guide to the right time to trek.
Put Big Ice early in your stay in El Calafate and never on the day you land or fly out. A spare day leaves room if the start time moves.