>so many different climate zones, and all in relatively close proximity Yes. Just mountain climbing in northern Patagonia (between Bariloche & Villarica, reall

>so many different climate zones, and all in relatively close proximity Yes. Just mountain climbing in northern Patagonia (between Bariloche & Villarica, really only 100mi of north-south distance) became my favorite part of the world for your reason. In a single day (or two), we could walk in the dry, dusty bottom of a canyon dug out by glacier melt, cross through a humid jungle, rest on the shores of an alpine lake, pick your way across a massive rocky field of a'a lava, up a glacier and look down inside the caldera of an active volcano. The only other place I have been that come close to having that amount of diversity of terrain in a limited area might be the Tetons/Yellowstone.