Patagonia- cost and travel?

how much does your average el chalten patagonia trip run?

whats the best way to travel there?

what did you climb?

how much does it cost daily over there (food, beer, housing, etc)?

Start by researching plane tickets and prices.

Get a guidebook and look at climbs that interest you.

Buy a travel guide book for the area (Lonely Planet, etc) to understand costs.

The cost will depend on how you choose to travel and live once you're there. Flying to El Calafate & then taking a bus to Chalten is the fastest option. Other people choose to fly to other locations further away and have a longer bus ride. This could be cheaper but might be more interesting if you choose to visit other areas as well.
The cost of living there varies depending on your accommodations. It's still free to camp in the forest at the traditional base camps of Rio Blanco & DeAgostini (Bridwell). Camping is also available in town at some of the campground/hostels. Look up Del Lago & Relincho. Then there are apartments. These are the nicest and most expensive. Look up Centro Alpino.
Get Rolo's guidebook Patagonia Vertical for route selection. Unfortunately the most classic routes get horribly (& dangerously) overcrowded during the weather windows. Look at more obscure routes to avoid the crowds.

To add to Mr. Stevens, bring crisp $20s to exchange. A lot of the locals did care about the condition of the bills. Nobody wanted to exchange larger bills.

Oh, and the "Florida Street exchange" wasn't any better rate than Calafate or Chalten. It was plenty sketchier, though. I'd still do it if I needed some pesos in BA, otherwise it's worth getting to Patagonia.