La Cordillera Di Huayhuash by Annibale Bonicelli. Bologna: Club Alpino Italiano di Bergamo, 1968. 94 pages, 54 photos, 9 sketch-maps.

In 1964, an Italian expedition led by Signor Bonicelli visited the Huayhuash range in Central Peru and made a number of ascents, including the first of difficult Tsacra Grande (18,944 feet). After these climbs, the author went to other parts of the range, gathering material for his study. He finally compiled a book, edited by his club, a book which the author modestly calls only an appendix to Kinzl’s work on the same range, published in 1956. In his study, Signor Bonicelli divided the range into groups and subgroups, making a very complete orographical study of the area, including even some corrections of Kinzl and Schneider’s fine map of 1942. After each topographical discussion, he attempted to describe the climbing done, supplying information that resembles at times that of an Alpine guide. Finally, some sketch-maps and drawings and, above all, plenty of good photographs, complement the work. Signor Bonicelli deserves praise for the completeness of his study; this work may well be considered the first attempt to write a guide for a major Andean range and because of its organization and simplicity, and its emphasis on panoramic vistas, it can be used as a pattern for similar studies of other high ranges.

Evelio A. Echevarría