Tupungato, South Face Variant. A 20-man expedition of the Padova section of the Club Alpino Italiano, led by Gastone Scalco, attempted from the Argentine side the unclimbed east ridge of Tupungato. Deep snow forced the group to abandon this side in favor of a variant on the south face, parallel to the 1963 route climbed by Argentines under J. Burgos. High camps were placed at 13,700, 17,400 and 19,100 feet. Two first attempts were beaten back by adverse weather and soroche (altitude sickness). On January 19, M. Flamini, P. Lincetto and S. Santori reached the summit. Their altimeters confirmed as accurate the official Chilean height of 6550 meters (21,490 feet) for Tupungato.

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