Aconcagua, All-Women Ascents. The highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere had been ascended several times by women, some of whom perished by exhaustion or because of the dreaded blizzards, locally called viento bianco, or “white wind.” The first all-women ascents were carried out in the summer of 1983 by two teams of Chilean moutaineers, trained for that purpose by the Federatión de Andinismo de Chile. The first team of ten women ascended on February 8 by the normal route and placed five of its members on top (J. Meza, leader, M. Campos, R. Monsalves, L. Rojas and N. Wurth). The second team succeeded on the Polish route (February 17); all seven members reached the top (Ema Osorio, leader, Ivette Carrera, Claudia Bastres, Karin Eitel, Gabriela Maass, Elizabeth Rencoret and Patricia Sepúlveda).

Evelio Echevarría