Luracatao. The volcanic peak of Luracatao (5850 meters, 19,193 feet) was climbed on August 19 by Luis Aguilar and Cristián Vitry, of the Club Amigos de la Montaña, Salta, Argentina. The peak is located about 42 miles almost due west of the summer resort of Cachi, in the Salta province. The climbers ascended first the forepeak (c. 18,400 feet) and were astonished to find near it a large lake, frozen, probably the second highest body of water in the world (after the well known one in the crater of Licancabur volcano, a peak on the Chilean- Bolivian border). A bivouac was necessary and the summit reached the next day, a first ascent.

Evelio Echevarría