San Lorenzo, East Face. On January 15 Erwin Müller, Russell Dodding, Hans-Peter Bakker and I reached the summit of San Lorenzo (3706 meters, 12,159 meters), the first party ever to climb the mountain from the Argentine side. We had made an unsuccessful attempt in 1980. The ascent was made via the 2200-meter-high east ridge and involved steep ice climbing with a 5-meter vertical rock band just below the summit. From the roadhead at Estancia El Rincón, close to the Chilean border, a 15-kilometer hike led to a beech grove sheltered behind a moraine ridge and Base Camp. It took four hours to cross the difficult terrain over the moraine and glacier to the col at the base of the east ridge, where we dug a snow cave for Advance Base. The next task was to establish our box tent as high as possible on the ridge. We set off on December 27, 1985 at the beginning of a good weather spell. After 32 hours of continuous climbing, mostly on steep ice, we eventually came across a bergschrund at 3000 meters, forming an ideal sheltered campsite, well situated for tackling the final 700 meters to the top. We retreated to Base Camp to recover and pick up supplies. Bad weather kept us at Base Camp for another week and then, on our first attempt to get back on the mountain, a snowstorm forced us to retreat. Finally, on January 8, we were back on the ridge. After another exhausting climb, right through the night, we arrived at the bergschrund camp on the following afternoon to find our box-tent half buried under the snow but still intact. For the next three days we were kept prisoners while the storm raged outside. Eventually, on January 13, the storm broke. The climbing was steep and sustained. Although we made steady progress, we were still far from the summit when night overtook us. There was nowhere to bivouac on the steep ice and we continued to climb by torchlight. Early morning saw us tied to ice screws on a tiny stance, preparing a meal on a precariously balanced stove and waiting for daylight. Eventually the sun appeared and we continued upwards. By lunch time we reached the base of the rock band and prepared to tackle the 50-meter sheer cliff of hazardous rock and ice-filled cracks. The first attempt by Dodding ended at an impassable section, and he was lowered to the stance from a piton at the high point. I took over the lead and, following a different line, inched my way up the icy rock. Two-and-a-half hours later, I was at the top of the band with the summit in sight. It was another few hours before the other three joined me and in the fading light we made our way to the summit ridge. Just below the final rock pillar on the ridge we found a site for our bivouac tents. Eventually, in the early hours of the morning, we crawled into sleeping bags, having been on the go for 46 hours. Fortunately the good weather held and the next morning we awoke late to find the summit little more than a rope-length away. That afternoon we negotiated the final obstacle, the rock pillar, and made our way to the summit of San Lorenzo. It took us the whole of the following day to descend to the bergschrund camp. After a rest day there, we finally arrived at Base Camp on the evening of January 19.

L. Paul Fatti, Mountain Club of South Africa