Alma Negra District. In mid April, near the Alma Negra pass over to Chile, east of the city of San Juan, Argentines Antonio Beorchia, Antonio Mastellaro, Mario Muñoz and Edgardo Yacante made the first ascent of Cerro Mirador del Olivares (c. 4800 meters, 15,748 feet.) After southern winter had started, Humberto Campodónico, Roberto Pereyra, Juan Sanz and I set out to do the first ascent of the big unnamed peak at the source of the Pismanta River. We approached the unknown mountain from the Quebrada de las Trancas and then followed the long, winding east ridge. We placed two camps, the higher at 14,000 feet. On June 1, we set out for the summit, but Sanz, aged 14, had to descend before reaching it. We have named it Nevado de Pismanta. Contour lines in the official maps indicate it is somewhat higher than 5400 meters (17,717 feet). On September 21, the first day of Argentine spring, we set out for the mountain settlements of Las Flores and Peñasquitos, south of the Agua Negra road and north of the Olivares massif. After transportation difficulties, we reached our destination. We marched up the Pismanta valley and camped at 13,000 feet. On September 23, we set out for P 5036 (16,622 feet), which we reached in the afternoon. We continued along the southeast ridge to the main summit (5100 meters, 16,733 feet). We named the massif Nevado de Bauchac- eta. On the main summit were Miguel Beorchia, Maricio Manzi and I.

Marcelo Scanu, Centro de Investigaciones Arqueológicas de Alta

Montaña, San Juan, Argentina