Aconcagua, Northern Valleys, 1991. From January 13 to 18, 1991, Austrian Theo Dowbenka and Germans Josef Hümmer, Josef Knott, Rolf Thorenz and I as leader climbed and traversed Aconcagua, but we took a long way over desolate valleys to do so. We started at the Plaza Francia at the foot of the south face of Aconcagua. We then crossed the 4800-meter-high pass, the Portezuelo Relinchos, and dropped northeast down the Relinchos Creek. We contoured part of the Relinchos Glacier, headed north to cross a gap between P 5116 and Cerro Ameghino, finally to descend into the dry Quebrada Vieja Alta. Ascending this valley, we met the former Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur, a glacier that has now disappeared. At 5700 meters, we found the wreck of a rescue helicopter. We then climbed Aconcagua up the Polish Glacier and descended the normal route to Plaza de Mulas and Puente del Inca.

Herbert Ziegenhardt, Bayerische Naturfreunde