Preliminary Report on the Southern Summer Season of 1993-4. On December 31, Argentines Teo Plaza and José Chaverri were making a new 1100-meter route on the Aguja Stanhardt’s east face (6b, A2, 80°). A hundred meters below the top of the face, Plaza was struck on the face, head, chest and leg by a huge block of ice, but fortunately had no broken bones. Despite the accident, they had to continue to the top of the face in order to be able to descend the Bridwell-Smith-Smith route. They descended all night and on January 1, 1994 left the wall and descended the glacier. Plaza was evacuated to the hospital from the valley by helicopter. Another Argentine pair had even worse luck. Horacio Bresba and Víctor Razzuri had climbed the second pitch on the Franco-Argentine route on Fitz Roy. Suffering from fatigue and hypothermia, Bresba slipped and fell to his death. Americans made the third ascent of the Casarotto Buttress on Fitz Roy and Australians the fourth. The same Australians climbed the Maestri Compressor route on Cerro Torre, which was also climbed by Americans John Middendorf and Conrad Anker and by Italians Mauro Giovanazzi and two companions. Italian Casimiro Ferrari and Argentine Martín Ceballos climbed a new route on the east face of Mermoz, while Italian Ermanno Salvaterra and Adriano Cavallaro made a new route on El Mocho. [This news was written on February 10. Because it is always so close to when we go to press, most of the information for the season has to wait until next year. —Editor]

Vojslav Arko, Club Andino Bariloche