Cordilleras de Agua Negra and Olivares, San Juan. In January Pablo and César Carlacchiani and I continued exploring this beautiful zone. On January 12, we got from Las Flores to Base Camp at Gendarmería Nacional (Border Police) post at Guardia Yieja at 3000 meters. On the 13th, from the nearby Quebrada de los Milicos or las Yeguas, Pablo and I reached by the south ridge the rocky summit of unclimbed Cerro Mogote de Agua Negra (4310 meters, 14,140 feet). On the 15th, a truck left us in the Quebrada de San Lorenzo. We continued on foot to the unclimbed southwest face of the Cerro Bonete de Olivares (4715 meters, 15,469 feet). We three completed the second ascent of the peak at three P.M. César had to leave. On a rest day, Pablo and I discovered a petroglyph of a mounted Spaniard. On January 17, we ascended the Quebrada de las Trancas. We made the first ascent of Cumbre Alto de las Trancas (4317 meters, 14,163 feet) by the north face. We continued along the northeast ridge, making a new route and second ascents of Cumbre Bífida de las Trancas north and south summits (4210 and 4221 meters, 13,812 and 13,848 feet). On the 19th, a truck took us to the Paso de Agua Negra. We continued along the frontier with Chile and climbed the Cerro del Paso de Agua Negra (c. 5000 meters, 16,404 feet) and descended to the Portezuelo de Agua Negra. We kept on along the border, making second ascents of Cerro Portezuelo de Agua Negra Este and Oeste and of Cerro Laguna Bonita (all 4950 meters, 16,240 feet), camping that night on the edge of the lake. Two days later, we were back in San Juan.

Marcelo Scanu, Grupo de Montana Huamán, Buenos Aires, Argentina