Cerro Baboso, Veladero Massif, Central Andes. I saw this beautiful mountain in an expedition to nearby Volcan Veladero. The name Baboso was given by the guides; it doesn’t appear in any official map (which is common in Argentine maps) but is ca. 6050 meters. It was a virgin peak when I saw it. Unfortunately, it has now been “climbed,” but not by fair means. German del Rio and Jorge Llanos, an Argentinean from a nearby city, reached the Veladero Massif by the new road of Pircas Negras that soon will link Chile and Argentina. He camped on November 18 in the hut of Mulas Muertas, a circular building made in the XIX century by Cossacks directed by Italian architects. The expedition tried to ascend Veladero by motorcycle but went to Baboso instead. They said the ascent “was difficult.” They reached the summit on November 20 at 2 p.m. with a temperature of -12° C.

It must be stated that a new law punishes the users of motorcycles and vehicles who abandon roads in National Parks. Veladero Massif is in a Provincial Park. There is the possibility that soon this wise law will be extended to the numerous Provincial Parks of Argentina.

Marcelo Scanu, Buenos Aires, Argentina