Various ascents. In March Marcelo Brandán, Nicolás Pantaleón, and Angel Ireba made the second or third ascent to the subsidiary summit (6,600m, S27°02'12.4" W68°17'37.8") of Incahuasi, reaching it from a route previously used to ascend the highest summit but not the lower. The group erected base camp at 4,620m S27° 00' 29.3" W68° 15' 51.2". They ascended the northeast ridge to the second camp at 5,800m, then attacked the summit in the morning, with very low temperatures. They needed crampons and boots to negotiatesteep ice near the summit. Incahuasi is one of the world’s highest volcanoes, and its summit holds the second highest ruins in the world. Its name means “Inca’s House.” They descended to base camp and then did the second ascent of Volcan Rojo del Incahuasi and Volcan Negro del Incahuasi (see AAJ 2001, p. 291).

In this same area Dario Bracali ascended, solo, Chucula, a volcano of 5,760m (S26° 46' W69° 59') in November. On the summit he found a six-foot-tall cairn. I investigated and found that Chucula is also known by the ancient names Peladito or Nevado Negro Muerto, and the cairn is a waypoint erected by German Walther Penck ca 1910. This was the third ascent.

Marcelo Scanu, Buenos Aires, Argentina