Aconcagua, possible new route or variation. Various sources, including www.alpinist.com and www.czechclimbing.com, reported that Czechs Josef Lukas and Leopold Sulovsky climbed an alpine-style new route on Aconcagua’s west face. The route is right of the Normal Route and left of the West Face (1965) route (which it crosses at the Gran Acarreo) but seems to climb substantial portions of other routes, particularly Guias Mendocinos (1992) and Flight of the Condor (2002). Exactly how much of the route is new remains unclear and, due to language barriers, getting information proved difficult. Regardless, Lukas confirmed the route line shown here and added, “We were on top on January 29, 2008, at 7 p.m. after three days of climbing. One day back to base camp. Our first camp was at 5,200m, second at 6,200m. Maximum UIAA 5. Bad rock with a lot of falling stones.”

Thanks to Vlado Linek, Damian Benegas, and Mauricio Fernández (author of Aconcagua, La Cima de América) for information.