The Argentina-Chile border has a number of lesser-known peaks, and many others have only seen a few ascents. Cerro Caracoles (4,504m) is one of these. Seen easily by travelers who cross the Andes by car, it had only three ascents, all from from Laguna del Inca valley in Chile.

On October 22, 2011, Lito Sánchez and I made the fourth ascent by a new route from the Matienzo Valley, the first climb from the Argentinean side. We left our car near the village of Las Cuevas and approached our base camp (ca. 3,400m) by walking 7km through the valley. The following day, we started through a narrow snow corridor (200m, 40°) to reach the north col, and then climbed across to the west face. We continued through the northwest corridor (300m, 45°), reaching the south col and following the south ridge (UIAA III/IV). The last part was difficult due to poor rock quality.

Editors Note: This report has not appeared in a print edition of the AAJ.