South America, Argentina, Aconcagua, New Route on the Right Side of the South Face, 1986

Publication Year: 1988.

Aconcagua, New Route on the Right Side of the South Face, 1986. Milan Romih and I made a trip to the Plaza de Francia in bad weather from February 9 to 11, 1986. We returned there on February 14. We were held back by bad weather until February 18 when we left the Plaza de Francia at noon. In the very region where we had wanted to climb, a sérac broke, causing an avalanche, and so we changed our route and started up the right side of the south face of Aconcagua. After climbing 200 meters of very rotten rock, we crossed to the left toward the icefall, where it was dripping and wet. We found the French Camp I and followed their route to the top of the southeast buttress and there we bivouacked. On February 19 we climbed the lower glacier up to under the séracs. First we tried to climb the left side of the séracs, but because of heavy cracking we retreated 200 meters, turned right and started up the séracs on that side, in the middle of which we had to bivouac. On the 20th we climbed to the top of the séracs, where the slopes had been in part 90° or overhanging. A storm caught us in the afternoon and forced a bivouac below the ridge, where in the night we were frequently covered by avalanches. On February 21 we climbed onto the ridge and dried our equipment. On the 22nd we ascended the last of the rock and then the long ridge. We bivouacked in bitter cold 200 meters below the summit. We got to the summit on the morning of February 23, 1986 and descended the normal route to the Nido de Cóndores with bad weather from the Berlin shelter on. We were back at Puente del Inca on February 25.

Danilo TiC, Alpinisticni Odsek Impol, Yugoslavia