Cerro Mercedario (6,770m), East Face, A Contramano

South America, Argentina, Central Andes, Cordillera de la Ramada
Author: Marcelo Scanu, Argentina. Climb Year: 2010. Publication Year: 2012.

During November 2010 Fernando Daneri (Argentina) and Edgardo Liberman (Panamá, but resident in Buenos Aires) climbed a new route, A Contramano (1,300m, AD) on the east face. They had spotted the line during an evacuation of a corpse. They spent two days acclimatizing at Laguna Turqueza, a rare turquoise lake at 4,200m. They then moved up to 4,800m, where they spent three more days, before starting up the Paduszek Glacier on the east face. They began by climbing 40-50° ice, then a scree slope in the middle section, then snow and ice to an exit by the rocks of El Diente, at 6,300m on the Normal Route, just below its junction with the northeast ridge. The weather was cold and windy, and they spent three days there until they could continue to the summit via the Normal Route. They descended the Normal Route and spent a night at their top camp.