In the heart of Central Andes are “blank” zones ignored by mountaineers. The Santa Clara Range, situated at the southern end of the La Jaula Massif in the Cordillera Frontal, is one of these, and still houses 5,000m unclimbed peaks. Lotfi Mijel and I hoped to explore this remote region and summit an unclimbed peak.

Our expedition began in Punta de Vacas, on the Argentina-Chile border. On November 9 we approached by Tupungato Valley, walking 20km. On day two, we crossed the mighty Tupungato River and then hiked up Del Salto Ravine. On day three we reached ca 4,350m, where we established camp at the foot of the south face of an unclimbed peak. We started climbing on November 12 at 7:30 a.m. The maximum difficulty was 45° snow until we reached the upper ridge, which we followed to the summit. We named it Pico Vivi Lotfi and left a topo in a small cairn on top. We descended the north side.

Pablo David González, Argentina