Cordillera de Olivares, Nevado de Bauchaceta. A group composed

Cordillera de Olivares, Nevado de Bauchaceta. A group com posed o f Miguel Beorchia Nigris, Luis Pontoriero, and I arrived at the post o f Tocota in the last days o f January 2002, thanks to the help o f G endarm eria N acional (B order Police). From there we had a bad m ule ride to th e Q uebrada de Chita. After the awful ride, w hich resulted in scars in unpleasant places, we retreated because o f doubtful w eather and bad conditions. However, I found a beautiful paleolithic spear point. From C hita we w ent to Las Flores, w here a G en d arm eria u n im o g to o k the g ro u p to the Q u eb rad a P ism an ta and the p o st o f th e M u ñ oz family. O n January 26 th e g ro u p b egan the ascent to base cam p. T he next day B eorchia N igris q u it because o f a sto m ach disease, b u t we o thers continued, reaching base cam p at D os Q u ebradas (3825m ) on January 28. This creek is beau tiful, w ith m uch anim al life (we saw guanacos a n d seven co n d o rs at th e sam e tim e) and p etroglyphs. O n January 30 we a tte m p te d N evado de B auchaceta. At 4400m m y c o m p an io n d escended due to fatigue. I co n tin u ed , ascending th e great m assif a n d reaching th e m in o r n orthw est su m m it o f N evado de Bauchaceta (5,036m S30°28'16.7" W 69°38'23.1") at 4:20 p.m . T his was the second ascent, and I to o k a v arian t to th e first ascent 13 years before. I co n tin u ed to the highest (southeast) su m m it despite fierce w inds. After descending to a col, I ascended a ridge th a t end ed in the big b ro a d su m m it (ca 5100m , 5158m by GPS, S30°28'55.8" W 69°37'38.1"), reaching it at 6:20 p.m . T his was a first ascent, correcting a m isu n d erstan d in g in the 1990 A A J (p. 202). I descended, reaching cam p at 9:30 p.m . A fterw ard we h ad bad w eather, certain ly because o f th e El N iñ o p h e n o m e n o n . O n F eb ruary 3 m y co m p an io n descended because o f illness, an d I a ttem p ted a n o th e r m o u n tain , b u t descended because o f bad w eather th at c o n tin u ed for two days, w ith rain an d snow. O n the 6th Mr. M unoz and his 10-year-old son rode by horse to th eir post, w here I rejoined m y team ­ m ate. We ate goat b arbeque, d ra n k w ine, a n d sm oked H avana cigars, raising o u r cholesterol, alcohol, and nicotine levels to A rgentine standards. M a rc elo Sc a n u ,

Argentina