Climbing in the Cordón de la Ramada

In December 2001 and January 2002 I spent with a friend 6 weeks in Argentina and Chile. First we climbed several summits in the Cordón de la Ramada. The first one was Cerro Negro. This mountain belongs to the Cordón de la Ramada with Cerro Mercedario as the highest elevation within this group. Cerro Negro stands almost in the centre of five 6000m summits and represents an excellent viewpoint. 14.12.01 We had to get up early - marching off from the Base Camp Pirqua de Polacos in the Valle Río Colorado was at 5am. The entrance of the canaleta was at the opposite side of the valley, thus we had to cross first the Valle de Río Colorado. After 2 hours we reached the entry of the canaleta at around 4010 m. First we climbed through penitentes with a moderate gradient, it was good to ascend. The gradient increased slowly and achieved in the upper part at least 45 degrees. The weather was excellent during the ascent in the canaleta. It was cloudless and calm. We reached the upper end of the canaleta about noon and got out of it over a steep field of gravel. We had reached the ridge (4960 m) and the summit was directly in front of us. After another 4 hours we finally stood on the 5500 m high Cerro Negro. Approx. three quarters of an hour later we started the descent via the normal route, a partly very steep gully of gravel and reached the base camp at half past nine in the evening. The entire report and more information as well as pictures you will find at http://members.aol.com/UweKraus2/site27_e.htm