A team of climbers from Córdoba, Argentina, attempted a new route on the unexplored west face of Mount Pissis in the northern Andes of Argentina. They hiked through the Western Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in the Puna de Atacama region, documenting it and collecting information to be used for further studies about climate change in the area. The climbers summited the Pillan Volcano, reached the Pissis West Glacier at 6,000 meters and scouted the new route for a further expedition to Mt Pissis.
The team crosses the desert to reach the remote west face of Mt. Pissis. The only road is the unused route to an old mine shaft.
Mt Pissis is a 6,792 meter volcano along the Andes. It is the second highest volcano in the world. Mt Pillan, a sister volcano is 6,010 meters high. The body of water in front is Laguna Negra a salt water lagoon. You can see the white of the salt surrounding the water.
Desert Flamingos on Laguna Verde
Laguna Verde with Mt. Pissis in the background
Getting closer to the volcanos
Laguna Negra
Base Camp 1 at Mar de Plata
Pablo Lukach sends a message to the support team in Catamarca
Gorgeous afternoon light hitting the hills above base camp
The team discusses the route to Pillan
Pablo, Chacho, and Jorge at the summit of Volcano Pillan. At 6,010 meters the thin air made the final push a challenge.
On the return from the summit, the team hit the typical afternoon snow storm.
Every day between 5 and 6pm, the winds pick up and a snow storm blows in.
Chacho on the edge of Pissis glacier.
Jorge scouting the route to cross the glacier to reach Mt. Pissis. With one team member down from altitude sickness, and another suffering the flair up of an old knee injury, the team ultimately decided to leave the Pissis summit for another trip.
Left to right: ‘Chacho’ Pacheco, Pablo Lukach, Leo Calvete, Jorge Palacios
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