Mercedario

Cerro Mercedario is the highest peak of the Cordillera de la Ramada range and the eighth-highest mountain of the Andes. It is located 100 km to the north of Aconcagua, in the Argentine province of San Juan.

Mercedario
Mercedario, 2004
Highest point
Elevation	6,720 m (22,050 ft)[1] SRTM
Prominence	3,353 m (11,001 ft)[2] Ranked 57th
Isolation	75.14 km (46.69 mi)
Listing	Ultra
Coordinates	31°58′45″S 70°06′45″W[2]
Geography
Mercedario Location in Argentina
Location	San Juan, Argentina
Parent range	Cordillera de la Ramada, Principal Cordillera, Andes
Climbing
First ascent	18 January 1934
Easiest route	scramble

Ascent history

It was first ascended on January 18, 1934, by Adam Karpiński [pl] and Wiktor Ostrowski [pl], members of a Polish andinist expedition led by Konstanty Jodko-Narkiewicz.^[3][4] The Polish party erected a cairn on the summit.^[5]

In 1968, after several attempts by some of the strongest Argentine climbers, a Japanese group led by Saburo Yoshida accomplished the first ascension of the south side. In 1971 an Austrian expedition led by Fritz Moravec and Othmar Kucera, climbed the north side. In 1972, Italians Sergio Job Gino and Antonio Beorchia Nigris climbed the Mercedario through the normal route and discovered some Inca ruins just below the summit. In January 1975 an Italian expedition led by Antonio Mastellaro managed to climb the east side. In 1983 a small expedition from Gorizia was able to traverse the south-west ridge, which is considered the most difficult trail of the mountain, and one of the last mountaineering issues in the Andes. On January 27 Mauro Collini, Sergio Figel, Mario Tavagnutti and Rudi Vittori reached the top.^[6]

Photo gallery

• 
  Vertical aerial photograph of glaciers on the southeast side of Cerro Mercedario

See also

• List of Ultras of South America
• List of peaks by prominence