Mercedario

A 6,720-metre peak in the Cordillera de la Ramada, 100 kilometres north of Aconcagua in the Argentine Andes. Mercedario is the eighth-highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, but the mountain receives a fraction of the climbing attention given to Aconcagua. The relative obscurity is geographic — the approach is longer, the access road is less developed, and the mountain sits in a range that does not have Aconcagua's accumulated reputation. Most climbers in the region pass Mercedario on the highway and never look for the trailhead.

The first ascent was made in 1934 by a Polish expedition led by Adam Karpiński. Stefan Osiecki and Wiktor Ostrowski reached the summit on March 4, two years before the same Polish climbing community would summit Nanda Devi in the Himalaya. The Polish mountaineering programme of the 1930s — concentrated, well-organized, ambitious in scope — produced first ascents across both the Andes and the Himalaya in a span of years that established a national tradition that continues today.

The standard route via the South Ridge is technically straightforward. The climb is comparable to Aconcagua in altitude profile and acclimatization requirements, but the route has fewer fixed camps and substantially less rescue infrastructure. Climbers who attempt Mercedario are typically self-supported. The fatality rate has been low, primarily because the mountain receives so few attempts. There have been seasons in which no ascents were made.

What Mercedario offers, for climbers who have already summited Aconcagua or who want a less travelled Andean objective, is the alternative. The mountain is not harder than Aconcagua. The mountain is simply less known. For climbers who value the experience of being on a high peak without the queue of commercial expeditions, Mercedario answers the brief.