Contents
What do you think of when you think of Argentina? About the birthplace of Che Guevara, about Top Gear’s epic journey through the Andes, or about Messi and their football team? Anyway, we digress. Argentina has several rather gigantic mountains on its territory. In fact, none of the 10 highest mountains in this country falls below 6500 meters.
This means that some of them are quite difficult to climb and require a certain level of technical mountaineering knowledge. So take this as a warning if you are planning on climbing after reading this article.
We present you a list of the 10 highest mountains in Argentina, their name and height, photos of peaks.
10 Incahuasi, 6 m
incahuasi is a volcanic mountain in the Andes of South America. It is located on the border of the Argentine province of Catamarca and the Atacama region of Chile. The mountain was first climbed by the Inca people.
In 1912, Walter Penk climbed the mountain. But one of the legends says that the first to climb the mountain was a railway engineer named Edward Flint in 1854-1859.
9. Casadero, 6 658 m
This mountain is the ninth highest in South America and is located on Pune, a barren high plateau in Argentina and Chile.
The old name of the peak – Casaderobut is better known as Walter Penck, named after a German geologist who first visited the summit in 1913. The mountain was first climbed by a Chilean-Japanese expedition in 1970.
8. Cerro Tipas, 6 m
Vulcan Cerro Tipas (also known as Cerro Walter Penk) is a massive volcanic complex in northwestern Argentina, located directly southwest of its more famous neighbour, the 6893-meter Nevados Ojos del Salado.
Tipas is the third largest active volcano in the world. It is not well known due to its isolated location.
The Tipas volcanic complex contains craters, cones, lava domes and lava flows covering an area of 25 sq. Km. It has a young morphology and its last eruptions are believed to have been less than 10 years ago.
7. Mercedario, 6 m
Mercedario is a huge collapsed volcano located less than fifty miles north of Aconcagua. Each of the two peaks dominates the view from the slopes of the other. Mercedario, like Aconcagua, is a gentle mountain and is a relatively easy climb.
In 1968, after several attempts by some of the strongest Argentine climbers, a Japanese group led by Saburo Yoshida made the first ascent of the south side. In 1971, an Austrian expedition led by Fritz Moravek and Otmar Kutschera went north. In 1972, Italians Sergio Job Gino and Antonio Beorchia Nigris climbed the Mercedario via their usual 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 cross the southwestern ridge, which is considered the most difficult route of the mountain and one of the last questions of mountaineering in the Andes. On January 27, Mauro Collini, Sergio Figel, Mario Tavagunti and Rudy Vittori reached the summit.
6. Lullaillaco, 6 m
In 1999, an expedition of archaeologists climbed more than 6000 meters up the volcano Llullaillacoto discover three 500-year-old Inca child mummies known to be among the best preserved mummies in the world. At this point, the South American volcano became the site of the highest archaeological work ever undertaken.
The environment around Llullaillaco actually makes it a favorable location for the preservation of such finds. The volcano is located on the border of Chile and Argentina in the eastern part of the Atacama Desert – one of the driest places in the world.
5. Tras Cruces Sur, 6 m
Tras Cruces Sur is a massif of volcanic origin in the Andes on the border of Argentina and Chile. It has two main peaks: Tres Cruces Sur at an altitude of 6 meters and Tres Cruces Centro at an altitude of 749 meters and another small peak – Tres Cruces Norte – 6 meters.
The volcano has a rich history of activity dating back at least 1,5 million years. The complex is surrounded by lava domes, and many craters lie on its peaks.
The main volcano has a rhyodacitic composition and generated two large ignimbrite eruptions: one 1,5 million years ago, and the second 67 thousand years ago. The last eruption was 28 years ago, but the volcano is a potential source of a Holocene eruption and may become active in the future.
4. Cerro Bonete, 6 m
Cerro Bonete – an extinct volcano, located near Mount Pissis, at the northern tip of the Sierra de la Panilla, where it meets the Andes, not far from the Chilean border (though not on it) and the border with the province of Catamarca.
It has a caldera about 6 km in diameter, weathered into small flat “mesets”. Very interesting is the lake with a length of 2 km, located in the southern part of the caldera, with clear water. Some hydrothermal influences may be responsible for the weak warm springs that feed the lake.
The volcano drains south, feeding an intermittent stream that joins the De la Punilla River to form the Bonete River.
3. Monte Pissis, 6 m
First ascent to Monte Pissis was made in 1937 by a Polish group. The name of the mountain pays homage to the French geographer Pierre Joseph Aimé Pissis, a South American pioneer of cartography in the second half of the 19th century (who established the height of the main peaks of the Andes and made the first topography of many areas). He was a teacher of physical sciences and mathematics at Chile University.
The area is entirely volcanic, with lavas of various colors, “lagoons” with heavy metal waterfalls, and some snow patches, most of which are extinct. The arid nature is extreme, almost without vegetation, but with a very diverse fauna; when climbing, you can see vicuñas, guanacos, donkeys, flamingos, condors and some other birds.
2. Ojos del Salado, 6 m
One of the most attractive attractions associated with visiting Ojos del salado, is the fact that it is the highest volcano not only in South America, but throughout the world.
Having entered the Book of Records for the second time in a row, Ojos del Salado also holds the record for the highest mountain lakes on the planet. As you approach the summit, about 500 meters from the highest point of elevation, a permanent crater lake appears at 6 m or 390 feet, making it the highest mountain lake in the world.
1. Acongagua, 6 m
Akongauga – a mountain in the western province of Mendoza, west-central Argentina, on the Chilean border. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere.
Acongagua lies in the Southern Andes; although the peak is located in Argentina, its western flanks are overgrown from the coastal lowlands of Chile, north of Santiago. Its name possibly comes from the Quechua Akon Kahuac (“Stone Guardian“).
Acongagua is of volcanic origin, but is not itself an active volcano. There are two peaks – north and south – connected by a ridge (Cresta del Guanaco) that is approximately 0,6 miles (1 km) long.
The first climb attempt, made in 1883, failed; the highest (northern) peak was first reached in 1897 by the Swiss climber Matthias Zurbriggen.