Cerro Eléctrico (ca. 2260m).


Description.

This peak, located to the north east of the Chaltén massif, offers some great views of the Fitz Roy group.

It has three clearly different summits: one located close to Paso Guillaumet which is a black rock formation, Castillo Negro, one to the east which is glaciated, the main summit, and one to the northeast which is red colored.

The Italian priest and geographer Alberto Maria De Agostini, who visited, mapped and climbed in the area in the 1930s, was the first to record the peak's name. Agostini’s extensive photographic coverage brought this region to the attention of many of the European climbers, particularly the Italians. De Agostini explained that the peak’s name was given by the early western settlers because of the windy and stormy nature of that area, writing that it was due, “alle straordinaria violenza delle raffiche di vento che precipitano da questo monte nelle valle con secche detonazioni, da sembrare scariche elettriche.”

The northern most summit of the peak, above Paso Guillaumet, was named Cerro Eléctrico Oeste by Louis Lliboutry, the cartographer, geologist and glaciologist that was part of the French expedition that accomplished the first ascent of Cerro Fitz Roy in 1952. He also gave this peak an alternate name, "Chateau Noir" - Castillo Negro. Since the name Cerro Electrico Oeste has been "misplaced" in all maps to the peak located immediately north of Paso Cuadrado it seems best to stick with Lliboutry's alternate name to avoid confusion. The "red summit" of Cerro Eléctrico was named by Lliboutry Cerro Electrico Noreste.

Climbing history.

The Italian priest and geographer Alberto Maria De Agostini first climbed the main summit of Cerro Electrico in 1932, with the guide Mario Derriard.

The east face was skied by Max O’Dell (Argentina) in 1998, (35˚).

Argentine Carlos Comesaña soloed the first ascent of Castillo Negro in January of 1964. Martin Donovan, Avo Nacachian y Jorge Ruiz Luque repeated the ascent a year later, in January of 1965. In 2000, Frenchwoman Laurence Monnoyeur climbed it from the north, spiraling around its west and south faces to finally gain the summit from the east (380m, 4+).

The first ascent of Cerro Eléctrico Noreste was done in 9/2013 by Colin Haley who suggested calling it "Cumbre Roja" (M3).

Bibliography.
De Agostini A. M. (1949) Ande Patagoniche, Società Cartografica Giovanni De Agostini, Milano; Alpinisti Italiani nell Mondo, Commissione Centrale delle Pubblicazioni, Club Alpino Italiano, 1953 p. 309-310; Lliboutry L. (1952) Estudio Cartografico, Geologico y Glaciologico de la Zona del Fitz Roy, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Cerro Electrico