Aguja Mermoz (ca. 2730m).


Description.

The members of the French 1952 Fitz Roy expedition named Aguja Mermoz. During that trip the cartographer of the expedition, the respected glaciologist Louis Lliboutry, made the first complete and accurate mapping of the area. The name remembers the French pilot Jean Mermoz (1901-1936), who after having been in the air-force established himself as the head pilot of the French Aéropostale lines to South America. He was the first to establish a nightly postal line linking Rio de Janeiro with Santiago de Chile crossing the Andes. He disappeared the 6th of December 1936 along with three other crewmembers, when their plane “Cruz del Sur” plummeted into the southern Atlantic. The rescue efforts by his companions and other airline carriers proved fruitless.

Character.

The north face is a beautiful rock face that deserves attention. There is a lot of room for new routes and the existing routes seem well worth repeating. Cosas Patagonicas could probably be climbed free .

The east face is also worthy of attention, it is well protected from the easter bound storms and sports some interesting routes. Second ascent of Padre Viento anyone? The rock on the routes that climb the steep rock buttress in the center of the east face is superb and certainly worth the walk.

Climbing history.

The first attempt to climb the peak was carried out by Argentines Mariolino Castellazzo, Felipe Frasson, Jorge de Leon, Eduardo Vivaldi y Horacio Vivaldi in 1967. They attempted the peak from the west with Castellazzo, Frasson and Eduardo Vivaldi climbing a few pitches. In the 1971-72 season climbers from Centro Andino Buenos Aires attempted the same line, which was completed in 1974 by Héctor Cuiñas, Guillermo Vieiro and Fermín Olaechea making the first ascent of the peak.

Photos (click to enlarge)

Aguja Mermoz - east face

Aguja Mermoz - west face