Meandering in the Andes

Machine-read text (unproofread)

Read from the scans by software, so it contains mistakes. Typing it up properly would help blind readers: use Suggest an edit.

MEANDERING IN THE ANDES. Before I get too involved I must explain that the only mountaineering I have done in South America was either by taxi, train or aeroplane. Not that these trips are Cook's Tours I far from it. They are however extremely interesting especially when one gets tangled up with the customs, frontiers and problems of trying to make oneself understood in at least two languages, A few years ago I used to live in Buenos Aires in the Argentine, and for business reasons I had to visit Chile every six months. The Argentine and Chile share a common frontier for thousands of miles, but the routes between the two countries are extremely few and hazardous as the main Andes Range runs a long this frontier. The floor of this range is about 13,000 ft. high, and odd peaks shoot,up to 20,000 odd. The highest mountain in the Americas, Aconagua, rises to 23.080 ft. and has only been scaled once in 1897; all subsequent parties having perishedmin the attempt. A narrow-guage railway runs over the top giving direct access between Valparaiso, Chile and Buenos Aires. This runs through a 2 mile tunnel at the summit and is frequently out of action. This railway is rather like a creation by Emmett, being constructed very lightly; the engines are Rack Garrett type, and on steep gradients two are used at the front and two at the rear of the train. The carriages are fitted with double glass windows, and in the centre there is a wooden stove round which the passengers huddle. As in the Club transport there is a tendency to work down one end when going up hill. When crossing by air. I have always gone by the local airline rather than in a pressurised aircraft which flies at such an altitude one sees nothing. The local planes are usually D.C.3 type, ex U.S.Army. In order to get sufficient ceiling only half the usual number of seats are used and oxygen is laided on. Upon leaving Mendoza on the Argentinian lowlands, the plane spirals up above the city gaining height and generally checking its physical condition before making the trip, as a forced landing on the mountains would mean a one-way trip to eternity. One obtains oxygen by the rather obselete method of sucking it through a rubber tube in the mouth. Once altitude has been gained, the plane goes over the ranges and mountains tower above as it flies up the valleys, At the divide there are some fearful bumps and air pockets caused by the prevailing winds. Once over the top one can see the Pacific glittering far below in the distance and the snow covered ranges give way to green valleys and vineyards. As the plane loses some thousands of feet altitude ones ears pop and sizzle in a most painful manner. When in Mendoza for the last time, I was determined to see part of the Andes from the road which leads up to a pass. Together with some friends I hired a taxi to take us part of the way in to the mountains.. The driver, a lean cadaverous Indian type, was quite used to this game, and arrived at our hotel complete with spare clothes, chains and shovels. We had some difficulty convincing the frontier police that we were just going out on a picnic, and they thought us completely mad. After about 60 miles of undulating country we started to climb and zig-zag up the track. It became prgressively colder and we were forced to stop at the 3,000 metre mark (about 11,000 ft.) to fill the radiator with snow. As we were dressed in light tropical suits, the temperature of 5°c. was some what distressing. Our driver put on his warm alothing and said, "Where next?", but we had had enough, so down we went with ears popping with the change of altitude. The frontier police had been changed in our absence and it was presumed we were entering the country from Chile The scene was out of comic opera, as we had no passports or visas and were not adept at the local Spanish-Indian patios explanations were long and vociferous with much erm-waving. Having established an entente cordiale between Chile, lrgentina and England we stayed with the police for dinner and ended by drinking cana (a sugar-cane alcohol) which the taxi driver, who was quite used to this game sold to us for exhorbitant prices. We eventually ended up at our hotel in Mendoza about midnight after a violent argument with our taxi driver who demanded payment in American dollars. As we were very tired and the police had by this time put in an appearance, we settled on 2 dollars for the day. J.W.