Sierra de San Luis HP
  • Sierra de San Luis HP
  • 2220 m.
  • Prominence: 1311 m
  • Argentina
  • Location: South 33.06526, West 066.20703 (GPS)
  • Difficulty: (YDS) class 3
  • Climbed January 28, 2023.

Information:

How to get there:

This mountain is located about 30 kilometer slightly east of north, from the city of San Luis. A paved road crosses the mountains north of the peak. This road starts near Nogoli, then runs south-east to Trapiche. This road is likely the best place to start from. We started near the highest crest at location S33.01196, W066.20482, elevation near 2050 meter. It may also be possible to use a somewhat lower start more south-east along this road.
Route description:
The terrain is quite rugged, ridges with rocks and small valleys mostly grass. It pays to follow the small valleys, then cross between them at suitable locations. There are some minor trails, most likely used by cattle, to follow these simplifies walking considerably.
The north summit is located at S33.06232, W066.20694, it is an easy scramble the last few meter. The south summit is located about 320 metern to the south. It appears that this summit consists of 3 vertical blocks of rock, but upon closer inspection there are two rock "pillars" that form the summit. The east (left when approaching from the north), rock may be climbed (YDS class 3) without much trouble. A narrow slit of air separates the two rocks. The west block is a hard climb. In fact, the easiest way to get on top of this rock is likely to jump across from the east rock, the distanse is quite short. It appears that this west summit rock is about 10-20 centiimeter higher. The local terrain is steep and any jump should be protected by rope. However, the two rocks are sufficiently close and most climbers will fully accept that the summit has been reached also if sitting on the east rock.
Comments / Trip report:
We arrived after a pretty long drive from San Juan, in the late afternoon. A good place to camp was a view-point turn-out at location S32.98727, W066.20934, elevaation near 1950 meter.
The next morning, we started walking around 0700. The terrain was more complex than anticipated, progress was slow and we realized that this would be a long day. Fortunately, we did come across a small trail that was quite helpful. This trail led us to an old stone shelter.
We arrived at the north summit around 1100 after 4 hours of pretty efficient walk. This summit was marked as highest on what we considered the more reliable maps. Looking south with our sight-level, we quickly concluded that this, south summit looked equally high. It was located about 320 meter to the south, a pretty easy walk. The final uphill is again a scramble, easy class 3 gets you to the top of the east rock.
We started the return around 1130, sending a short message to Franco from our Garmin Inreach, estimated time back, shortly before 1600. We stayed more in the small valleys going back, then crossing the separating ridges in cols that looked ok. Still, one feels that there is a lot of uphill on this route, despite the fact that the vertical difference between trailhead and summit is rather small.

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