Introduction

Introducción

The Nevado Juncal is an enormous mountain that plays an important role in the central cordillera near Santiago. It is the meeting place of great glacier systems which flow down from its four summits in different directions (clockwise: Juncal 1° Este Glacier, Juncal 2° Este Glacier, Juncal Sur Glacier, which is the longest glacier in central Chile, Juncal Norte Glacier and Glaciar Colgante Norte), exhibiting snow and ice unrivaled by its neighboors.

Few peaks, specially among those located in the Chilean Central Andes, have such a steep and heavily snow-covered north face as has Nevado Juncal. This fact has called the atention of glaciologists from all around the globe who have travelled in order to study it in detail.

Like many high summits in the Andes, the Juncal lies in Chile/Argentina border: of its four summits, the two easternmost summits (Main Summit and South Summit) are shared by Chile and Argentina. The other two (Chilean Summit and Nevado de los Leones**), are entirely located in Chilean territory.


About its name

Juncal means "place abundant in juncos" (junco is a kind of reed). It is a mistery the conection there might be between the peak and this plant. Probably the mountain was named just following the name of the Juncal River, which may have been named previously, making allusion to the abundant vegetation in the area of Vega Nacimiento and Chépicas. Some people sustain that the mountain was named by Argentine expeditionaries according to the visible characteristics of the Plomo Superior River. Anyway, no conclusive proofs exist for any of the two theories. Both seem reasonable and likely.

There´s no doubt about it: the Juncal is a good testing ground for all the skills a mountain climber must have and which can only be gained through experience. It is a tough mountain, not recomended for beginners.


Cronology of ascents


Ascents to the Main Summit (Northeast Summit, 6.110m*.)

The 1^st absolute ascent of Nevado Juncal was in January 17^th, 1911. The feat was acomplished by Federico Reichert, Robert Helbling and the arriero (local cowboy) Damasio Beíza, by the route that follows the Argentine side of the mountain. This meant climbing the mountain by the Juncal 1º East Glacier, to later reach the summit along the North Face and North Ridge.

2^nd ascent and 1^st ascent from the North. Done by Gabriele Boccalatte and Piero Zanetti in March 3^rd, 1934. Both accessed the mountain by the Juncal North Glacier, crossed the glacier beneath the big icefall, followed along the east border of the glacier, climbed up to the North Face and finally reached the summit by the North Ridge.

1^st ascent of the Colgante Norte Glacier. January 15^th, 1951, by climbers Eberhard Meier, Luis Krahl, Wilhelm Niehaus and Wolfgang Foerster, from Chile. Accessed the Colgante Norte Glacier through the Monos de Agua Valley.

1^st ascent along couloir parallel to the Juncal North Glacier. January 16^th, 1952, by Chilean climbers Plutón Rossel, Juan Simken and Osvaldo Oyarzún (today this route is considered the normal route.)

Ascents to the South Summit (5.910m*)

The first absolute ascent to the South Summit was done the 2^nd of December, 1965 by the Andes Expedition of the Osaka Mountaineering Association. This expedition was led by Eiichiro Hisano and some chilean climbers participated also. They accessed the mountain from the South (Olivares River Valley, Juncal South Glacier) and reached the summit by the South Ridge.

2^nd ascent, 1^st ascent by the Summits Ridge. January 8, 1972, by chilean climbers Francisco Vivanco and Pedro Rosende. First climbed the Main Summit by the Colgante Norte Glacier and later the South Summit by following the ridge which connects both.

Ascents to the Chilean Summit (5.960*)

The first ascent was achieved by the "Expedición Valencian a Los Andes 1972". The ascent was made in February 6, 1972 by the Spaniards Miguel Gómez and Antonio Marti and the Chilean Patricio Soto. They accessed the mountain by the Olivares River Valley, Juncal South Glacier and finally climbed the South Face.

Ascents to the Nevado de los Leones Summit (5.660m*)

The first ascent was made by chilean climbers Gino Cassasa, Dagoberto Delgado and Germán Maccio, in January 28, 1982, by the Juncal North Glacier.


Notes:
*Altitudes taken from maps of Luis Lliboutry and IGM Chile. The 1:50.000 map Cordillera de Piuquenes of the IGM, shows only the Chilean Summit (5953m) and the South Summit (5925m); the area in which the Main Summit is located appears white and marked SVE, or "sin visión estereoscópica", which means that the photographs used for making the map had a cloud in that spot, thus giving no altitude information about it.
**Nevado de los Leones is the traditional name of this summit (Klatt and Fickenscher use in their map edited in 1929). Today it is also known as Cerro Columna.
***Several unopened lines of ascent remain in the Nevado Juncal, by different ridges and faces, or by different accesses. The Summit Ridge traverse remains undone.