Crossing the Andes, Santiago to Mendoza

…by plane, that is, between Santiago de Chile and Mendoza, Argentina. In decent weather this is always spectacular, with views of the highest peaks in the Americas.

Normally, the air route to Mendoza takes a more southerly line as it crosses the cordillera, and the crossing back to Santiago de Chile takes a more northerly course, often passing near Aconcagua.

(Tip: Ask for a window seat on the left side of the plane for the former and on the right side for the latter.)

Often, the city of Santiago, located as it is in a huge pozo between mountains, is buried under haze, smog, and/or clouds. Here, in this view to the northeast, we are just leaving behind the clouds over Santiago’s outskirts as we head south and east over the Andes toward Mendoza. The obvious valley takes you into the distance to the dormant volcano, Tupungato, its summit rising to 6,570 meters (21,560′). If you are a mountaineer, consider this peak as a very worthy objective as opposed to the overcrowded and much shit-upon Aconcagua:

Cruce, #1. Santiago-Mendoza, 2016

A closer view of the west and south sides of Tupungato, with Laguna Negra (left) and Embalse el Yeso (right) in the foreground (they sit at roughly 2500 meters, or about 8,200′). I am still trying to identify the peak on the left edge of the photo–I think it might be too close to be Aconcagua…could it be the south face of Cerro Plata?:

Cruce, #3. Santiago-Mendoza, 2016

Note the high hanging glaciers, and this is late austral summer with official autumn but a few days away. In the foreground is most likely Cerro Marmolejo at 6,108 meters (20,039′) on the Chilean-Argentine border and the southernmost seismil (6000m peak) with very difficult access to base camp and thus seldom climbed:

Cruce, #4. Santiago-Mendoza, 2016

Moving out toward the plains on the Argentine side of the cordillera, the tall peak on the left is Cerro Plata (5,966m or 19,574′) and is what we used as a tuneup for the Weesner-Pendley-Joder Aconcagua expedition back in the bronze age of 1997. Those peaks on the far right (foreground) are relatively small bumps reaching to a lowly 18,000′ or so:

Cruce, #6. Santiago-Mendoza, 2016

A view of the Mendoza city center from final approach into the Mendoza airport. This Argentine metropolis always reminds me of Tucson in terms of climate, population count, and its location below semi-arid mountains. Cerro Plata is the snowy peak above the city. The tree-covered hill just beyond the centro area is Cerro de la Gloria with the green expanse of Parque San Martín extending south and north (left and right) just below–both are places you will want to visit while here. The obvious autopista you see will take you east to Buenos Aires–after some 13 hours of fun driving, that is:

Cruce, #8. Santiago-Mendoza, 2016

Finally, an arrival (in color) at Mendoza’s small intentional airport. Yep, that’s the whole thing. Looks like three new air bridges attached to the terminal since the last time we were here in April, 2014: