"Fortunate the traveler, who, 7 or 8 miles below Las Cuevas, has at the head of a side valley at the north a glimpse of colossal ' 15 miles away, a long ridge of snow arching into two domes, with a sheer drop of 10,000 feet on its black southern wall; and farther on a sight of ', 30 miles away at the south: both mountains first climbed in 1897 by the , though he unfortunately was compelled by to forego the satisfaction of attaining either summit himself. The first to reach the supposed apex of the , the top of Aconcagua, according to the latest measurement, 22,817 feet, was , the celebrated Swiss guide, who in almost every land has led English and Americans to the summits of noted mountains. Alone, January 14, 1897, he gained this height, and there erected a stone man as is the custom where possible. In April of the same year, the first ascent of Tupungato, 21,451 feet, was made also by Zurbriggen, and the Englishman, Vines."