Club Andino Bariloche is a mountaineering organisation based in San Carlos de Bariloche, in the Argentine Andes. It was founded on the 13th of August 1931 by Otto Meiling, Emilio Frey, Juan Javier Neumeyer and Reinaldo Knapp, a group of friends who were exploring the region and making first ascents. Emilio Frey became its first president and continued in this role during 30 years.
The club was responsible for the construction and running of a number of mountain huts in the area. Throughout its history, it has organised and funded a large number of expeditions, including many ambitious first ascents throughout the Andes.
Huts run by the club are as follows:
San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche, is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park. After development of extensive public works and Alpine-styled architecture, the city emerged in the 1930s and 1940s as a major tourism centre with skiing, trekking and mountaineering facilities. In addition, it has numerous restaurants, cafés, and chocolate shops. The city had a permanent population of 108,205 according to the 2010 census. According to the latest statistics from 2015, the population is around 122,700, and a projection for 2020 estimates 135,704.
A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization dedicated to hiking or mountain recreation. They are known by many names, including alpine hut, mountain shelter, mountain refuge, mountain lodge, and mountain hostel. It may also be called a refuge hut, although these occur in lowland areas too.
Tronador is an extinct stratovolcano in the southern Andes, located along the border between Argentina and Chile, near the Argentine city of Bariloche. The mountain was named Tronador by locals in reference to the sound of falling seracs. With an altitude of 3,470 metres (11,380 ft), Tronador stands more than 1,000 m above nearby mountains in the Andean massif, making it a popular mountaineering destination. Located inside two national parks, Nahuel Huapi in Argentina and Vicente Pérez Rosales in Chile, Tronador hosts a total of eight glaciers, which are currently retreating due to warming of the upper troposphere.
Cerro Catedral is a mountain located 19 kilometres (12 mi) from San Carlos de Bariloche, and inside the Nahuel Huapí National Park, in Patagonia, Argentina.
Laguna San Rafael National Park is a park located on the Pacific coast of southern Chile. The park is named for the San Rafael Lagoon formed by the retreat of the San Rafael Glacier. Created in 1959, it covers an area of 17,420 km2 (6,726 sq mi) and includes the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. A fjord more than 16 km (10 mi) long is one of the park's principal attractions.
Villa La Angostura is a town located in the Los Lagos Department in the south of the Argentine province of Neuquén, on the northwest shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake.
Monte San Valentin, also known as Monte San Clemente, is the highest mountain in Chilean Patagonia and the highest mountain south of 37°S outside Antarctica. It stands at the north end of the North Patagonian Icefield.
Cerro Arenales is a heavily ice-covered mountain located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region of Chile, within Laguna San Rafael National Park. It towers over the southern part of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. Arenales has a summit elevation of 3,437 meters above sea level. Whether it is a volcano is controversial.
Cerro El Plomo is a mountain in the Andes near Santiago, Chile. With an elevation of 5,434 m (17,783 ft), it is the largest peak visible from Santiago on clear days. The adequate season to climb this mountain is between November and March. In spring, soil conditions have abundant snow on the approach. The best time is in January and March, where the approach is snow free, except for some specific areas, and the climate is more stable. The Incas climbed to its summit periodically in the 15th century. The first European ascent of the mountain was by Gustav Brandt and Rudolph Lucke in 1896.
Paniri is a stratovolcano located in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region, Chile, and near the border with Bolivia. To its northwest lie the twin volcanoes San Pedro and San Pablo, and to its southeast lies Cerro del León, from which it is separated by the huge Chao lava dome.
The San Francisco Pass is a pass over the Andes mountains which connects Argentina and Chile. The highest point of this pass is at 4,726 m (15,505 ft) AMSL.
Otto Meiling (1902–1989) was a German-born mountaineer who achieved many first ascents in Nahuel Huapi National Park and the surrounding area.
The I.Ae.41 Urubú was a two-seat flying wing tailless glider, built in Argentina by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) in the 1950s.
Nahuel Huapi National Park is the oldest national park in Argentina, established in 1922 as Parque Nacional de Sud and reconfiguered in 1934. It surrounds Nahuel Huapi Lake in the foothills of the Patagonian Andes. The largest of the national parks in the region, it has an area of 7,050 km2 (2,720 sq mi), or nearly 2 million acres. Its landscapes represent the north Patagonian Andean Zone consisting of three types, namely, the Altoandino, the Andino-Patagónico and the Patagonian steppe. It also represents small parts of the Valdivian Rainforest.
Nelly is a stratovolcano in the Andes located in the Cordillera Occidental of Bolivia, about 5,676 m (18,622 ft) high. It is situated within the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, north east of the Licancabur volcano, Laguna Verde and Laguna Blanca and next to Mount Laguna Verde in the Potosí Department, Sur Lípez Province, San Pablo de Lípez Municipality, Quetena Grande Canton.
Emilio Enrique Frey was an Argentine geographer of Swiss descent.
Marcos José Couch, Argentine mountain climber, known for his professional achievements in mountains such as the Shishapangma in Tibet, or the Fitz Roy in Patagonia. Since 1987 he is a mountain guide and has been working internationally.
Laguna del Maule is a volcanic field in the Andes mountain range of Chile, close to, and partly overlapping, the Argentina–Chile border. The bulk of the volcanic field is in the Talca Province of Chile's Maule Region. It is a segment of the Southern Volcanic Zone, part of the Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcanic field covers an area of 500 km2 (190 sq mi) and features at least 130 volcanic vents. Volcanic activity has generated cones, lava domes, lava coulees and lava flows, which surround the Laguna del Maule lake. The field gets its name from the lake, which is also the source of the Maule River.
Hermann Hess Helfenstein was a Swiss naturalist, explorer, climber and engineer. He was member of the "Schweizer Alpen Club" and "Deutscher Anden Verein" (DAV in Chile). He was notable for first ascents and exploration in Patagonia.
Cerro Otto is a mountain located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from San Carlos de Bariloche, and inside the Nahuel Huapí National Park, in Patagonia, Argentina.