Adventures in the Patagonian Andes

Kel, 2003. Softcover. Very Good. 0x0x0. The Andes offer a magnificent scenario where human experience has achieved a degree of greatness worthy of such a setting. San Martin´s heroic crossing of the mountain range was a decisive event in the history of the independence of Argentina, Chile and Perú from Spanish rule.The natives (Mapuche Indians) devastated the plains with their fierce raids. When they returned to Chile with thousands of head of cattle stolen in the Argentine pampastogether with captive women and children, they would vanish in a maze of Andean passes known only to them.There also were travelers from all over the word who crossed the Andes and lived through experiences that tested them to the limit of their endurance. They recounted their stories in exciting chronicles of courage and adventure. Then came the pioneers: men and women with a purpose, who never gave up, and who made use of their resource fulness and courage to carry out their mission. The huge vertical stone walls have always demanded extraordinary sacrifices of those intrepid mountain climbers whose sole obsession was to reach the summit.In the Andes human experience is larger than life. Those who went through the Andean experience acknowledge that they suffered incredible hardships, but they were also spurred on by an awesome feeling of absolute freedom.