We are traveling now to the Penitentes, a winter ski resort about 3 hours from Mendoza. It is summer in this hemisphere so there won´t be much doing aside from the climbing expeditions gathering there.
Ty dozes until awakened by the van´s satellite radio. It is "Diamond" David Lee Roth singing "Just a Gigolo." Ty worked for years as a rock radio disc jockey before becoming a television news anchor. He is encyclopedic when it comes to music reference. The next song is by Kiss. "All time best Kiss song," Ty asks me. "Detroit Rock City," I say. Ty says "Hard Luck Woman." Back home we both give our time to more important issues, but such is the nature of being far away that we may debate the merits of a rock bank that wore more makeup than Tammy Fay Baker.
We arrive in Penitentes and are greeted by climbing legend Fernando Grajales. Many years ago Fernando made a first accent of a very difficult route up Aconcagua. He was subsequently honored with that route being named after him, The Grajale Colouir. Fernando is now a man of advanced years, relying on many lieutenants to run Grajale Expeditions, but he still takes the time to shake hands with each Climber supported by his organization. He is a cool Dude.
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