On October 29, 2020, Evelio Echevarría left this world peacefully in his bed, with his family in Colorado alongside.
Evelio was an authority on the Andes and a primary reference for many generations of climbers in Latin America. He was an intelligent and restless writer, climber, explorer, and much more.
Evelio was born in Chile and began climbing there in 1947, exploring many untrodden summits. In 1953 he emigrated to the United States, and soon was climbing in his new home. At first he lived in Idaho, working in a hotel, where he met Edwina and married, eventually having four children. He moved to San Diego, worked as a gardener, and began attending the University of California. There and in Colorado, he eventually earned master’s and doctorate degrees in Hispanic studies. He taught Spanish and Latin-American literature at Colorado State University in Fort Collins for three decades, retiring in 1994 as professor emeritus.
His last published book, The Andes: The Complete History of Mountaineering in High South America (2018), is a bible for the Andean climber. This precise work was prepared with hand-written notes and his beloved typewriter, with which he also wrote his letters—he added Spanish accents with a pen. At the time of his death, Evelio was preparing a book about the archaeology of pre-Columbian ascents, a subject he loved.
Others books included Chile Andinista, su historia (a history of Chilean mountaneering), Leyendas de la alta Venezuela, and Leyendas de los Andes de Chile (two books of Andean legends). His goal was to complete a trilogy, with a book of Argentine legends. We had been friends since 1988, and, knowing about this project, I began collaborating with him and later received a big pack of information from the States. Evelio, with his great kindness, encouraged me to finish the work. I wrote Leyendas de los Andes Argentinos and dedicated it to him.
Evelio always said he didn’t climb very high mountains but instead sought the unexplored ranges all over the Andes, especially in Perú, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. He climbed roughly 200 mountains, mostly solo, sometimes with local climbers or friends. He was active into his 80s.
As an example, at age 77, he started alone from Chilean territory in the Paso de Agua Negra, reached an untrodden 5,200-meter summit on the international border, and continued to another virgin summit of 5,160 meters in Argentina. He christened this Cerro Olascoaga after an Argentine soldier who was an early climber. Some months later, not knowing this, I also ascended Olascoaga and discovered Evelio’s cairn and documents. He was very happy about this
Evelio is survived by his family in the United States and his climbing family worldwide. Certainly his soul must be watching his beloved Andes from above, searching for new routes and unexplored territory.
— Marcelo Scanu, in AAJ 2021
Evelio Echevarría
