To a mountain-minded man like William D. Hackett, Aconcagua, the 22,835-ft. peak which straddles the Argentine-Chilean border, was an irresistible challenge. Hackett had started climbing at twelve in the Olympic Range near Bremerton, Wash., had served with mountain infantry in World War II. In 1947, Lieut. Hackett joined a scientific expedition that scaled Alaska's Mt. McKinley. Last month 30-year-old Bill Hackett got a 45-day leave from his post at Fort Benning, Ga., and set his sights for Aconcagua, the Western Hemisphere's highest peak.
Almost from the start Hackett and his companion, Argentine...