Aconcagua Expedition

We climb from Plaza Argentina (Vacas Valley) and traverse of the mountain, the best non-technical route there is!

We run a good Aconcagua expedition - our 2009, 2010 and 2x 2011 expeditions were all successful, and fun!

If you want to climb Everest /an 8000m mountain then sound preparation is the key so while climbing the 6962m Aconcagua (one of the "seven summits") we discuss everything Everest and 8000m. By the end you should feel fitter and better prepared for the highest mountains in the world.

If you are not interested in also climbing Everest, you are welcome to join all the same, and skip some of the in depth discussions.

Current forecast by MeteoExploration - thanks! For more detail see MeteoExploration Aconcagua.

Itinerary

Fancy a slog up a 2000+m scree slope? I don't, so avoid the standard Plaza de Mulas route; the Vacas Valley-Plaza Argentina-False Polish route is the way to go.

Lastly most climbs from the Valle de Vacas, Plaza Argentina route, return that way. Instead we traverse, finishing with the beautiful and quick standard Plaza de Mulas route out. See the 2010 Aconcagua Expedition debrief and the summary from the 2x 2011 Aconcagua Expedition on Previous treks.

13 - climb Camp Cólera 5950m

We move the last of our gear up. This is our highest camp, and the highest point for our traverse itinerary - in other words we are not carrying our camp gear over the mountain...

14 - Camp Cólera 5950m - summit 6962m

The big day! We start early. After summitting we stay at Camp Cólera, rather than trying to move down.

15 - descend to Plaza de Mulas 4260m

We carry everything in one go, no load ferrying... the reward is hamburgers, calzone pizza or steaks! At Plaza de Mulas meals are provided for us, and for the trek out.

16 - trek Horcones, drive Mendoza

Although we can break the trek with an overnight at Confluencia, most people prefer to trek out direct (6.5-8 hours out) and drive 3 hours to arrive late Mendoza.

17, 18, 19, 20 - spare

The weather is often extremely windy on Aconcagua and so we need spare days to have a real chance of summitting.

Day 21 - Sat 25 Feb 2012 - depart

Teh February expedition: The annual Mendoza wine festival ends early March and I am fairly sure the wine tasting in town is 24-26 Feb 2012, an easy way to sample the Malbecs without even having to tour wineries - although I also recommend that too!

Looking to travel further afterwards? How about Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires, and then hit the Salvador da Bahia Carnival ("World's largest party") starting early March, and/or the Rio Carnival...

Our style

We run things a little differently from most Aconcagua operators and although we are real experts in the Himalaya first and foremost, we do run a good - but different - operation.

Aside from the more pleasant route, most expeditions don't allow enough time for bad weather. Instead of an extra day or two, we have four extra days - and if we do finish early then you can hang out in Mendoza, no hardships in that!

We monitor a range of at least six different weather forecasts/parameters and don't rely on the "snow forecast" that the rest do, and everybody admits it is only accurate a day or two out. We can usually plan a summit push accurately, so we can actually really aim for a real weather window rather than just summitting by chance. This is a major difference to other Aconcagua operators, and the reason each our expeditions so far have summitted.

Argentinean guides cook for their group, so there are calls for "hot water" and "dinner ready", with an emphasis on quantity. Instead we give you a bunch of supplies from the supermarket, and you decide what you want to cook, how to cook it, with one stove, two pots per tent. So each tent team is catering for themselves. Yes, perhaps a little more work, but also far more edible, and you can eat when you want...

Strangely, the BC doctors and many Argentinean guides and companies are completely against the use of Diamox, a drug that aids acclimatization, and is recommended when ascending faster than prudent rates - as we must on Aconcagua. Banning Diamox is completely irrational but with us, we understand the acclimatization process very well. Jamie wrote the medical section in his Everest guide book, and so your chance of staying on the mountain is much higher, in fact 100% so far over all our expeditions, with nobody turning back due to altitude issues.

The result is success! Each of our expeditions has reached to summit, sometimes a 100% success rate, at other times some of the team have turned back either due to reaching their limit or from prior medical issues. I can still say though, that everybody who was capable of reaching the summit, did get there. Logistics/bad weather were never the problem.

Succeed with us! 

Photo galleries from previous expeditions

2011 Aconcagua Mendoza

2011 Aconcagua Trek   2010 Aconcagua

2011 Aconcagua Climb   2009 Aconcagua

Your climbing choices

We hope that everyone who joins us is booking the right trip for them. Here is a rundown of your options.

Climb it alone

I don't recommend this, there is a better independent alternative, see the next on the list.

Basic logistics services from a local company

This suits independent types climbing in a team 2-4 good friends. Use mules arranged by the company and then the company also takes care of your rubbish and provides toilets at BC. Having BC meals supplied also makes the stay at BC luxurious.

Booking a local operator fixed departure expedition

Inka, Aymara, Grajales etc organize guided expeditions. There are usually multiple guides who cook for the expedition on the mountain, and meals plus dining tent are provided at BC. The minuses are significant additional costs if you separate from the group, eg with altitude issues, the itinerary is more or less fixed and so the team climbs up until either summitting or being turned back by strong winds.

Booking with an international guiding company

Do work out if they use a local operator for base camp catering (preferable) or not. Check if the guides are named, are porters provided and what is the maximum size of the team?

Fitness

It is essential you are fit for this expedition, and are not overweight. From BC we carry ALL of the expedition gear ourselves - no porters, and we cater for ourselves. We ferry loads so that we are not overloaded BUT even with this strategy you will need to carry around 16-22kgs / 35-50lbs for each load carry and when we move camp up, and this really feels its weight at 4000+m!

Gear

Our gear requirements are similar to our normal Nepal treks but with a few real differences, as above, weight is CRITICAL. You don't need a climbing harness set. See our Aconcagua gear discussion.

Load-carrying strategy

Our first load carry from a camp will obviously be gear that we don't need at that camp for the night, so supplies (food, gas) for the higher camps, and perhaps also some of your warmest clothing not needed lower on the mountain. This gear is cached at the next camp (that is what the ~55 litre stuff sack on the gear list is for), and we return to sleep at the lower camp. That means to clear the camp the next day we carry our personal gear, the kitchen gear, a day or two's food (in case we can't leave camp due to weather) and the tents. The loads work out to be roughly equal, and quite manageable.

Environment

Rubbish and human waste are well managed on Aconcagua. Up to and including Base Camp our rubbish and human waste is taken care of by the park and our local operator. Above BC we carry all our rubbish and toilet waste (not including pee). This means we have a rubbish bag each and a separate shit bag. It really doesn't get as heavy as you imagine, and with some tricks is clean to carry. We will discuss once there!

Aconcagua sunset from Plaza de Mulas (this is not the route up the mountain) - Jamie

(Jamie's assorted weather links)

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